Annual Statements Open main menu

ETSY INC - Quarter Report: 2019 March (Form 10-Q)



UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
__________________________________
FORM 10-Q
__________________________________
x
Quarterly Report Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934
 
For the quarterly period ended March 31, 2019
 
 
 
OR
 
 
¨
Transition Report Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934
For the transition period from              to             
Commission File Number 001-36911
__________________________________
ETSY, INC.
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)
__________________________________
Delaware
 
 20-4898921
(State or other jurisdiction of incorporation or organization)
 
(I.R.S. Employer Identification No.)
 
 
 
117 Adams Street, Brooklyn, NY
 
11201
(Address of principal executive offices)
 
(Zip code)
(718) 880-3660
(Registrant’s telephone number, including area code) 
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days.    Yes x No  ¨
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically and posted on its corporate Website, if any, every Interactive Data File required to be submitted and posted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files).    Yes  x    No  ¨
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company,” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.
Large accelerated filer x
Accelerated filer ¨
Non-accelerated filer ¨
Smaller reporting company ¨
Emerging growth company ¨
If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ¨
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act).    Yes  ¨    No  x 
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934:
Title of each class
Trading Symbol(s)
Name of each exchange on which registered
Common Stock, $0.001 par value per share
ETSY
The Nasdaq Global Select Market
The number of shares of common stock outstanding as of May 3, 2019 was 120,184,386.




Etsy, Inc.
Table of Contents
 
 
Page
 
Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
 
Part I - Financial Information
Item 1.
Consolidated Financial Statements (Unaudited)
 
Consolidated Balance Sheets as of March 31, 2019 and December 31, 2018
 
Consolidated Statements of Operations for the three months ended March 31, 2019 and 2018
 
Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income for the three months ended March 31, 2019 and 2018
 
Consolidated Statement of Changes in Stockholders' Equity for the three months ended March 31, 2019 and 2018
 
Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows for the three months ended March 31, 2019 and 2018
 
Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements
Item 2.
Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations
Item 3.
Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk
Item 4.
Controls and Procedures
 
Part II - Other Information
Item 1.
Legal Proceedings
Item 1A.
Risk Factors
Item 2.
Unregistered Sales of Equity Securities and Use of Proceeds
Item 3.
Defaults Upon Senior Securities
Item 4.
Mine Safety Disclosures
Item 5.
Other Information
Item 6.
Exhibits
 
Signatures
Unless the context otherwise requires, we use the terms “Etsy,” the “Company,” “we,” “us” and “our” in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, (“Quarterly Report”), to refer to Etsy, Inc. and, where appropriate, our consolidated subsidiaries.
See “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of OperationsKey Operating and Financial Metrics” for the definitions of the following terms used in this Quarterly Report: “active buyer,” “active seller,” “Adjusted EBITDA,” “GMS,” “international GMS,” and “mobile GMS.”

Etsy has used, and intends to continue using, its investor relations website and the Etsy News Blog (blog.etsy.com/news) to disclose material non-public information and to comply with its disclosure obligations under Regulation FD. Accordingly, you should monitor our investor relations website and the Etsy News Blog in addition to following our press releases, SEC filings and public conference calls and webcasts.





NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This Quarterly Report contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws. Forward-looking statements include information relating to the timing of our cloud migration, the impact of our strategy, marketing and product investments and cloud migration on future GMS and revenue growth, our economic, social and ecological impact strategy, goals and future plans and our expectations regarding increased hosting and bandwidth costs and marketing costs. Forward-looking statements include all statements that are not historical facts. In some cases, forward-looking statements can be identified by terms such as “anticipates,” “believes,” “could,” “estimates,” “expects,” “intends,” “may,” “plans,” “potential,” “predicts,” “projects,” “seeks,” “should,” “will,” “would” or similar expressions and the negatives of those terms.

Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of performance and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors that may cause our actual results, performance, or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance, or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Those risks include those described in the section titled “Risk Factors” and elsewhere in this Quarterly Report. Given these uncertainties, you should read this Quarterly Report in its entirety and not place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements in this Quarterly Report.

In addition, statements that “we believe” and similar statements reflect our beliefs and opinions on the relevant subject. These statements are based upon information available to us as of the date of this Quarterly Report and, although we believe such information forms a reasonable basis for such statements, such information may be limited or incomplete, and our statements should not be read to indicate that we have conducted an exhaustive inquiry into, or review of, all potentially available relevant information. These statements are inherently uncertain and investors are cautioned not to unduly rely upon these statements.

Moreover, we operate in a competitive and rapidly changing environment. New risks and uncertainties emerge from time to time and it is not possible for us to predict all risks and uncertainties that could have an impact on the forward-looking statements made in this Quarterly Report. In light of these risks, uncertainties and assumptions, the future events and trends discussed in this Quarterly Report may not occur and actual results could differ materially and adversely from those anticipated or implied in the forward-looking statements.

Forward-looking statements represent our beliefs and assumptions only as of the date of this Quarterly Report. We disclaim any obligation to update forward-looking statements.


3

Table of Contents


PART I - FINANCIAL INFORMATION
Item 1. Consolidated Financial Statements (Unaudited).
Etsy, Inc.
Consolidated Balance Sheets (Unaudited)
(In thousands except share and per share amounts)
 
As of
March 31,
2019
 
As of
December 31,
2018
ASSETS
 
 
 
Current assets:
 
 
 
Cash and cash equivalents
$
345,674


$
366,985

Short-term investments
276,432

 
257,302

Accounts receivable, net of allowance for doubtful accounts of $5,822 and $4,720 as of March 31, 2019 and December 31, 2018, respectively
10,789

 
12,244

Prepaid and other current assets
26,859

 
22,686

Funds receivable and seller accounts
64,247

 
21,072

Total current assets
724,001

 
680,289

Restricted cash
5,341


5,341

Property and equipment, net of accumulated depreciation and amortization of $93,159 and $85,440 as of March 31, 2019 and December 31, 2018, respectively
131,650

 
120,179

Goodwill
37,034

 
37,482

Intangible assets, net of accumulated amortization of $8,794 and $7,378 as of March 31, 2019 and December 31, 2018, respectively
33,839

 
34,589

Deferred tax assets
23,000

 
23,464

Other assets
26,303

 
507

Total assets
$
981,168

 
$
901,851

LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY
 
 
 
Current liabilities:
 
 
 
Accounts payable
$
17,325

 
$
26,545

Accrued expenses
40,123

 
49,158

Finance lease obligations—current
9,927

 
3,884

Funds payable and amounts due to sellers
64,247

 
21,072

Deferred revenue
7,787

 
7,478

Other current liabilities
9,266

 
3,925

Total current liabilities
148,675

 
112,062

Finance lease obligations—net of current portion
59,610

 
2,095

Deferred tax liabilities
32,637

 
30,455

Facility financing obligation

 
59,991

Long-term debt, net
280,226

 
276,486

Other liabilities
40,007

 
19,864

Total liabilities
561,155

 
500,953

Commitments and contingencies (Note 11)

 

Stockholders’ equity:
 
 
 
Common stock ($0.001 par value, 1,400,000,000 shares authorized as of March 31, 2019 and December 31, 2018; 119,933,386 and 119,771,702 shares issued and outstanding as of March 31, 2019 and December 31, 2018, respectively)
120

 
120

Preferred stock ($0.001 par value, 25,000,000 shares authorized as of March 31, 2019 and December 31, 2018)

 

Additional paid-in capital
570,906

 
562,033

Accumulated deficit
(142,238
)
 
(153,442
)
Accumulated other comprehensive loss
(8,775
)
 
(7,813
)
Total stockholders’ equity
420,013

 
400,898

Total liabilities and stockholders’ equity
$
981,168

 
$
901,851

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these Consolidated Financial Statements

4

Table of Contents

Etsy, Inc.

Consolidated Statements of Operations (Unaudited)
(In thousands except share and per share amounts)
 
 
Three Months Ended 
 March 31,
 
2019
 
2018
Revenue
$
169,339

 
$
120,912

Cost of revenue
52,658

 
41,295

Gross profit
116,681

 
79,617

Operating expenses:
 
 
 
Marketing
35,444

 
26,194

Product development
24,947

 
20,721

General and administrative
24,647

 
18,904

Total operating expenses
85,038

 
65,819

Income from operations
31,643

 
13,798

Other (expense) income:
 
 
 
Interest expense
(4,653
)
 
(3,764
)
Interest and other income
3,385

 
1,097

Foreign exchange gain
1,062

 
1,850

Total other expense
(206
)
 
(817
)
Income before income taxes
31,437

 
12,981

Benefit (provision) for income taxes
142

 
(14
)
Net income
$
31,579

 
$
12,967

Net income per share attributable to common stockholders:
 
 
 
Basic
$
0.26

 
$
0.11

Diluted
$
0.24

 
$
0.10

Weighted-average common shares outstanding:
 
 
 
Basic
119,679,149

 
121,267,092

Diluted
130,237,875

 
125,772,315

 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these Consolidated Financial Statements

5

Table of Contents

Etsy, Inc.

Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income (Unaudited)
(In thousands)
 
 
Three Months Ended 
 March 31,
 
2019
 
2018
Net income
$
31,579

 
$
12,967

Other comprehensive (loss) income:
 
 
 
Cumulative translation adjustment
(1,061
)
 
124

Unrealized gains (losses) on marketable securities, net of tax of $0 in both periods
99

 
(26
)
Total other comprehensive (loss) income
(962
)
 
98

Comprehensive income
$
30,617

 
$
13,065



The accompanying notes are an integral part of these Consolidated Financial Statements

6

Table of Contents

Etsy, Inc.

Consolidated Statement of Changes in Stockholders’ Equity (Unaudited)
(In thousands except share amounts)

 
Common Stock
 
Additional
Paid-in Capital
 
Accumulated Deficit
 
Accumulated Other Comprehensive Loss
 
Total
 
 
Shares
 
Amount
Balance as of December 31, 2018
119,771,702

 
$
120

 
$
562,033

 
$
(153,442
)
 
$
(7,813
)
 
$
400,898

Cumulative effect adjustment related to the adoption of the leasing standard

 

 

 
7,116

 

 
7,116

Stock-based compensation

 

 
8,616

 

 

 
8,616

Exercise of vested options
534,693

 
1

 
5,929

 

 

 
5,930

Vesting of restricted stock units, net of shares withheld
159,403

 

 
(5,672
)
 

 

 
(5,672
)
Stock repurchase
(532,412
)
 
(1
)
 

 
(27,491
)
 

 
(27,492
)
Other comprehensive loss

 

 

 

 
(962
)
 
(962
)
Net income

 

 

 
31,579

 

 
31,579

Balance as of March 31, 2019
119,933,386

 
$
120

 
$
570,906

 
$
(142,238
)
 
$
(8,775
)
 
$
420,013

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 


 
Common Stock
 
Additional
Paid-in Capital
 
Accumulated Deficit
 
Accumulated Other Comprehensive Loss
 
Total
 
 
Shares
 
Amount
Balance as of December 31, 2017
121,769,238

 
$
122

 
$
499,441

 
$
(96,290
)
 
$
(6,379
)
 
$
396,894

Stock-based compensation

 

 
6,704

 

 

 
6,704

Exercise of vested options
887,906

 
1

 
10,248

 

 

 
10,249

Issuance of convertible senior notes, net of issuance costs and taxes

 

 
54,184

 

 

 
54,184

Purchase of capped call, net of taxes

 

 
(26,243
)
 

 

 
(26,243
)
Vesting of restricted stock units, net of shares withheld
104,849

 

 
(1,780
)
 

 

 
(1,780
)
Stock repurchase
(2,807,393
)
 
(3
)
 

 
(68,583
)
 

 
(68,586
)
Other comprehensive income

 

 

 

 
98

 
98

Net income

 

 

 
12,967

 

 
12,967

Balance as of March 31, 2018
119,954,600

 
$
120

 
$
542,554

 
$
(151,906
)
 
$
(6,281
)
 
$
384,487

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 


 
 The accompanying notes are an integral part of these Consolidated Financial Statements

7

Table of Contents

Etsy, Inc.

Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows (Unaudited)
(In thousands)
 
Three Months Ended 
 March 31,
 
2019
 
2018
Cash flows from operating activities
 
 
 
Net income
$
31,579

 
$
12,967

Adjustments to reconcile net income to net cash provided by operating activities:
 
 
 
Stock-based compensation expense
8,082

 
6,454

Depreciation and amortization expense
10,142

 
6,320

Bad debt expense
1,182

 
912

Foreign exchange gain
(171
)
 
(2,102
)
Other non-cash losses, net
2,928

 
1,115

Deferred income taxes
(142
)
 
91

Changes in operating assets and liabilities:
 
 
 
Current assets
(48,293
)
 
(4,317
)
Non-current assets
1,008

 
7

Current liabilities
25,815

 
2,627

Non-current liabilities
(672
)
 
2,095

Net cash provided by operating activities
31,458

 
26,169

Cash flows from investing activities
 
 
 
Purchases of property and equipment
(683
)
 
(192
)
Development of internal-use software
(3,390
)
 
(3,097
)
Purchases of marketable securities
(158,883
)
 
(59,811
)
Sales of marketable securities
140,952

 
17,447

Net cash used in investing activities
(22,004
)
 
(45,653
)
Cash flows from financing activities
 
 
 
Payment of tax obligations on vested equity awards
(5,672
)
 
(1,780
)
Repurchase of stock
(27,492
)
 
(68,586
)
Proceeds from exercise of stock options
5,930

 
10,249

Proceeds from issuance of convertible senior notes

 
345,000

Payment of debt issuance costs
(1,192
)
 
(9,127
)
Purchase of capped call

 
(34,224
)
Payments on finance lease obligations
(2,745
)
 
(1,850
)
Payments on facility financing obligation

 
(3,122
)
Other financing, net
1,864

 
(2,724
)
Net cash (used in) provided by financing activities
(29,307
)
 
233,836

Effect of exchange rate changes on cash
(1,458
)
 
4,061

Net (decrease) increase in cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash
(21,311
)
 
218,413

Cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash at beginning of period
372,326

 
320,783

Cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash at end of period
$
351,015


$
539,196


8

Table of Contents

Etsy, Inc.

Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows (Unaudited)
(In thousands)
 
Three Months Ended 
 March 31,
 
2019
 
2018
Supplemental non-cash disclosures:
 
 
 
Stock-based compensation capitalized in development of capitalized software
$
534

 
$
250

Additions to development of internal-use software and property and equipment included in accounts payable and accrued expenses
$
1,180

 
$
1,535

Additions to intangible assets included in other current liabilities
$
1,348

 
$

Debt issuance costs included in accounts payable and accrued expenses
$
200

 
$
977

Right-of-use assets obtained in exchange for new lease liabilities:
 
 
 
Finance leases
$
202

 
$
29

The following table provides a reconciliation of cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash reported within the Consolidated Balance Sheets that sum to the total of the same such amounts shown above:
 
Three Months Ended 
 March 31,
 
2019
 
2018
Beginning balance:
 
 
 
Cash and cash equivalents
$
366,985

 
$
315,442

Restricted cash
5,341

 
5,341

Total cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash
$
372,326

 
$
320,783

 
 
 
 
Ending balance:
 
 
 
Cash and cash equivalents
$
345,674

 
$
533,855

Restricted cash
5,341

 
5,341

Total cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash
$
351,015

 
$
539,196

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these Consolidated Financial Statements

9

Table of Contents

Etsy, Inc.

Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements
Note 1—Basis of Presentation and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies
Description of Business
Etsy, Inc. (the “Company” or “Etsy”) is the global marketplace for unique and creative goods. The Company generates revenue primarily from transaction and listing fees, Etsy Payments fees, Promoted Listing fees, Etsy Shipping Label sales, Pattern fees, and Etsy Plus subscription fees.
Basis of Consolidation
The Consolidated Financial Statements include the accounts of Etsy and its wholly-owned subsidiaries. All intercompany balances and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation.
Unaudited Interim Financial Information
The accompanying Consolidated Balance Sheet as of March 31, 2019, the Consolidated Statements of Operations and Comprehensive Income for the three months ended March 31, 2019 and 2018, the Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows for the three months ended March 31, 2019 and 2018 and the Consolidated Statement of Changes in Stockholders’ Equity for the three months ended March 31, 2019 and 2018 are unaudited. The unaudited interim financial statements have been prepared on the same basis as the annual Consolidated Financial Statements except for reclassifications described above and new accounting standards adopted as of January 1, 2019 as disclosed below, and, in the opinion of management, reflect all adjustments, which include only normal recurring adjustments, necessary to state fairly the Company’s financial position as of March 31, 2019, results of operations for the three months ended March 31, 2019 and 2018 and cash flows for the three months ended March 31, 2019 and 2018. The results for these interim periods are not necessarily indicative of the results to be anticipated for the full annual period or any future period. The financial data and the other information disclosed in these Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements related to these three month periods are unaudited. These unaudited interim financial statements should be read in conjunction with the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on February 28, 2019 (the “Annual Report”).
During the first quarter of 2019, the Company adopted the accounting principles outlined within ASU 2016-02—Leases, as described below. There have been no additional material changes in the Company’s significant accounting policies from those that were disclosed in the Annual Report.
Use of Estimates
The preparation of the Company’s Consolidated Financial Statements in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“GAAP”) requires management to make estimates and judgments that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets, liabilities, and equity at the date of the Consolidated Financial Statements and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting period. The accounting estimates that require management’s most difficult and subjective judgments include: for revenue recognition, determining the nature and timing of satisfaction of performance obligations and stand-alone selling price for use in allocating the subscription price; leases, the incremental borrowing rate; income taxes, including the estimate of annual effective tax rate at interim periods, assessment of valuation allowances, and evaluation of uncertain tax positions; website development costs and internal-use software; purchase price allocations for business combinations and contingent consideration; valuation of goodwill and intangible assets; stock-based compensation; and fair value of financial instruments. The Company evaluates its estimates and judgments on an ongoing basis and revises them when necessary. Actual results may differ from the original or revised estimates.

10

Table of Contents

Etsy, Inc.
Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements

Revenue Recognition
The Company’s revenue is diversified; generated from a mix of marketplace activities and other optional services to help Etsy sellers to generate more sales and scale their businesses. Revenues are recognized as the Company transfers control of promised goods or services to Etsy sellers, in an amount that reflects the consideration the Company expects to be entitled to in exchange for those goods or services. The Company evaluates whether it is appropriate to recognize revenue on a gross or net basis based upon its evaluation of whether the Company obtains control of the specified goods or services by considering if it is primarily responsible for fulfillment of the promise, has inventory risk, and has the latitude in establishing pricing and selecting suppliers, among other factors. Based on its evaluation of these factors, revenue is recorded either gross or net of costs associated with the transaction. With the exception of Etsy Shipping Labels, the Company’s revenues are recognized on a gross basis. Sales and usage-based taxes are excluded from revenues.
See “Note 2—Revenue” for additional information regarding revenue recognition.
Income Taxes
The Company’s income tax (provision) benefit for interim periods is determined using an estimate of its annual effective tax rate adjusted for discrete items, if any, for relevant interim periods. The Company updates its estimate of the annual effective tax rate each quarter and makes cumulative adjustments if its estimated annual tax rate changes.
The Company’s quarterly tax provision and quarterly estimate of its annual effective tax rate are subject to significant variations due to several factors, including variability in predicting its pretax and taxable income and the mix of jurisdictions to which those relate, changes of expenses or losses for which tax benefits are not recognized, recording of excess tax benefits related to stock-based compensation and changes in the laws, regulations, and administrative practices of the jurisdictions in which the Company operates.
Net Income Per Share
Basic net income per share attributable to common stockholders is computed by dividing the net income attributable to common stockholders by the weighted-average number of common shares outstanding for the period. Diluted net income per share is computed by dividing net income for the period by the weighted-average number of shares of common stock and potentially dilutive common stock outstanding during the period. Net income in the diluted net income per share calculation is adjusted for income or loss from fair value adjustments on instruments accounted for as liabilities, but which may be settled in shares. The dilutive effect of outstanding options and stock-based compensation awards is reflected in diluted net income per share by application of the treasury stock method. Since the Company expects to settle in cash the principal outstanding under the 0% Convertible Senior Notes due 2023 the Company issued in March 2018 (the “Notes,” see “Note 10—Debt”), it uses the treasury stock method when calculating the potential dilutive effect of the conversion spread on diluted net income per share, if applicable. The conversion spread will have a dilutive impact on diluted net income per share of common stock when the average market price of the Company’s common stock for a given period exceeds the conversion price of $36.27 per share.
The calculation of diluted net income per share excludes all anti-dilutive common shares.
Cash, Cash Equivalents, and Short-term Investments
The Company considers all investments with an original maturity of three months or less at time of purchase to be cash equivalents. Cash restricted by third parties is not considered cash and cash equivalents. Short-term investments, consisting primarily of commercial paper, U.S. government and agency securities, and corporate bonds with original maturities of greater than three months but less than one year when purchased, are classified as available-for-sale and are reported at fair value using the specific identification method. Unrealized gains and losses are excluded from earnings and reported as a component of other comprehensive income (loss), net of related estimated income tax provisions or benefits.

11

Table of Contents

Etsy, Inc.
Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements

The following table provides cash, cash equivalents, and short-term investments within the Consolidated Balance Sheets as of the dates indicated (in thousands):
 
As of
March 31,
2019
 
As of
December 31,
2018
Cash and cash equivalents
$
345,674

 
$
366,985

Short-term investments
276,432

 
257,302

Total cash, cash equivalents, and short-term investments
$
622,106

 
$
624,287

Leases
At the inception of an arrangement, the Company determines whether the arrangement is or contains a lease based on the unique facts and circumstances present. Operating leases are included in other assets, other current liabilities, and other liabilities on our Consolidated Balance Sheets. Finance leases are included in property and equipment, net, finance lease obligations, current, and finance lease obligations, net of current portion on the Company’s Consolidated Balance Sheets.  
Most leases with a term greater than one year are recognized on the Consolidated Balance Sheet as right-of-use assets (“ROU”), lease obligations and, if applicable, long-term lease obligations in the line items cited above. The Company has elected not to recognize leases with terms of one year or less on the Consolidated Balance Sheets. Lease obligations and their corresponding right-of-use assets are recorded based on the present value of lease payments over the expected lease term. As the interest rate implicit in lease contracts is typically not readily determinable, the Company utilizes the appropriate incremental borrowing rate, which is the rate incurred to borrow on a collateralized basis over a similar term an amount equal to the lease payments in a similar economic environment. Certain adjustments to the right-of-use asset may be required for items such as initial direct costs paid or incentives received. The lease term may include options to extend or terminate the lease when it is reasonably certain that the Company will exercise that option.
The components of a lease should be split into three categories: lease components, including land, building, or other similar components; non-lease components, including common area maintenance, maintenance, consumables, or other similar components; and non-components, including property taxes, insurance, or other similar components. However, the Company has elected to combine lease and non-lease components as a single component. The lease expense is recognized over the expected term on a straight-line basis.
Recently Issued Accounting Pronouncements
In January 2016, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued ASU 2016-13—Financial Instruments—Credit Losses, and additional changes, modifications, clarifications, or interpretations related to this guidance thereafter, which require a reporting entity to estimate credit losses on certain types of financial instruments, and present assets held at amortized cost and available-for-sale debt securities at the amount expected to be collected. The new guidance is effective for annual and interim periods beginning after December 15, 2019, and early adoption is permitted. The Company is currently evaluating the impact of the new guidance on its Consolidated Financial Statements.
In August 2018, the FASB issued ASU 2018-15—Customer’s Accounting for Implementation Costs Incurred in a Cloud Computing Arrangement That Is a Service Contract, which aligns the requirements for capitalizing implementation costs incurred in a hosting arrangement that is a service contract with the requirements for capitalizing implementation costs incurred to develop or obtain internal-use software. The new guidance is effective for annual and interim periods beginning after December 15, 2019, and early adoption is permitted. The Company is currently evaluating the impact of the new guidance on its Consolidated Financial Statements.
Recently Adopted Accounting Pronouncements
In February 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-02—Leases (Topic 842), and additional changes, modifications, clarifications, or interpretations related to this guidance thereafter, which require a reporting entity to recognize right-of-use assets and lease liabilities on the balance sheet for operating leases to increase the transparency and comparability. Under this new lease standard, most leases are required to be recognized on the balance sheet as right-of-use assets and corresponding lease

12

Table of Contents

Etsy, Inc.
Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements

liabilities. Disclosure requirements have been enhanced with the objective of enabling financial statement users to assess the amount, timing, and uncertainty of cash flows arising from leases.
The Company adopted this standard in the first quarter of 2019, effective as of January 1, 2019, using the modified retrospective approach utilizing transition guidance introduced in ASU 2018-11—Leases: Targeted Improvements, and elected the ‘package of practical expedients’ permitted under the transition guidance within the new standard, which among other things, allowed the Company to carry forward the historical lease identification, classification, and initial direct costs. The Company did not elect the hindsight practical expedient which permits entities to use hindsight in determining the lease term and assessing impairment. The Company also elected to continue to recognize lease payments related to short-term leases as an expense on a straight-line basis over the lease term. Upon adoption, the Company recognized new ROU assets and lease obligations on the Consolidated Balance Sheet for our operating leases of $25.4 million and $27.8 million, respectively. Additionally, upon adoption the Company renamed its capital lease obligations, current and capital lease obligations, net of current to finance lease obligations, current, and finance lease obligations, net of current portion, respectively, in the Consolidated Balance Sheets.
In 2014 the Company applied build-to-suit accounting treatment to its headquarters lease in Brooklyn, New York, as the Company was deemed the accounting owner of the construction project because of the Company’s involvement in the build-out of the space. Upon transition, the Company derecognized the facility financing obligation and related building assets recorded as a result of the failed sale and leaseback transactions and recorded any difference as a cumulative-effect adjustment to accumulated deficit. The adoption of this standard had a material impact on the Company’s financial position but did not and is not expected to significantly affect the Company’s results of operations. The Company has derecognized the existing facility financing obligation and existing building asset for sale-leaseback transactions that currently do not qualify for sale accounting of $60.0 million and $51.1 million, respectively, and $22.1 million was reclassified from building to leasehold improvements and will be amortized over the remaining term of the lease. The Company recognized a gain of $9.3 million, offset by a tax impact of $2.2 million associated with this change through accumulated deficit as of January 1, 2019, with a net decrease to accumulated deficit of $7.1 million, and recognized a new ROU asset of $66.7 million and a lease liability in the same amount on the Consolidated Balance Sheets for the associated lease, which is accounted for as a financing lease.
In July 2018, FASB issued ASU 2018-09—Codification Improvements, which clarifies, corrects and makes minor improvements across multiple topics in the codification. The transition and effective dates are based on the facts and circumstances of each amendment, with some amendments becoming effective upon issuance of the update, and others becoming effective for annual periods beginning after December 15, 2018. The amendments that were effective upon issuance of the update did not have an impact on the Company’s Consolidated Financial Statements. The Company adopted this standard in the first quarter of 2019 noting that the adoption of the standard had no material impact on its Consolidated Financial Statements.
Note 2—Revenue

