Etsy Sees a Surge in Demand for Fabric Face Masks

In order to help slow the spread of the Coronavirus pandemic, tens of thousands of Etsy sellers have risen to the challenge by starting to craft and sell fabric face masks.

Etsy CEO Josh Silverman Describes an “Avalanche” of Demand for Fabric Face Masks

In April, the Center for Disease control changed its guidelines to recommend that people wear protective masks in public. As a result, CEO Josh Silverman said in a recent interview with Bloomberg that there was a sudden “avalanche of demand on Etsy” for fabric face masks.

In the same interview, Silverman said the following:

“We were seeing about nine searches per second for a product that effectively didn’t exist the day before. So, we put out a call to our sellers asking them to start making fabric face masks. Within two weeks we had 20,000 sellers making fabric face masks.”

According to Silverman, urging Etsy sellers to create their own fabric face masks has been a great opportunity for sellers as well as consumers for the following reasons:

• Manufacturing fabric face masks protects the medical grade equipment for the essential healthcare workers who really need it
• Etsy sellers whose business have been hurt by the pandemic have an opportunity to earn more income
• Consumers can search for and buy masks with a sense of style that express more personality than a regular medical mask

The Cheapest Way to Ship Masks and Other PPE

If you plan to ship out fabric face masks like thousands of these Etsy sellers, the cheapest option by far is to use USPS First Class Package Service. First Class Package is exclusively for shipments under 1 pound (16 oz). Delivery currently takes place within 1-4 business days, and besides the weight being under 16 ounces, the only other requirement is that shippers provide their own form of packaging.

Of course, you will capture the deepest discounts on First Class Package labels when you use USPS shipping software to buy postage online. When shipping First Class Package, these discounts can save you up to 59% off of what you’d pay at the Post Office. Most shipping software options also allow you to schedule free pickups from your home, which means that you can ship out your masks completely contactless manner. As Americans continue to shelter in place to slow the spread of COVID-19, shipping contactless is more important now than ever.

Read more about the cheapest way to ship face masks.