Amazon challenges Etsy with bazaar for handmade wares

New York

AMAZON stepped into the handcrafted-goods ring on Thursday, opening an arts-and-crafts bazaar online that squarely takes aim at a niche but growing market dominated by the Brooklyn-based Etsy.

The new marketplace, called Handmade at Amazon, went live at 3 am Eastern time on Thursday with a lineup of over 80,000 items from about 5,000 sellers. The marketplace lets artisans peddle their handmade wares - think walnut cuff links and felt pennants - much in the way the fast-growing Etsy has done.