The following table summarizes revenue by type of service for the periods presented (in thousands):
 
Three Months Ended 
 March 31,
 
2019
 
2018
Marketplace revenue
$
126,130

 
$
87,967

Services revenue
42,171

 
32,605

Other revenue
1,038

 
340

Revenue
$
169,339

 
$
120,912

Marketplace Revenue: As members of the Etsy marketplace, Etsy sellers receive the benefit of marketplace activities, including listing items for sale, completing sales transactions, and payments processing, which represents a single stand-ready performance obligation. Etsy sellers pay a fixed listing fee of $0.20 for each item listed on Etsy.com for a period of four months or, if earlier, until a sale occurs. Variable fees include the 5% transaction fee that an Etsy seller pays for each completed transaction, inclusive of shipping fees charged, and Etsy Payments fees for processing payments, including foreign currency payments. On July 16, 2018, the Company increased the seller transaction fee from 3.5% to 5% of each completed transaction, and now applies it to the cost of shipping in addition to the cost of the item. Etsy Payments processing fees vary between 3 -

13

Table of Contents

Etsy, Inc.
Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements

4.5% of an item’s total sale price, including shipping, plus a flat fee per order, depending on the country in which a seller’s bank account is located. When a foreign currency payment is processed, an additional 2.5 - 5% transaction fee is applied.
The listing fee is recognized ratably over a four-month listing period, unless the item is sold or the seller re-lists it, at which time any remaining listing fee is recognized. The transaction fee and Etsy Payments fees are recognized when the corresponding transaction is consummated. Listing fees are nonrefundable while transaction fees and Etsy Payments fees are recorded net of refunds.
Services revenue: Services revenue is derived from optional services offered to Etsy sellers, which include Promoted Listings, Etsy Shipping Labels, Pattern, and Etsy Plus. Each service below represents an individual obligation that the Company must perform when an Etsy seller chooses to use the service.
Revenue from Promoted Listings, the Company’s on-site advertising service, consists of cost-per-click fees an Etsy seller pays for prominent placement of her listings in search results in the Company’s marketplace. Promoted Listings fees are based on an auction system, which utilizes the budget that each Etsy seller sets when using Promoted Listings to determine the cost-per-click fee. Promoted Listing fees are nonrefundable and are charged to a seller’s Etsy bill when the Promoted Listing is clicked, at which time revenue is recognized.
Revenue from Etsy Shipping Labels consists of fees an Etsy seller pays the Company when she purchases shipping labels through its platform, net of the cost the Company incurs in purchasing those shipping labels. The Company provides its sellers access to purchase shipping labels at discounted pricing due to the volume of purchases through its platform. The Company recognizes Etsy Shipping Label revenue when an Etsy seller purchases a shipping label. The Company recognizes Etsy Shipping Label revenue on a net basis as it is an agent in this arrangement and does not take control of shipping labels prior to transferring the labels to the Etsy Seller. Etsy Shipping Label revenue is recorded net of refunds.
Revenue from Pattern consists of monthly subscription fees an Etsy seller pays to use the Company’s custom website services. The Company recognizes revenue from Pattern ratably over the term of the subscription. The Pattern subscription fee is $15 per month and is nonrefundable.
Revenue from Etsy Plus consists of monthly subscription fees an Etsy seller pays for enhanced tools and credits for use on the Company’s platform. The Etsy Plus subscription fee is $10 per month and is nonrefundable. Each feature represents its own distinct performance obligation. The Company allocates subscription revenue based on the relative actual or estimated stand-alone selling price of the features included in the Etsy Plus offering. Each performance obligation is recognized in accordance with how the benefit is transferred to the customer.
Other revenue: Other revenue typically includes revenue generated from commercial partnerships, which are recognized as the customer in each contract consumes the benefit of the service Etsy provides in each arrangement.
Contract balances
Deferred revenues
The Company records deferred revenues when cash payments are received or due in advance of the completion of the listing or subscription period, which represents the value of the Company’s unsatisfied performance obligations. Deferred listing revenue is recognized ratably over the remainder of the four-month listing period, unless the item is sold or the seller re-lists it, at which time any remaining listing fee is recognized.
Deferred Etsy Plus subscription revenues related to the enhanced features noted above are recognized ratably over the 30-day subscription period. Credits for Promoted Listings are recognized when used, or when the 30-day subscription period expires. Credits for listing fees are recognized over the 4-month listing period when used, and any unused credits are recognized when the 30-day subscription period expires. The amount of revenue recognized in the three months ended March 31, 2019 that was included in the deferred balance at the beginning of the period was $7.1 million.

14

Table of Contents

Etsy, Inc.
Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements

Note 3—Income Taxes
On December 22, 2017, the U.S. government enacted The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (“The TCJA”) which includes significant changes to the taxation of business entities. These changes include, among others, (1) a permanent reduction to the corporate income tax rate, (2) a partial limitation on the deductibility of business interest expense (“163(j) Interest Limitation”), and (3) a shift of the U.S. taxation of multinational corporations from a tax on worldwide income to a quasiterritorial system (along with certain rules designed to prevent erosion of the U.S. income tax base).
Effective January 1, 2018, the Company is subject to several provisions of The TCJA including computations under Global Intangible Low Taxed Income (“GILTI”) and Foreign Derived Intangible Income (“FDII”). For the GILTI and FDII computations, the Company recorded tax expense using the current available regulations and the technical guidance on the interpretations of The TCJA. The Company has recorded the impacts of The TCJA in our effective tax rate for the three months ended March 31, 2019 and have elected to treat taxes due on future U.S. inclusions in taxable income related to GILTI using the period cost method.
The Company will continue to monitor the forthcoming regulations and additional guidance of the GILTI, FDII and Base Erosion and Anti-Abuse Tax (“BEAT”) provisions under the TCJA, which are complex and subject to continuing regulatory interpretations by the IRS.
The amount of unrecognized tax benefits included in the Consolidated Balance Sheets increased $1.1 million in the three months ended March 31, 2019, from $18.8 million at December 31, 2018 to $19.9 million at March 31, 2019. The total amount of unrecognized tax benefits that, if recognized, would favorably affect the effective tax rate is $19.9 million at March 31, 2019.
The Company recognizes interest and/or penalties related to uncertain tax positions in income tax expense. For the three months ended March 31, 2019 $0.1 million was included in tax expense for interest and penalties. The amount of interest and penalties accrued as of December 31, 2018 was approximately $0.5 million.
Note 4—Net Income Per Share
The following table presents the calculation of basic and diluted net income per share for periods presented (in thousands except share and per share amounts):
 
Three Months Ended 
 March 31,
 
2019
 
2018
Numerator:
 
 
 
Net income
$
31,579

 
$
12,967

Net income allocated to participating securities under the two-class method
(15
)
 
(13
)
Net income applicable to common stockholders—basic
31,564

 
12,954

Dilutive effect of net income allocated to participating securities under the two-class method
15

 
13

Net income attributable to common stockholders—diluted
$
31,579

 
$
12,967

 
 
 
 
Denominator:
 
 
 
Weighted-average common shares outstanding—basic (1)
119,679,149

 
121,267,092

Dilutive effect of assumed conversion of options to purchase common stock
4,849,246

 
2,836,429

Dilutive effect of assumed conversion of restricted stock units
1,970,865

 
1,608,854

Dilutive effect of assumed conversion of convertible debt
3,720,694

 

Dilutive effect of assumed conversion of restricted stock from acquisition
17,921

 
59,940

Weighted-average common shares outstanding—diluted
130,237,875

 
125,772,315

 
 
 
 
Net income per share attributable to common stockholders—basic
$
0.26

 
$
0.11

Net income per share attributable to common stockholders—diluted
$
0.24

 
$
0.10

(1)
23,759 shares of unvested stock are considered participating securities and are excluded from basic shares outstanding for the three months ended March 31, 2019.

15

Table of Contents

Etsy, Inc.
Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements

The following potential common shares were excluded from the calculation of diluted net income per share attributable to common stockholders because their effect would have been anti-dilutive for the periods presented:
 
Three Months Ended 
 March 31,
 
2019
 
2018
Stock options
111,444

 
225,099

Restricted stock units
174,681

 
428,846

Total anti-dilutive securities
286,125

 
653,945

Note 5—Segment and Geographic Information
The Company has determined it operates as one operating and reportable segment for purposes of allocating resources and evaluating financial performance.
Revenue by country is based on the billing address of the seller. The following table summarizes revenue, income (loss) before income taxes, and net income (loss) by geographic area for the periods presented (in thousands):
 
Three Months Ended 
 March 31,
 
2019
 
2018
United States
$
113,264

 
$
84,923

International
56,075

 
35,989

Revenue
$
169,339

 
$
120,912

 
 
 
 
United States (1)
$
4,995

 
$
(2,265
)
International
26,442

 
15,246

Income (loss) before income taxes
$
31,437

 
$
12,981

 
 
 
 
United States (1)
$
8,692

 
$
(2,018
)
International
22,887

 
14,985

Net income (loss)
$
31,579

 
$
12,967

(1)
The United States loss before income taxes and net loss in the three months ended March 31, 2018 was primarily driven by interest associated with the build-to-suit lease accounting related to our corporate headquarters and non-cash interest expense related to the amortization of debt discount and transaction costs in connection with the convertible debt issued in the first quarter of 2018.
No individual country’s revenue other than the United States exceeded 10% of total revenue for the periods presented. All significant long-lived assets are located in the United States.

16

Table of Contents

Etsy, Inc.
Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements

Note 6—Fair Value Measurements
The Company has characterized its investments in marketable securities, based on the priority of the inputs used to value the investments, into a three-level fair value hierarchy. The fair value hierarchy gives the highest priority to quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities (Level 1), and lowest priority to unobservable inputs (Level 3). If the inputs used to measure the investments fall within different levels of the hierarchy, the categorization is based on the lowest level input that is significant to the fair value measurement of the investment. Investments recorded in the accompanying Consolidated Balance Sheet are categorized based on the inputs to valuation techniques as follows:
Level 1—These are investments where values are based on unadjusted quoted prices for identical assets in an active market that the Company has the ability to access.
Level 2—These are investments where values are based on quoted market prices in markets that are not active or model derived valuations in which all significant inputs are observable in active markets.
Level 3—These are financial instruments where values are derived from techniques in which one or more significant inputs are unobservable.
The following are the major categories of assets measured at fair value on a recurring basis as of March 31, 2019 and December 31, 2018 (in thousands):

 
As of March 31, 2019
 
Level 1
 
Level 2
 
Level 3
 
Total
Assets
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Cash equivalents:
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Commercial paper
$

 
$
12,994

 
$

 
$
12,994

Corporate bonds

 
8,565

 

 
8,565

Money market funds
232,218

 

 

 
232,218

 
232,218

 
21,559

 

 
253,777

Short-term investments:
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Commercial paper

 
117,824

 

 
117,824

Corporate bonds

 
48,250

 

 
48,250

U.S. Government and agency securities
110,358

 

 

 
110,358

 
110,358

 
166,074

 

 
276,432

Funds receivable and seller accounts:
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Money market funds
24,258

 

 

 
24,258

 
24,258

 

 

 
24,258

 
$
366,834

 
$
187,633

 
$

 
$
554,467


17

Table of Contents

Etsy, Inc.
Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements

 
As of December 31, 2018
 
Level 1
 
Level 2
 
Level 3
 
Total
Assets
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Cash equivalents:
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Commercial paper
$

 
$
7,775

 
$

 
$
7,775

Money market funds
244,856

 

 

 
244,856

 
244,856

 
7,775

 

 
252,631

Short-term investments:
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Commercial paper

 
147,860

 

 
147,860

Corporate bonds

 
46,801

 

 
46,801

U.S. Government and agency securities
62,641

 

 

 
62,641

 
62,641

 
194,661

 

 
257,302

Funds receivable and seller accounts:
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Money market funds
9,229

 

 

 
9,229

 
9,229

 

 

 
9,229

 
$
316,726

 
$
202,436

 
$

 
$
519,162

Level 1 instruments include investments in debt securities including money market funds and U.S. government and agency securities, which are valued based on inputs including quotes from broker-dealers or recently executed transactions in the same or similar securities.
Level 2 instruments include investments in debt securities, including fixed-income funds consisting of investments in commercial paper and corporate bonds, which are valued based on quoted market prices in markets that are not active or model derived valuations in which all significant inputs are observable in active markets.
The Company did not have any Level 3 instruments as of March 31, 2019 and December 31, 2018.
See “Note 7—Marketable Securities” for additional information on the Company’s marketable securities measured at fair value.

Disclosure of Fair Values

The Company’s financial instruments that are not remeasured at fair value include the Notes (see “Note 10—Debt”). The Company estimates the fair value of the Notes through consideration of quoted market prices of similar instruments, classified as Level 2 as described above. The estimated fair value of the Notes was $292.2 million and $279.1 million as of March 31, 2019 and December 31, 2018, respectively. The estimated fair value of the Notes was determined through consideration of quoted market prices for similar instruments.

18

Table of Contents

Etsy, Inc.
Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements

Note 7—Marketable Securities
Short-term investments and certain cash equivalents consist of investments in debt securities that are available-for-sale. The cost and fair value of available-for-sale securities were as follows as of the dates indicated (in thousands):
 
Cost
 
Gross
Unrealized
Holding Loss
 
Gross
Unrealized
Holding Gain
 
Fair Value
March 31, 2019
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Cash equivalents:
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Commercial paper
$
12,994

 
$

 
$

 
$
12,994

Corporate bonds
8,565

 

 

 
8,565

 
21,559

 

 

 
21,559

Short-term investments:
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Commercial paper
117,824

 

 

 
117,824

Corporate bonds
48,226

 
(2
)
 
26

 
48,250

U.S. Government and agency securities
110,327

 

 
31

 
110,358

 
276,377

 
(2
)
 
57

 
276,432

 
$
297,936

 
$
(2
)
 
$
57

 
$
297,991

December 31, 2018
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Cash equivalents:
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Commercial paper
$
7,775

 
$

 
$

 
$
7,775

 
7,775

 

 

 
7,775

Short-term investments:
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Commercial paper
147,860

 

 

 
147,860

Corporate bonds
46,836

 
(35
)
 

 
46,801

U.S. Government and agency securities
62,638

 
(9
)
 
12

 
62,641

 
257,334

 
(44
)
 
12

 
257,302

 
$
265,109

 
$
(44
)
 
$
12

 
$
265,077

The Company’s investments in marketable securities consist primarily of investments in debt securities, including U.S. government and agency securities and fixed-income funds. When evaluating investments for other-than-temporary impairment, the Company reviews factors such as length of time and extent to which fair value has been below cost basis, the financial condition of the issuer and the Company’s ability, and intent to hold the investment for a period of time, which may be sufficient for anticipated recovery in market value. The Company evaluates fair values for each individual security in the investment portfolio.
See “Note 6—Fair Value Measurements” for additional information on the Company’s marketable securities measured at fair value.

19

Table of Contents

Etsy, Inc.
Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements

Note 8—Leases
As the lessee, the Company currently leases 225,135 square feet of real estate space for its corporate headquarters located in Brooklyn, New York, under a noncancelable lease that expires in 2026. The Company uses these facilities for its principal administration, technology and development, and engineering activities. The Company also leases office space for its offices in San Francisco, Hudson (New York), Dublin, and London. Additionally, the Company has short-term leases in other locations around the world that meet short-term lease criteria and are not recognized on the Consolidated Balance Sheets. Most leases include one or more options to renew, and the exercise of these options is at the Company’s sole discretion. The Company determined that its options to break or renew would not be reasonably certain in determining the expected lease term, and therefore are not included as part of its right-of-use assets and lease liabilities.
The Company entered into financing lease agreements with Dell Financial Services, LLC. (“DFS”) and ePlus Group, Inc. (“ePlus”) for hosting and computer equipment leases. The leases through DFS have a 36-month term, zero interest and are payable in equal monthly installments with a buy-out option of $1 at the end of the lease term. The leases through ePlus have a 36-month term, interest rate of 3.71%-6.93% and are payable in equal monthly installments with a fair market value or a $1 buy-out option at the end of the lease term depending on the equipment.
In calculating the present value of the lease payments, the Company has elected to utilize its estimated incremental borrowing rate based on the remaining lease term and not the original lease term. The depreciable life of assets and leasehold improvements are limited by the expected lease term.
The elements of lease expense were as follows (in thousands): 
 
Three Months Ended 
 March 31, 2019
Operating lease cost
$
1,277

Finance lease cost:

Amortization of right-of-use assets
3,370

Interest on lease liabilities
870

Total finance lease cost
4,240

Other lease income, net (1)
(59
)
Total lease cost
$
5,458


(1)
Other lease income, net includes short-term sublease income, short-term lease costs, and variable lease costs, which are immaterial.
The following table presents the lease-related assets and liabilities recorded on the Consolidated Balance Sheet (in thousands):
 
As of March 31, 2019
Operating leases:
 
Other assets
$
24,471

Other current liabilities
$
4,247

Other liabilities
22,836

Total operating lease liabilities
$
27,083

 
 
Finance leases:
 
Property and equipment, net
$
68,810

Finance lease obligations—current
$
9,927

Finance lease obligations—net of current portion
59,610

Total finance lease liabilities
$
69,537


20

Table of Contents

Etsy, Inc.
Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements

The following table summarizes the weighted-average remaining lease term and weighted average discount rate for the three months ended March 31, 2019:
 
Three Months Ended 
 March 31, 2019
Weighted average remaining lease term:
 
Operating leases
6.70 years

Finance leases
6.94 years

Weighted average discount rate:
 
Operating leases
4.26
%
Finance leases
4.40
%
Supplemental cash flow information related to leases was as follows (in thousands):
 
Three Months Ended 
 March 31, 2019
Cash paid for amounts included in the measurement of lease liabilities:
 
Operating cash flows used in operating leases
$
(800
)
Operating cash flows used in finance leases
(864
)
Finance cash flows used in finance leases
(2,745
)
Future minimum lease payments under non-cancelable leases for the nine months ending December 31, 2019 and years ending December 31, 202020212022, 2023, and thereafter are as follows (in thousands):
 
Operating Leases
 
Financing Leases
2019
$
3,913

 
$
9,516

2020
4,801

 
11,351

2021
4,192

 
10,911

2022
4,190

 
10,530

2023
4,214

 
10,599

Thereafter
9,782

 
27,715

Total future minimum lease payments
31,092

 
80,622

Less imputed interest
4,009

 
11,085

Total
$
27,083

 
$
69,537


21

Table of Contents

Etsy, Inc.
Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements

The following table represents the Company’s commitments under its previous presentation of its capital, operating, and build-to-suit lease agreements as of December 31, 2018 (in thousands):
 
Capital Lease
Obligations
 
Operating
Leases
 
Build-to-Suit
Lease
Periods ending
 
 
 
 
 
2019
$
4,392

 
$
4,904

 
$
9,451

2020
1,754

 
4,783

 
9,522

2021
481

 
4,185

 
10,354

2022

 
4,180

 
10,520

2023

 
4,205

 
10,599

Thereafter

 
9,760

 
27,715

Total minimum payments required
$
6,627

 
$
32,017

 
$
78,161

Amounts representing interest
648

 
 
 
 
Present value of net minimum payments
5,979

 
 
 
 
Current maturities
3,884

 
 
 
 
Long-term payment obligations
$
2,095

 
 
 
 
Note 9—Accrued Expenses
Accrued expenses consisted of the following as of the dates indicated (in thousands):
 
As of March 31,
2019
 
As of December 31,
2018
Vendor accruals
$
14,576

 
$
17,817

Sales and use tax payable
10,384

 
12,232

Accrued bonus
5,651

 
12,906

Accrued vacation
3,113

 
3,787

Payroll-related liabilities
3,603

 
2,406

Other
2,796

 
10

Total accrued expenses
$
40,123

 
$
49,158

Note 10—Debt
Convertible Debt
In March 2018, the Company issued $345.0 million aggregate principal amount of 0% Convertible Senior Notes due 2023 (the “Notes”) in a private placement to qualified institutional buyers pursuant to Rule 144A under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”). The net proceeds from the sale of the Notes were $335.0 million after deducting the initial purchasers’ discount and offering expenses. The Company used $34.2 million of the net proceeds from the Notes offering to enter into separate capped call transactions (“Capped Call Transactions”) with the initial purchasers and/or their respective affiliates.
During the first quarter of 2019, the closing price of the Company’s common stock exceeded 130% of the applicable conversion price of the Notes on at least 20 of the last 30 consecutive trading days of the quarter; therefore, holders of the Notes may convert their Notes during the second quarter of 2019. As of March 31, 2019, the Company had not received any conversion notices, and, as such, the Notes are not currently redeemable for cash and are therefore classified as long-term debt. As of March 31, 2019, the if-converted value of the Notes was approximately $294.4 million higher than the aggregate principal amount, or $639.4 million, offset in part by the capped call transactions described below.
The Company capitalized $10.0 million of debt issuance costs in connection with the Notes. Non-cash interest expense related to the Notes for the three months ended March 31, 2019 and 2018 was $3.7 million and $1.2 million, respectively. Total unamortized debt issuance costs related to the Notes were $6.3 million and $6.7 million as of March 31, 2019 and December 31, 2018, respectively.

22

Table of Contents

Etsy, Inc.
Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements

The estimated fair value of the Notes was $292.2 million and $279.1 million as of March 31, 2019 and December 31, 2018, respectively. The estimated fair value of the Notes was determined through consideration of quoted market prices for similar instruments. The fair value is classified as Level 2, as defined in “Note 6—Fair Value Measurements.”
As of March 31, 2019, there were no other material changes related to the Notes and Capped Call Transactions compared to that disclosed in the Annual Report.
Credit Agreement
On February 25, 2019, the Company entered into a $200.0 million senior secured revolving credit facility pursuant to a Credit Agreement (the “2019 Credit Agreement”) with lenders party thereto from time to time, and Citibank N.A., as administrative Agent. The 2019 Credit Agreement will mature in February 2024. The 2019 Credit Agreement includes a letter of credit sublimit of $30.0 million and a swingline loan sublimit of $10.0 million.
Borrowings under the 2019 Credit Agreement (other than swingline loans) bear interest, at the Company’s option, at (i) a base rate equal to the highest of (a) the prime rate, (b) the federal funds rate plus 0.50%, and (c) an adjusted LIBOR rate for a one-month interest period plus 1.00%, in each case plus a margin ranging from 0.25% to 0.875% or (ii) an adjusted LIBOR rate plus a margin ranging from 1.25% to 1.875%. Swingline loans under the 2019 Credit Agreement bear interest at the same base rate (plus the margin applicable to borrowings bearing interest at the base rate). These margins are determined based on the senior secured net leverage ratio (defined as secured funded debt, net of unrestricted cash up to $100 million, to EBITDA) for the preceding four fiscal quarter period. The Company is also obligated to pay other customary fees for a credit facility of this size and type, including an unused commitment fee, ranging from 0.20% to 0.35% depending on the Company’s senior secured net leverage ratio, and fees associated with letters of credit. The 2019 Credit Agreement also permits the Company, in certain circumstances, to request an increase in the facility by an amount of up to $100.0 million at the same maturity, pricing and other terms and to request an extension of the maturity date for the facility. In connection with the 2019 Credit Agreement, the Company also paid the lenders certain upfront fees.
The 2019 Credit Agreement contains customary representations and warranties applicable to the Company and its subsidiaries and customary affirmative and negative covenants applicable to the Company and its restricted subsidiaries. The negative covenants include restrictions on, among other things, indebtedness, liens, certain fundamental changes (including mergers), investments, dispositions, restricted payments (including dividends and stock repurchases), prepayments of junior debt, and transactions with affiliates. These restrictions do not prohibit a subsidiary of the Company from making pro rata payments to the Company or any other person that owns an equity interest in such subsidiary. The 2019 Credit Agreement contains financial covenants, that require the Company and its subsidiaries to maintain (i) a secured net leverage ratio not to exceed 3.00 to 1.00, subject to an increase, at the option of the Company, to 3.50 to 1.00 for a specified period of time in the event of certain material acquisitions, tested as of the last day of each fiscal quarter and (ii) an interest coverage ratio (defined as the ratio of EBITDA to cash interest expense) of not less than 2.50 to 1.00, tested for each fiscal quarter.
The 2019 Credit Agreement includes customary events of default, including, but not limited to, nonpayment of principal or interest, breaches of representations and warranties, failure to perform or observe covenants, cross-defaults with certain other indebtedness, final judgments or orders, certain change of control events, and certain bankruptcy-related events or proceedings. Upon the occurrence of an event of default (subject to notice and grace periods), obligations under the 2019 Credit Agreement could be accelerated.

Subject to certain exceptions, to the extent the Company has any material domestic subsidiaries, the obligations under the 2019 Credit Agreement would be required to be guaranteed by such material domestic subsidiaries. The obligations under the 2019 Credit Agreement are secured by all or substantially all of the assets of the Company and any such subsidiary guarantors.
The Company capitalized $1.4 million of debt issuance costs in connection with the 2019 Credit Agreement. Total unamortized debt issuance costs related to the 2019 Credit Agreement were $1.3 million as of March 31, 2019.
At March 31, 2019, the Company did not have any borrowings under the 2019 Credit Agreement, and was in compliance with all financial covenants.

23

Table of Contents

Etsy, Inc.
Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements

Note 11—Commitments and Contingencies
Legal Proceedings
From time to time in the normal course of business, various claims and litigation have been asserted or commenced against the Company. Due to uncertainties inherent in litigation and other claims, the Company can give no assurance that it will prevail in any such matters, which could subject the Company to significant liability for damages. Any claims or litigation, regardless of their success, could have an adverse effect on the Company’s Consolidated Results of Operations or Cash Flows in the period the claims or litigation are resolved. Although the results of litigation and claims cannot be predicted with certainty, we currently believe that the final outcome of these ordinary course matters will not have a material adverse effect on our business.
Note 12—Stockholders’ Equity
On November 1, 2018, the Board of Directors approved a stock repurchase program that enables the Company to repurchase up to $200 million of its common stock. The program does not have a time limit and may be modified, suspended or terminated at any time by the Board of Directors. The number of shares repurchased and the timing of repurchases will depend on a number of factors, including, but not limited to, stock price, trading volume and general market conditions, along with Etsy’s working capital requirements, general business conditions and other factors.
Under the stock repurchase program, the Company was able to purchase shares of its common stock through various means, including open market transactions, privately negotiated transactions, tender offers, or any combination thereof. In addition, open market repurchases of common stock could be made pursuant to trading plans established pursuant to Rule 10b5-1 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, which permitted common stock to be repurchased at a time that the Company might otherwise be precluded from doing so under insider trading laws or self-imposed trading restrictions.
The following table summarizes the Company’s share repurchase activity, excluding shares withheld to satisfy tax withholding obligations in connection with the vesting of employee restricted stock units (in thousands except share and per share amounts):
 
Shares Repurchased
 
Average Price Paid per Share (1)
 
Value of Shares Repurchased (1)
 
Remaining Amount Authorized
Balance as of December 31, 2018
5,032,648

 
$
28.80

 
$
145,000

 
$
155,000

Repurchases of common stock for the three months ended:

 

 

 

March 31, 2019
532,412

 
51.64

 
27,500

 
(27,500
)
Balance as of March 31, 2019
5,565,060

 
$
32.84

 
$
172,500

 
$
127,500

(1) Average price paid per share excludes broker commissions. Value of shares repurchased includes broker commissions.
All repurchased shares of common stock have been retired.

24

Table of Contents

Etsy, Inc.
Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements

Note 13—Stock-based Compensation

During the three months ended March 31, 2019, the Company granted stock options and restricted stock units (“RSUs”) under its 2015 Equity Incentive Plan (“2015 Plan”) and, pursuant to the evergreen increase provision of the 2015 Plan, the Board of Directors approved an increase of 2,395,434 shares to the total number of shares available for issuance under the 2015 Plan effective as of January 2, 2019. At March 31, 2019, 31,831,808 shares were authorized under the 2015 Plan and 20,476,246 shares were available for future grant.
The fair value of options granted in the periods presented below using the Black-Scholes pricing model has been based on the following assumptions:
 
Three Months Ended 
 March 31,
 
2019
 
2018
Volatility
39.5%
 
41.9% - 42.1%
Risk-free interest rate
2.5%
 
2.6% - 2.7%
Expected term (in years)
6.15
 
5.98 - 6.25
Dividend rate
—%
 
—%
 

The following table summarizes the activity for the Company’s options during the three months ended March 31, 2019 (in thousands except share and per share amounts):
 
Shares
 
Weighted-Average Exercise Price
 
Weighted-Average Remaining Contract Term (in years)
 
Aggregate Intrinsic Value
Outstanding at December 31, 2018
6,890,994

 
$
12.91

 
 
 
 
Granted
275,000

 
69.89

 
 
 
 
Exercised
(534,693
)
 
11.09

 
 
 
 
Forfeited/Canceled
(98,150
)
 
28.36

 
 
 
 
Outstanding at March 31, 2019
6,533,151

 
15.23

 
7.85
 
$
340,424

Total exercisable at March 31, 2019
2,954,939

 


 
7.23
 
166,136

The following table summarizes the weighted-average grant date fair value of options granted, intrinsic value of options exercised and fair value of awards vested during the three months ended March 31, 2019 and 2018 (in thousands except per share amounts):
 
Three Months Ended 
 March 31,
 
2019
 
2018
Weighted-average grant date fair value of options granted
$
29.55

 
$
12.31

Intrinsic value of options exercised
28,523

 
9,799

Fair value of awards vested
6,083

 
2,930

The total unrecognized compensation expense at March 31, 2019 related to the Company’s options was $27.1 million, which will be recognized over an estimated weighted-average amortization period of 2.94 years.

25

Table of Contents

Etsy, Inc.
Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements

The following table summarizes the activity for the Company’s unvested RSUs during the three months ended March 31, 2019:
 
Shares
 
Weighted-Average
Grant Date Fair Value
Unvested at December 31, 2018
3,480,368

 
$
22.87

Granted
736,574

 
67.95

Vested
(278,855
)
 
13.54

Forfeited/Canceled
(229,001
)
 
22.88

Unvested at March 31, 2019
3,709,086

 
32.52

The total unrecognized compensation expense at March 31, 2019 related to the Company’s unvested RSUs was $108.6 million, which will be recognized over an estimated weighted-average amortization period of 3.43 years.
Total stock-based compensation expense included in the Consolidated Statements of Operations for the periods presented below is as follows (in thousands):
 
Three Months Ended 
 March 31,
 
2019
 
2018
Cost of revenue
$
1,099

 
$
546

Marketing
631

 
478

Product development
3,520

 
2,639

General and administrative
2,832

 
2,791

Total stock-based compensation expense
$
8,082

 
$
6,454


Total stock-based compensation expense in the three months ended March 31, 2019 and 2018 includes $0.3 million and $0.7 million in acquisition-related stock-based compensation expense, respectively.


26

Table of Contents


Item 2. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.
You should read the following discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations together with our Consolidated Financial Statements and related notes and other financial information included elsewhere in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q and with the audited Consolidated Financial Statements included in our Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on February 28, 2019. This discussion, particularly information with respect to our outlook, our plans and strategy for our business, and our performance and future success, includes forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. Our actual results could differ materially from those discussed below. Factors that could cause or contribute to these differences include those discussed below and elsewhere in this Quarterly Report, particularly in the “Risk Factors” section. For more information regarding key factors affecting our performance, see“Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Key Factors Affecting our Performance” in our Annual Report on Form 10-K, which we incorporate by reference.
Overview
Business
Etsy is the global two-sided marketplace for unique and creative goods. Our mission is to “Keep Commerce Human,” and we’re committed to using the power of business and technology to strengthen communities and empower people around the world. We connect creative entrepreneurs with thoughtful consumers looking for items that are intended to be special, reflect their sense of style, or represent a meaningful occasion.
Our sellers are the heart and soul of Etsy, and our technology platform allows our sellers to turn their creative passions into economic opportunity. We have a seller-aligned business model: we make money when our sellers make money. We offer our sellers a marketplace with millions of buyers along with a range of seller tools and services that are specifically designed to help our creative entrepreneurs generate more sales and scale their businesses.
We are focused on attracting potential buyers to the Etsy marketplace for “special” purchase occasions throughout the year and deepening engagement with our existing buyers by inspiring purchases across multiple categories and special occasions. These special purchase occasions can occur many times throughout the year and include shopping that reflects an individual’s unique style; gifting that demonstrates thought and care; and celebrations that express creativity and fun. Buyers tell us that they come to Etsy because Etsy sellers offer items that they can’t find anywhere else. Special purchase occasions happen throughout the year when a buyer is decorating a home, dressing for an event, celebrating a special moment, or buying a gift for someone special.
Our revenue is diversified, generated from a mix of marketplace activities and other optional services we provide to Etsy sellers to help them generate more sales and scale their businesses.
Marketplace revenue is comprised of the fees an Etsy seller pays us for marketplace activities. Marketplace activities include listing an item for sale, completing transactions between a buyer and a seller, and using Etsy Payments to process payments, including foreign currency payments.
Services revenue is comprised of the fees an Etsy seller pays us for our optional other services (“Services”). Services include Promoted Listings, our on-site advertising service that allows sellers to pay for prominent placement of their listings in search results; Etsy Shipping Labels, which allows sellers in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, and Australia to purchase discounted shipping labels; Pattern, a service that allows sellers to build custom websites; and Etsy Plus, a subscription offering that provides sellers with enhanced tools and credits for use on our platform.
We also generate additional revenue through our commercial partnerships, which is classified as other revenue.
Our strategy is focused on growing our Etsy.com marketplace in our six core geographies and building a sustainable competitive advantage around four areas of our business that we believe differentiate us from our competitors, or what we call our “Right to Win.”
The foundation of Etsy’s competitive advantage is our collection of unique items, which, we believe, when combined with best-in-class search and discovery, human connections, and a trusted brand, will enable us to continue to stand out among other ecommerce platforms and marketplaces. Our investments in product, marketing, and talent will be focused on capitalizing on these four areas of our business. Ultimately, the goal of our long-term strategy is to drive more new buyers to the website, give existing buyers reasons to come back more often, and fuel success for our sellers.

27

Table of Contents


Quarter Highlights
Total revenue was $169.3 million in the three months ended March 31, 2019, driven by growth in both Marketplace and Services revenue. In the three months ended March 31, 2019, we recorded net income of $31.6 million, and non-GAAP Adjusted EBITDA of $49.9 million. See “Non-GAAP Financial Measures” for more information and for a reconciliation of Adjusted EBITDA to net income, the most directly comparable financial measure calculated in accordance with GAAP.
As of March 31, 2019, our marketplace connected 2.2 million active Etsy sellers and 41.0 million active Etsy buyers, in nearly every country in the world. In the three months ended March 31, 2019, Etsy sellers generated GMS of $1.0 billion of which approximately 58% came from purchases made on mobile devices. We are a global company and approximately 38% of our GMS in the three months ended March 31, 2019 came from transactions where either an Etsy seller or an Etsy buyer was located outside of the United States.

Other Operational Highlights

During the first quarter, we continued to build on our sustainable competitive advantage, including the following operational highlights:

Product experiment velocity increased to an all time high during the first quarter. Our initiatives focused on search relevance, listing quality and landing page experience which collectively improved the customer experience and fueled GMS growth.
We continued to develop a search and discovery experience that unlocks the value of the unique items in our marketplace. We improved search relevance by incorporating the item price as one of the many factors that impact listing prominence. We focused on our collection of unique items by enhancing the image quality for listings on desktop, our largest channel by device, which is intended to convert more visits into purchases.
We also focused on growth investments, such as our migration to Google Cloud. During the first quarter of 2019, we began serving our search traffic from Google Cloud, which is a major milestone in our search infrastructure and in our two-year migration plan, which we expect to be complete in early 2020.
Additionally, we progressed on our impact goals, including our ecological goal to build long-term resilience by eliminating our carbon impacts and fostering responsible resource use. In February, we began offsetting 100% of carbon emissions generated by shipping, which represent 98% of Etsy’s total emissions.
Key Operating and Financial Metrics
We collect and analyze operating and financial data to evaluate the health and performance of our business and allocate our resources (such as capital, people, and technology investments). The unaudited key operating and financial metrics we use are:
 
Three Months Ended 
 March 31,
 
% Growth
Y/Y
 
2019
 
2018
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
(in thousands, except percentages)
GMS
$
1,024,028


$
861,075

 
18.9
%
Revenue
$
169,339

 
$
120,912

 
40.1
%
Marketplace revenue
$
126,130

 
$
87,967

 
43.4
%
Services revenue
$
42,171

 
$
32,605

 
29.3
%
Net income
$
31,579

 
$
12,967

 
143.5
%
Adjusted EBITDA
$
49,867

 
$
26,421

 
88.7
%
 
 
 
 
 
 
Active sellers
2,227

 
1,970

 
13.0
%
Active buyers
41,029

 
34,693

 
18.3
%
Percent mobile GMS
58
%
 
54
%
 
400
 bps
Percent international GMS
38
%
 
35
%
 
300
 bps

28

Table of Contents


GMS
Gross merchandise sales (“GMS”) is the dollar value of items sold in our marketplace within the applicable period, excluding shipping fees and net of refunds associated with canceled transactions. GMS does not represent revenue earned by Etsy. GMS is largely driven by transactions in our marketplace and is not directly impacted by Services activity. However, because our revenue and cost of revenue depend significantly on the dollar value of items sold in our marketplace, we believe that GMS is an indicator of the success of Etsy sellers, the satisfaction of Etsy buyers, and the health, scale, and growth of our business.
Adjusted EBITDA
Adjusted EBITDA represents our net income adjusted to exclude: interest and other non-operating expense, net; (benefit) provision for income taxes; depreciation and amortization; stock-based compensation expense; foreign exchange gain and restructuring and other exit income. See “Non-GAAP Financial Measures” for more information regarding our use of Adjusted EBITDA, including its limitations as a financial measure, and for a reconciliation of Adjusted EBITDA to net income, the most directly comparable financial measure calculated in accordance with GAAP.
Active Sellers
An active seller is an Etsy seller who has incurred at least one charge from us in the last 12 months. Charges include Marketplace, Services, and Other Revenue fees discussed in “Note 2—Revenue.” An Etsy seller is identified by a unique e-mail address; a single person can have multiple Etsy seller accounts. We succeed when Etsy sellers succeed, so we view the number of active sellers as a key indicator of the awareness of our brand, the reach of our platform, the potential for growth in GMS and revenue, and the health of our business.
Active Buyers
An active buyer is an Etsy buyer who has made at least one purchase in the last 12 months. An Etsy buyer is identified by a unique e-mail address; a single person can have multiple Etsy buyer accounts. We generate revenue when Etsy buyers order items from Etsy sellers, so we view the number of active buyers as a key indicator of our potential for growth in GMS and revenue, the reach of our platform, awareness of our brand, the engagement and loyalty of Etsy buyers, and the health of our business.
Mobile GMS
Mobile GMS is GMS that results from a transaction completed on a mobile device, such as a tablet or a smartphone. Mobile GMS excludes A Little Market and Etsy Wholesale and orders initiated on mobile devices but ultimately completed on a desktop. When calculating percent mobile GMS, we do not take into account refunds associated with canceled transactions. We believe that mobile GMS indicates our success in converting mobile activity into mobile purchases and demonstrates our ability to grow GMS and revenue.
International GMS
International GMS is GMS from transactions where either the billing address for the Etsy seller or the shipping address for the Etsy buyer at the time of sale is outside of the United States. When calculating percent international GMS, we do not take into account refunds associated with canceled transactions. We believe that international GMS shows the level of engagement of our community outside the United States and demonstrates our ability to grow GMS and revenue.

29

Table of Contents


Currency-Neutral GMS Growth
We calculate currency-neutral GMS growth by translating current period GMS for goods sold that were listed in non-U.S. dollar currencies into U.S. dollars using prior year foreign currency exchange rates.
As reported and currency-neutral GMS growth for the periods presented below is as follows:
 
Quarter-to-Date Period Ended
 
Year-to-Date Period Ended
 
As Reported
 
Currency-Neutral
 
FX Impact
 
As Reported
 
Currency-Neutral
 
FX Impact
March 31, 2019
18.9
%
 
20.6
%
 
(1.7
)%
 
18.9
%
 
20.6
%
 
(1.7
)%
December 31, 2018
22.3
%
 
23.1
%
 
(0.8
)%
 
20.8
%
 
20.4
%
 
0.4
 %
September 30, 2018
20.4
%
 
20.8
%
 
(0.4
)%
 
20.2
%
 
19.2
%
 
1.0
 %
June 30, 2018
20.4
%
 
19.3
%
 
1.1
 %
 
20.1
%
 
18.5
%
 
1.6
 %
March 31, 2018
19.8
%
 
17.6
%
 
2.2
 %
 
19.8
%
 
17.6
%
 
2.2
 %

30

Table of Contents


Results of Operations
The following tables show our results of operations for the periods presented and express the relationship of certain line items as a percentage of revenue for those periods. The period-to-period comparison of financial results is not necessarily indicative of future results. For more information regarding the components of our results of operations, see “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Components of Our Results of Operations” in the Annual Report, which we incorporate by reference.
 
Three Months Ended 
 March 31,
 
2019
 
2018
 
 
 
 
 
(in thousands)
Revenue:
 
 
 
Marketplace
$
126,130

 
$
87,967

Services
42,171

 
32,605

Other
1,038

 
340

Total revenue
169,339

 
120,912

Cost of revenue
52,658

 
41,295

Gross profit
116,681

 
79,617

Operating expenses:
 
 
 
Marketing
35,444

 
26,194

Product development
24,947

 
20,721

General and administrative
24,647

 
18,904

Total operating expenses
85,038

 
65,819

Income from operations
31,643

 
13,798

Other expense, net
(206
)
 
(817
)
Income before income taxes
31,437

 
12,981

Benefit (provision) for income taxes
142

 
(14
)
Net income
$
31,579

 
$
12,967

 
 
 
 
 
Three Months Ended 
 March 31,
 
2019
 
2018
Revenue:
 
 
 
Marketplace
74.5
 %
 
72.8
 %
Services
24.9

 
27.0

Other
0.6

 
0.3

Total revenue
100.0

 
100.0

Cost of revenue
31.1

 
34.2

Gross profit
68.9

 
65.8

Operating expenses:
 
 
 
Marketing
20.9

 
21.7

Product development
14.7

 
17.1

General and administrative
14.6

 
15.6

Total operating expenses
50.2

 
54.4

Income from operations
18.7

 
11.4

Other expense, net
(0.1
)
 
(0.7
)
Income before income taxes
18.6

 
10.7

Benefit (provision) for income taxes
0.1

 

Net income
18.6
 %
 
10.7
 %


31

Table of Contents


Comparison of Three Months Ended March 31, 2019 and 2018
Revenue
 
 
Three Months Ended 
 March 31,
 
Change
 
2019
 
2018
 
$
 
%
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
(in thousands except percentages)
Revenue:
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Marketplace
$
126,130

 
$
87,967

 
$
38,163

 
43.4
%
Percentage of total revenue
74.5
%
 
72.8
%
 
 
 
 
Services
$
42,171

 
$
32,605

 
$
9,566

 
29.3
%
Percentage of total revenue
24.9
%
 
27.0
%
 
 
 
 
Other
$
1,038

 
$
340

 
$
698

 
205.3
%
Percentage of total revenue
0.6
%
 
0.3
%
 
 
 
 
Total revenue
$
169,339

 
$
120,912

 
$
48,427

 
40.1
%
GMS increased $163.0 million, or 18.9%, to $1.0 billion in the three months ended March 31, 2019 compared to the three months ended March 31, 2018. On a currency-neutral basis GMS growth for the three months ended March 31, 2019 would have been 20.6%, or approximately 170 basis points higher than the reported 18.9% growth. Supporting this growth in GMS, active sellers increased 13.0% to 2.2 million, driven in large part by growth in international sellers, and active buyers increased 18.3% to 41.0 million at March 31, 2019 compared to March 31, 2018. In the three months ended March 31, 2019, GMS from new buyers grew 14% year-over-year and represented approximately 17% of overall GMS, a slight decrease compared to last year. In the three months ended March 31, 2019, GMS from repeat buyers grew 21% year-over-year and represented approximately 83% of overall GMS, a slight increase compared to last year.
During the three months ended March 31, 2019, mobile GMS increased as a percentage of total GMS to approximately 58%, up from approximately 54% for the three months ended March 31, 2018. We believe this increase was a result of increased mobile traffic, and, to a lesser extent, continued improvements in our mobile offerings for Etsy buyers.
For the three months ended March 31, 2019, international GMS increased as a percentage of total GMS to approximately 38%, up from approximately 35% for the three months ended March 31, 2018. International GMS was up approximately 28% in the three months ended March 31, 2019 compared to the three months ended March 31, 2018, driven by GMS between U.S. buyers and international sellers and by our fastest growing international trade route, international domestic, which is GMS generated between a non-U.S. buyer and a non-U.S. seller both in the same country. International domestic GMS grew approximately 41% in the three months ended March 31, 2019 compared with the three months ended March 31, 2018. The increase in international GMS was partially offset by decreases related to changes in foreign currency rates year-over-year. On a currency-neutral basis international GMS growth for the three months ended March 31, 2019 would have been 33%. We expect international GMS to continue to grow faster than U.S. GMS on a currency-neutral basis, driven by our global product enhancements and marketing.
Revenue increased $48.4 million, or 40.1%, to $169.3 million in the three months ended March 31, 2019 compared to the three months ended March 31, 2018, of which 74.5% consisted of Marketplace revenue and 24.9% consisted of Services revenue.
Marketplace revenue increased $38.2 million, or 43.4%, to $126.1 million in the three months ended March 31, 2019 compared to the three months ended March 31, 2018. This growth corresponded with a 18.9% increase in GMS to a total of $1.0 billion for the three months ended March 31, 2019. Marketplace revenue increased at a faster rate than GMS primarily due to the increase in transaction revenue in the three months ended March 31, 2019 compared to the three months ended March 31, 2018. Transaction revenue increased 94.0% year-over-year, primarily driven by changes in our pricing model, which drove approximately 79% of the 94.0% increase. Etsy Payments revenue increased 17.8%, largely driven by overall GMS growth trends. The share of GMS processed through our Etsy Payments platform was 85% in the three months ended March 31, 2019, slightly down from 86% in the three months ended March 31, 2018. Listing fee revenue grew 15.9%, driven by overall GMS growth. Listing fee revenue increased at a slower rate than GMS primarily due to the issuance of free listings for promotional activities focused on driving growth in our international markets.
Services revenue increased $9.6 million, or 29.3%, to $42.2 million in the three months ended March 31, 2019 compared to the three months ended March 31, 2018. The growth in Services revenue was primarily driven by an increase in Promoted Listings, up 33.1%. The increase in Promoted Listings revenue was due to higher click volume and overall product enhancements.

32

Table of Contents



Cost of Revenue
 
 
Three Months Ended 
 March 31,
 
Change
 
2019
 
2018
 
$
 
%
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
(in thousands except percentages)
Cost of revenue
$
52,658

 
$
41,295

 
$
11,363

 
27.5
%
Percentage of total revenue
31.1
%
 
34.2
%
 
 
 
 
Cost of revenue increased $11.4 million, or 27.5%, to $52.7 million in the three months ended March 31, 2019 compared to the three months ended March 31, 2018, primarily driven by hosting and bandwidth costs incurred as a result of our migration to the cloud while also maintaining our current infrastructure. The remaining fluctuation was driven by additional costs as a result of the increase in transactions and related revenue generated on the Etsy platform, which was partially offset by savings in credit card fees as a result of the transition to our redesigned payment account known as simplified shop finances in the fourth quarter of 2018. To a lesser extent, employee-related expenses and depreciation and amortization also increased year-over-year. Cost of revenue decreased as a percentage of revenue largely due to changes in our pricing model. We are ahead of schedule with our planned migration to the cloud and continue to expect that it will be completed in early 2020. We now anticipate spending more than $25 million on cloud migration costs in 2019, which includes implementation costs and costs related to cloud usage for growth initiatives.
Operating Expenses
We had 914 total employees on March 31, 2019, compared with 770 total employees on March 31, 2018 and 874 on December 31, 2018.
Marketing
 
 
Three Months Ended 
 March 31,
 
Change
 
2019
 
2018
 
$
 
%
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
(in thousands except percentages)
Marketing
$
35,444

 
$
26,194

 
$
9,250

 
35.3
%
Percentage of total revenue
20.9
%
 
21.7
%
 
 
 
 
Marketing expenses increased $9.3 million, or 35.3%, to $35.4 million in the three months ended March 31, 2019 compared to the three months ended March 31, 2018, primarily as a result of increased spend on digital marketing related to buyer acquisition. GMS from paid channels was 15% of overall GMS in the three months ended March 31, 2019, in line with the three months ended March 31, 2018. GMS from paid channels as a percentage of overall GMS decreased approximately 5% in the three months ended March 31, 2019 compared to the three months ended December 31, 2018, largely as a result of our reduction in direct marketing spend across certain channels. We expect increased direct marketing expense in the second quarter of 2019 compared to the first quarter of 2019 as we test new marketing channels, including television and digital video. We expect to generate incremental GMS from our marketing investments in 2019.

33

Table of Contents


Product development
 
 
Three Months Ended 
 March 31,
 
Change
 
2019
 
2018
 
$
 
%
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
(in thousands except percentages)
Product development
$
24,947

 
$
20,721

 
$
4,226

 
20.4
%
Percentage of total revenue
14.7
%
 
17.1
%
 
 
 
 
Product development expenses increased $4.2 million, or 20.4%, to $24.9 million in the three months ended March 31, 2019 compared to the three months ended March 31, 2018, primarily as a result of an increase in employee-related expenses, including stock-based compensation, mainly the result of an increase in average headcount.
General and administrative
 
 
Three Months Ended 
 March 31,
 
Change
 
2019
 
2018
 
$
 
%
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
(in thousands except percentages)
General and administrative
$
24,647

 
$
18,904

 
$
5,743

 
30.4
%
Percentage of total revenue
14.6
%
 
15.6
%
 
 
 
 
General and administrative expenses increased $5.7 million, or 30.4%, to $24.6 million in the three months ended March 31, 2019 compared to the three months ended March 31, 2018, primarily due to increased amortization expense related to the change in accounting treatment for our Brooklyn headquarters lease associated with the adoption of ASU 2016-02—Leases in the first quarter of 2019. The increase in general and administrative expenses is also driven by increased employee-related expenses, mainly the result of an increase in average headcount.
Other Expense, net
 
 
Three Months Ended 
 March 31,
 
Change
 
2019
 
2018
 
$
 
%
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
(in thousands except percentages)
Other expense, net:
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Interest expense
$
(4,653
)
 
$
(3,764
)
 
$
(889
)
 
23.6
 %
Percentage of total revenue
(2.7
)%
 
(3.1
)%
 
 
 
 
Interest and other income
$
3,385

 
$
1,097

 
$
2,288

 
208.6
 %
Percentage of total revenue
2.0
 %
 
0.9
 %
 
 
 
 
Foreign exchange gain
$
1,062

 
$
1,850

 
$
(788
)
 
(42.6
)%
Percentage of total revenue
0.6
 %
 
1.5
 %
 
 
 
 
Other expense, net
$
(206
)
 
$
(817
)
 
$
611

 
(74.8
)%
Percentage of total revenue
(0.1
)%
 
(0.7
)%
 
 
 
 
Other expense, net was $0.2 million in the three months ended March 31, 2019, which decreased $0.6 million from $0.8 million in the three months ended March 31, 2018. The decrease in expense was primarily driven by increased interest and dividend income related to our investment accounts, partially offset by higher interest expense, mainly non-cash interest related to our convertible debt issued in the first quarter of 2018, and the decrease in non-functional currency intercompany balances, and the change in U.S. Dollar to Euro exchange rates on our intercompany and other non-functional currency balances.

34

Table of Contents


Benefit (Provision) for Income Taxes
 
 
Three Months Ended 
 March 31,
 
Change
 
2019
 
2018
 
$
 
%
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
(in thousands except percentages)
Benefit (provision) for income taxes
$
142

 
$
(14
)
 
$
156

 
(1,114.3
)%
Percentage of total revenue
0.1
%
 
 %
 
 
 
 
Our income tax benefit and provision for the three months ended March 31, 2019 and 2018 was $0.1 million and $0.0 million, respectively. Our tax rate is affected by items that may differ between and among periods.
The primary drivers of our income tax benefit for the three months ended March 31, 2019 were tax on pretax book income of $6.4 million, offset by a discrete tax benefit for stock based compensation of $6.7 million.
The primary driver of our income tax provision for the three months ended March 31, 2018 was the exclusion of certain foreign jurisdictions that were subject to a valuation allowance from the forecasted annual effective tax rate. For both periods, other drivers include a benefit related to our research and development tax credit.

35

Table of Contents


Non-GAAP Financial Measures
Adjusted EBITDA
In this Quarterly Report, we provide Adjusted EBITDA, a non-GAAP financial measure that represents our net income adjusted to exclude: interest and other non-operating expense, net; (benefit) provision for income taxes; depreciation and amortization; stock-based compensation expense; foreign exchange gain; and restructuring and other exit income. Below is a reconciliation of Adjusted EBITDA to net income, the most directly comparable GAAP financial measure.
We have included Adjusted EBITDA because it is a key measure used by our management and Board of Directors to evaluate our operating performance and trends, allocate internal resources, prepare and approve our annual budget, develop short- and long-term operating plans, determine incentive compensation, and assess the health of our business. As our Adjusted EBITDA increases, we are able to invest more in our platform.
We believe that Adjusted EBITDA can provide a useful measure for period-to-period comparisons of our business as it removes the impact of certain non-cash items and certain variable charges.
Adjusted EBITDA has limitations as an analytical tool, and you should not consider it in isolation or as a substitute for analysis of our results as reported under GAAP. Some of these limitations are:
Adjusted EBITDA does not reflect other non-operating expenses, net of other non-operating income, including net interest expense;
Adjusted EBITDA does not reflect tax payments that may represent a reduction in cash available to us;
although depreciation and amortization are non-cash charges, the assets being depreciated and amortized may have to be replaced in the future, and Adjusted EBITDA does not reflect cash capital expenditure requirements for such replacements or for new capital expenditure requirements;
Adjusted EBITDA does not consider the impact of stock-based compensation expense;
Adjusted EBITDA does not consider the impact of foreign exchange gain;
Adjusted EBITDA does not consider the impact of restructuring and other exit income; and
other companies, including companies in our industry, may calculate Adjusted EBITDA differently, which reduces its usefulness as a comparative measure.
Because of these limitations, you should consider Adjusted EBITDA alongside other financial performance measures, including net income and our other GAAP results.

The following table reflects the reconciliation of net income to Adjusted EBITDA for each of the periods indicated:
 
Three Months Ended 
 March 31,
 
2019
 
2018
 
 
 
 
 
(in thousands)
Net income
$
31,579

 
$
12,967

Excluding:
 
 
 
Interest and other non-operating expense, net (1)
1,268

 
2,667

(Benefit) provision for income taxes
(142
)
 
14

Depreciation and amortization (1)
10,142

 
6,320

Stock-based compensation expense (2)
8,082

 
6,454

Foreign exchange gain (3)
(1,062
)
 
(1,850
)
Restructuring and other exit income

 
(151
)
Adjusted EBITDA
$
49,867

 
$
26,421




36

Table of Contents


(1)
Included in interest and depreciation expense amounts above, are interest and depreciation expense related to our headquarters lease. As part of the adoption of ASU 2016-02—Leases in the first quarter of 2019, we now account for our headquarters as a financing lease. Previously, we accounted for our headquarters under build-to-suit accounting requirements. For further information, see “Note 1—Basis of Presentation and Summary of Significant Accounting PoliciesRecently Adopted Accounting Pronouncements” in the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements. In the three months ended March 31, 2019 and 2018 those amounts are as follows:
 
Three Months Ended 
 March 31,
 
2019
 
2018
 
 
 
 
 
(in thousands)
Interest expense
$
696

 
$
2,250

Depreciation
2,197

 
819

(2)
Total stock-based compensation expense included in the Consolidated Statements of Operations is as follows:
 
Three Months Ended 
 March 31,
 
2019
 
2018
 
 
 
 
 
(in thousands)
Cost of revenue
$
1,099

 
$
546

Marketing
631

 
478

Product development
3,520

 
2,639

General and administrative
2,832

 
2,791

Total stock-based compensation expense
$
8,082

 
$
6,454

(3)
See “Results of OperationsOther Expense, net” for more information on the fluctuation in foreign exchange gain in the three months ended March 31, 2019 and 2018.
Liquidity and Capital Resources
The following table shows our cash and cash equivalents, short-term investments, accounts receivable, net, and net working capital as of the date indicated:
 
As of
March 31, 2019
 
(in thousands)
Cash and cash equivalents
$
345,674

Short-term investments
276,432

Accounts receivable, net
10,789

Net working capital
575,326

As of March 31, 2019, our cash and cash equivalents, a majority of which were held in cash deposits and money market funds, were held in the United States for future investments, working capital funding, and general corporate purposes.
We invest in short-term instruments, including fixed-income funds and U.S. Government and agency securities aligned with our investment strategy. These investments are intended to allow us to preserve our principal, maintain the ability to meet our liquidity needs, deliver positive yields across a balanced portfolio, and continue to provide us with direct fiduciary control. In accordance with our investment policy, all investments have maturities no longer than 37 months, with the average maturity of these investments maintained at 12 months or less.
Sources of Liquidity
In March 2018, we issued $345.0 million aggregate principal amount of 0% Convertible Senior Notes due 2023 (the “Notes”) in a private placement to qualified institutional buyers pursuant to Rule 144A under the Securities Act. The initial conversion price of the Notes represented a premium of approximately 37.5% over the price of Etsy’s common stock. The net proceeds from the sale of the Notes were $335.0 million after deducting initial purchasers’ discount and offering expenses. As of March 31, 2019, we had not received any conversion notices, and, as such, the Notes are not currently redeemable for cash

37

Table of Contents


and are therefore classified as long-term debt. For more information on the Notes, see “Note 10—Debt” in the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements.
On February 25, 2019, we entered into a $200.0 million senior secured revolving credit facility pursuant to a Credit Agreement with several lenders (the “2019 Credit Agreement”). The 2019 Credit Agreement will mature in February 2024. The 2019 Credit Agreement includes a letter of credit sublimit of $30.0 million and a swingline loan sublimit of $10.0 million. See “Note 10—Debt” in the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements for additional information.
We believe that our existing cash and cash equivalents and short-term investments, together with cash generated from operations, will be sufficient to meet our anticipated cash needs for at least the next 12 months. Our future capital requirements and the adequacy of available funds will depend on many factors, including those described in our “Risk Factors” in this report.
The majority of our cash and cash equivalents and short-term investments are held in the U.S. We fund our international operations from our funds held in the U.S. on an as-needed basis.
Historical Cash Flows
 
Three Months Ended 
 March 31,
 
2019
 
2018
 
 
 
 
 
(in thousands)
Cash provided by (used in):
 
 
 
Operating activities
$
31,458

 
$
26,169

Investing activities
(22,004
)
 
(45,653
)
Financing activities
(29,307
)
 
233,836

Net Cash Provided by Operating Activities
Our cash flows from operations are largely dependent on the amount of revenue generated on our platform, as well as associated cost of revenue and other operating expenses. Our primary source of cash from operating activities is cash collections from our customers. Net cash provided by operating activities in each period presented has been influenced by changes in accounts receivable, prepaid expenses and other current assets, accounts payable, and accrued liabilities.
Net cash provided by operating activities was $31.5 million in the three months ended March 31, 2019, primarily driven by cash net income of $53.6 million as a result of revenue generated on our platform and changes in our operating assets and liabilities that used $22.1 million in cash, driven by payment timing of payables and prepayments in the period.
Net cash provided by operating activities was $26.2 million in the three months ended March 31, 2018, primarily driven by cash net income of $25.8 million largely as a result of revenue generated on our platform and changes in our operating assets and liabilities that provided $0.4 million in cash.
Net Cash Used in Investing Activities
Our primary investing activities consist of sales, maturities and purchases of short-term marketable securities and capital expenditures, including investments in capitalized website development and internal-use software and purchases of property and equipment to support our overall business growth.
Net cash used in investing activities was $22.0 million in the three months ended March 31, 2019. This was primarily attributable to net purchases of marketable securities of $17.9 million and $4.1 million in capital expenditures, including $3.4 million for website development and internal-use software as we continued to invest in projects adding new features and functionality to the Etsy platform and focused on growth investments, such as our migration to Google Cloud.
Net cash used in investing activities was $45.7 million in the three months ended March 31, 2018. This was primarily attributable to net purchases of marketable securities of $42.4 million and $3.3 million in capital expenditures, including $3.1 million for website development and internal-use software as we continued to invest in projects adding new features and functionality to the Etsy platform, and $0.2 million for purchases of property and equipment.

38

Table of Contents


Net Cash (Used in) Provided by Financing Activities
Our primary financing activities include proceeds from the issuance of the Notes, payments related to capped call transactions (“Capped Call Transactions”) with the initial purchasers and/or their respective affiliates in connection with the Notes, proceeds from exercise of stock options, repurchases of common stock under share repurchase programs, payment of tax obligations on vested equity awards, payments on finance lease obligations and in 2018, payments on our facility financing obligation related to the build-to-suit accounting treatment of our Brooklyn headquarters lease prior to the adoption of ASC 842, Leases.
Net cash used in financing activities was $29.3 million in the three months ended March 31, 2019. This was primarily attributable to stock repurchases under the share repurchase program of $27.5 million and payment of tax obligations on vested equity awards of 5.7 million, partially offset by proceeds from the exercise of stock options of $5.9 million.
Net cash provided by financing activities was $233.8 million in the three months ended March 31, 2018. This was primarily attributable to proceeds from issuance of the Notes of $345.0 million, partially offset by stock repurchases under the share repurchase program of $68.6 million, payments of $34.2 million for the Capped Call Transactions, and $9.1 million of debt issuance cost payments.
Off Balance Sheet Arrangements
As of March 31, 2019, we did not have any off balance sheet arrangements, as defined in Item 303(a)(4)(ii) of Regulation S-K.
Contractual Obligations
On February 25, 2019, we entered into a $200.0 million senior secured revolving credit facility pursuant to a Credit Agreement (the “2019 Credit Agreement”). The 2019 Credit Agreement will mature in February 2024. The 2019 Credit Agreement includes a letter of credit sublimit of $30.0 million and a swingline loan sublimit of $10.0 million. At March 31, 2019, we did not have any borrowings under the 2019 Credit Agreement. For more information on 2019 Credit Agreement, see “Note 10—Debt” in the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements.
As of March 31, 2019, there were no other material changes in commitments under contractual obligations, compared to the contractual obligations disclosed in our Annual Report.
Unrecognized tax benefits totaled $19.9 million and $18.8 million at March 31, 2019 and December 31, 2018, respectively. While the ultimate resolution and timing of these unrecognized tax positions remain uncertain, we do not expect this balance to significantly increase or decrease over the next 12 months.
Critical Accounting Policies and Significant Judgments and Estimates
Our management’s discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations is based on our Consolidated Financial Statements, which have been prepared in accordance with GAAP. The preparation of these Consolidated Financial Statements requires us to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets, liabilities, equity, revenue, expenses, and related disclosures. We evaluate our estimates and assumptions on an ongoing basis. Our estimates are based on historical experience and various other assumptions that we believe to be reasonable under the circumstances. Our actual results could differ from these estimates.
We believe that the assumptions and estimates associated with revenue recognition, determining the nature and timing of satisfaction of performance obligations and stand-alone selling price for use in allocating the subscription price; leases, the incremental borrowing rate; income taxes, including the estimate of annual effective tax rate at interim periods, assessment of valuation allowances, and evaluation of uncertain tax positions; website development costs and internal-use software; purchase price allocations for business combinations and contingent consideration; valuation of goodwill and intangible assets; stock-based compensation; and fair value of financial instruments have the greatest potential impact on our Consolidated Financial Statements. Therefore, we consider these to be our critical accounting policies and estimates.
For information regarding changes to our significant accounting policies, please refer to “Note 1—Basis of Presentation and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies” in the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements. For a summary of our significant accounting policies, see our Annual Report on Form 10-K.

39

Table of Contents


Recent Accounting Pronouncements
For information regarding our recently issued accounting pronouncements and recently adopted accounting pronouncements, please refer to “Note 1—Basis of Presentation and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies” in the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements.
Item 3. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk.
Management believes there have been no material changes to our quantitative and qualitative disclosures about market risks during the three months ended March 31, 2019, compared to those discussed in the Annual Report, except as described below.
Currency Risk

We are a global marketplace. Our revenues are denominated in the currencies of our seller’s ledger currencies, and our operating expenses are denominated in the currencies of the countries in which our operations are located. In addition, in the fourth quarter of 2018, we launched a redesigned payment account and began processing seller charges in our seller’s ledger currencies. Prior to this launch, only Etsy Payments revenues were processed in our seller’s ledger currencies. As a result of transacting business in multiple foreign currencies, primarily the Euro and Pound Sterling, we are subject to the risk of fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates against the U.S. dollar.

In the three months ended March 31, 2019, approximately 19% of our GMS was from goods that were not listed in U.S. dollars and, therefore, subject to currency exchange fluctuations. On a currency-neutral basis, GMS growth for the three months ended March 31, 2019 would have been 20.6%, or approximately 170 basis points higher than the reported 18.9% growth.

In the three months ended March 31, 2018, approximately 16% of our GMS was from goods that were not listed in U.S. dollars and, therefore, subject to currency exchange fluctuations. On a currency-neutral basis, GMS growth for the three months ended March 31, 2018 would have been 17.6%, or approximately 220 basis points lower than the reported 19.8% growth.

On January 1, 2015, we implemented a revised corporate structure to more closely align our structure with our global operations and future expansion plans outside of the United States, which resulted in a U.S. dollar-denominated intercompany debt on a Euro-denominated ledger that was subject to continued currency exchange rate risk through the middle of the fourth quarter of 2017. In the fourth quarter of 2017, we established a new legal entity based in Ireland with a U.S. dollar functional currency to help mitigate the currency rate risk on our intercompany debt.
For the purpose of analyzing foreign currency exchange risk, we considered the historical trends in foreign currency exchange rates and determined that it was reasonably possible that adverse changes in exchange rates of 10% could be experienced in the near term. An adverse 10% foreign currency exchange rate would have resulted in a decrease to revenue of $4.5 million or approximately 2.6% of total revenue and a currency exchange loss of $21.1 million for the three months ended March 31, 2019. This compares to a revenue decrease of $1.1 million or 0.9% of total revenue and currency exchange loss of $28.7 million based on the same analysis performed for the three months ended March 31, 2018.


40

Table of Contents


Item 4. Controls and Procedures.
Evaluation of Disclosure Controls and Procedures
Our management, with the participation of our Chief Executive Officer and our Chief Financial Officer, evaluated the effectiveness of our disclosure controls and procedures as of March 31, 2019. “Disclosure controls and procedures,” as defined in Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e) under the Exchange Act, are designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed by a company in the reports that it files or submits under the Exchange Act is (i) recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified in the Securities and Exchange Commission’s rules and forms and (ii) accumulated and communicated to the company’s management, including its principal executive officer and principal financial officer, as appropriate to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure. Based on the evaluation of our disclosure controls and procedures, our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer concluded that our disclosure controls and procedures were effective as of March 31, 2019 at the reasonable assurance level.
Changes in Internal Control Over Financial Reporting
There were no changes in our internal control over financial reporting identified in connection with the evaluation required by Rule 13a-15(d) or 15d-15(d) of the Exchange Act during the first quarter of 2019 that materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting.
Limitations on Controls
Our disclosure controls and procedures and internal control over financial reporting are designed to provide reasonable assurance of achieving the desired control objectives. Our management recognizes that any control system, no matter how well designed and operated, is based upon certain judgments and assumptions and cannot provide absolute assurance that its objectives will be met. Similarly, an evaluation of controls cannot provide absolute assurance that misstatements due to error or fraud will not occur or that all control issues and instances of fraud, if any, have been detected.

41

Table of Contents


PART II - OTHER INFORMATION
Item 1. Legal Proceedings.
See “Note 11—Commitments and ContingenciesLegal Proceedings” in the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements.
Item 1A. Risk Factors.
Investing in our common stock involves a high degree of risk. You should consider carefully the risks and uncertainties described below, our Consolidated Financial Statements and related notes, and the other information in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q. If any of these risks actually occur, our business, financial condition, results of operations, and prospects could be adversely affected. As a result, the price of our common stock could decline and you could lose part or all of your investment.
Risks Related to Our Business and Industry
Our quarterly operating results may fluctuate, which could cause our stock price to decline.
Our quarterly operating results, as well as our key metrics, may fluctuate for a variety of reasons, many of which are beyond our control, including:
fluctuations in GMS or revenue generated from Etsy sellers on our platform, including as a result of the seasonality of market transactions, and Etsy sellers’ use of services;
our ability to convert visits to Etsy.com into sales for our sellers;
the amount and timing of our operating expenses;
our success in attracting and retaining Etsy sellers and Etsy buyers;
our success in executing on our strategy and the impact of any changes in our strategy;
the timing and success of product launches, including new services and features we may introduce;
the success of our marketing efforts;
economic and market conditions, such as currency fluctuations and adverse global events;
disruptions or defects in our marketplace, such as privacy or data security breaches, errors in our software, or other incidents that impact the availability, reliability, or performance of our platform;
the impact of competitive developments and our response to those developments;
our ability to manage our existing business and future growth;
our ability to recruit and retain employees; and
the impact of our revised global corporate structure that was implemented on January 1, 2015.
Fluctuations in our quarterly operating results and key metrics may cause those results to fall below our financial guidance or other projections, or the expectations of analysts or investors, which could cause the price of our common stock to decline. Fluctuations in our results could also cause a number of other problems. For example, analysts or investors might change their models for valuing our common stock, we could experience short-term liquidity issues, our ability to retain or attract key personnel may diminish, and other unanticipated issues may arise.
In addition, we believe that our quarterly operating results and key metrics may vary in the future and that period-to-period comparisons of our operating results may not be meaningful. For example, our overall historical growth rate may have overshadowed the effect of seasonal variations on our historical operating results. These seasonal effects may become more pronounced over time, which could also cause our operating results and key metrics to fluctuate. You should not rely on the results of one quarter as an indication of future performance.



42

Table of Contents



If we are unable to successfully execute on our business strategy or if our strategy proves to be ineffective, our business, financial performance and growth could be adversely affected. 
 
Our ability to execute our strategy is dependent on a number of factors, including the ability of our senior management team and key team leaders to execute our strategy, our ability to maintain our pace of product experiments coupled with the success of such initiatives and our ability to meet the changing needs of our sellers and buyers, and the ability of our employees to perform at a high-level. If we are unable to execute our strategy, if our strategy does not drive the growth that we anticipate, or if our market opportunity is not as large as we have estimated, it could adversely affect our business, financial performance and growth.
Our business, financial performance and growth depends on our ability to attract and retain an active and engaged community of Etsy buyers and Etsy sellers.
Our financial performance has been and will continue to be significantly determined by our success in attracting and retaining active buyers and active sellers. For example, our revenue is driven by the number of active buyers and buyer engagement, as well as the number of active sellers and seller engagement. We must encourage buyers to return to Etsy and purchase items in our marketplace more frequently. We must also continue to encourage Etsy sellers to list items for sale and use our services.
We believe that many new Etsy buyers and Etsy sellers find Etsy by word of mouth and other non-paid referrals from existing Etsy buyers and Etsy sellers. If existing Etsy buyers do not find our platform appealing, whether because of a negative experience, lack of competitive shipping costs, inadequate customer service, lack of buyer-friendly features, declining interest in the nature of the goods offered by Etsy sellers, or other factors, they may make fewer purchases and they may stop referring others to us. Likewise, if existing Etsy sellers are dissatisfied with their experience on our platform, they may stop listing items in our marketplace and using our services and may stop referring others to us. Under any of these circumstances, we may have difficulty attracting new Etsy buyers and Etsy sellers without incurring additional expense.
Our GMS and revenue is concentrated in our most active buyers and sellers. If we lose those buyers and sellers, our financial performance and growth could be harmed. Even if we are able to attract new Etsy buyers and Etsy sellers to replace the ones that we lose, they may not maintain the same level of activity, and the GMS and revenue generated from new Etsy buyers and Etsy sellers may not be as high as the GMS and revenue generated from the ones who leave our marketplace. If we are unable to retain existing Etsy buyers and Etsy sellers and attract new Etsy buyers and Etsy sellers who contribute to an active community, our business, financial performance, and growth would be harmed.
Additionally, the demand for the goods listed in our marketplace is dependent on consumer preferences which can change quickly and may differ across generations and cultures. If demand for the goods that Etsy sellers offer declines, we may not be able to attract and retain Etsy buyers and our business would be harmed. Trends in socially-conscious consumerism and buying unique rather than mass produced goods could also shift or slow which would make it more difficult to attract new Etsy buyers and Etsy sellers. Our growth would also be harmed if the shift to ecommerce does not continue.
We have a history of losses and we may not achieve or maintain profitability in the future.
We generated net income of $31.6 million, $77.5 million, and $81.8 million for the three months ended March 31, 2019 and the years ended December 31, 2018 and December 31, 2017, respectively, and incurred net losses of $29.9 million for the year ended December 31, 2016. However, we may not maintain profitability in the future. Our costs may increase as we continue to invest in the development of our platform, including our services and technological enhancements, and increase our marketing efforts, expand our operations, and hire additional employees. These efforts may be more costly than we expect and our revenue may not increase sufficiently to offset these additional expenses. In addition, our revenue may decline for a number of reasons, including those described elsewhere in these Risk Factors.

Further, our revenue growth rate may decelerate in the future for a number of reasons, including the deceleration of our GMS growth rate. For further information about the rate of revenue and GMS growth, see “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of OperationsResults of OperationsRevenue.” You should not rely on growth rates of prior periods as an indication of our future performance.

43

Table of Contents


Our business could be adversely affected by economic downturns, natural disasters, public health crises, political crises or other unexpected events.
Macroeconomic conditions may adversely affect our business. If general economic conditions deteriorate in the United States or other markets where we operate, consumer discretionary spending may decline and demand for the goods and services available in our platform may be reduced. This would cause our Marketplace and Services revenue to decline and adversely impact our business. Conversely, if recent trends supporting self-employment and the desire for supplemental income were to reverse, the number of Etsy sellers offering their goods in our marketplace could decline and the number of goods listed in our marketplace could decline. In addition, currency exchange rates may directly and indirectly impact our business. For example, continued uncertainty around the United Kingdom’s decision to exit the European Union, or E.U., commonly referred to as Brexit, may result in future exchange rate volatility, which may strengthen the U.S. dollar against foreign currencies. If the U.S. dollar strengthens against foreign currencies, our translation of foreign currency denominated GMS and revenue will result in lower U.S. denominated GMS and revenue. Currency exchange rates may also dampen demand from buyers outside the United States for goods denominated in U.S. dollars, which could impact GMS and revenue. For the three months ended March 31, 2019, approximately 81% of our GMS was denominated in U.S. dollars.
Natural disasters and other adverse weather and climate conditions, public health crises, political instability or crises, terrorist attacks, war, or other unexpected events, could disrupt our operations, internet or mobile networks, or the operations of one or more of our third-party service providers. Certain events, such as hurricanes and other natural disasters and political instability, are likely to impact buyer behavior for discretionary goods and sellers’ ability to run their businesses on our marketplace and ship their goods. These kinds of events may also impact consumer perceptions of well-being and security, which may adversely impact consumer discretionary spending. If any of these events occurs, our business could be adversely affected.
Our ability to recruit and retain employees is important to our success.
Our ability to attract, retain, and motivate employees, including our management team, is important to our success. We strive to attract, retain, and motivate employees, from our office administrators to our management team, who share our dedication to our community and our mission to “Keep Commerce Human.” We cannot guarantee we will continue to attract and retain the number or caliber of employees we need to maintain our competitive position.
Some of the challenges we face in attracting and retaining employees include:
perceived uncertainties as to our commitment to our mission, guiding principles and culture;
skepticism regarding our ability to continue to accelerate GMS growth in the future;
continuing to offer competitive compensation and benefits;
enhancing engagement levels among existing employees and supporting their work-life balance;
attracting and retaining qualified employees who support our mission and guiding principles;
promotion opportunities for employees into leadership positions;
hiring employees in multiple locations globally; and
responding to competitive pressures and changing business conditions in ways that do not divert us from our guiding principles.
Filling engineering, product management, and other technical positions, particularly in New York City and San Francisco, is challenging. Qualified individuals are limited and in high demand, and we may incur significant costs to attract, develop, and motivate them. Even if we were to offer higher compensation and other benefits, people with suitable technical skills may choose not to join us or to continue to work for us. In addition, job candidates and existing employees often consider the value of the stock awards they receive in connection with their employment. If the perceived value of our stock awards declines, it may adversely affect our ability to recruit and retain highly skilled employees.
In general, our employees, including our management team, work for us on an at-will basis. The unexpected loss of or failure to retain one or more of our key employees, such as our Chief Executive Officer, Chief Financial Officer or Chief Technology Officer, or unsuccessful succession planning, could adversely affect our business. Other companies, including our competitors, may be successful in recruiting and hiring our employees, and it may be difficult for us to find suitable replacements on a timely basis or on competitive terms.

44

Table of Contents


If we experience increased voluntary attrition in the future and if we are unable to attract and retain qualified employees, particularly in critical areas of operations such as engineering, we may not achieve our strategic goals and our business and operations could be harmed.
The trustworthiness of our marketplace and the connections within our community are important to our success. If we are unable to maintain them, our ability to attract and retain Etsy sellers and Etsy buyers could suffer.
We have built a trusted marketplace that embodies our values-based culture and continue to focus on ensuring that we deliver trust and reliability throughout the buyer experience on Etsy.com. Our reputation depends upon our Etsy sellers, their unique offerings and their adherence to our policies.
The trustworthiness of our marketplace and the connections among the members of our community are the cornerstones of our business. Many things could undermine these cornerstones, such as:
complaints or negative publicity about us, our platform or our policies and guidelines, even if factually incorrect or based on isolated incidents;
an inability to gain the trust of prospective buyers;
disruptions or defects in our marketplace, such as the increased pace of product experimentation, privacy or data security breaches, website outages, payment disruptions or other incidents that impact the reliability of our platform;
lack of awareness of our policies or confusion about how they are applied;
changes to our policies that members of our community perceive as inconsistent with their best interests or our mission, or that are not clearly articulated;
inadequacies in our terms of use;
a failure to enforce our policies effectively, fairly and transparently, including, for example, by allowing the widespread listing of prohibited items in our marketplace;
inadequate or unsatisfactory customer service experiences;
a failure to respond to feedback from our community; or
a failure to operate our business in a way that is consistent with our guiding principles and mission.
In particular, we are focused on enhancing customer service for Etsy sellers and Etsy buyers and have migrated our legacy support platform to a new third-party customer service platform. We plan to introduce new customer service features and tools to support a positive user experience on our platform. If our efforts to enhance customer service are unsuccessful or if our new customer service platform fails to meet our needs, we may need to invest additional resources in customer service and our ability to maintain a trustworthy marketplace could be harmed.
If we are unable to maintain a trustworthy marketplace and encourage connections among members of our community, then our ability to attract and retain Etsy sellers and Etsy buyers could be impaired and our reputation and business could be adversely affected.
If we are not able to keep pace with technological changes and enhance our current offerings and develop new offerings to respond to the changing needs of Etsy sellers and Etsy buyers, our business, financial performance and growth may be harmed.
Our industry is characterized by rapidly changing technology, new service and product introductions, and changing customer demands and we are not able to predict the effect of these changes on our business. The technologies that we currently use to support our platform may become inadequate or obsolete and the cost of incorporating new technologies into our products and services may be substantial. We strive to respond to evolving customer needs and regularly launch new products, features and services including, for example, our recently announced seller subscription packages and tools. Etsy sellers and Etsy buyers, however, may not be satisfied with our enhancements or new offerings or may perceive that these offerings do not respond to their needs or create value for them. Additionally, as we experiment with new offerings or changes to our platform, Etsy sellers and Etsy buyers may find these changes to be disruptive and may perceive them negatively. In addition, developing new services and features is complex, and the timetable for public launch is difficult to predict and may vary from our historical

45

Table of Contents


experience. As a result, the introduction of new offerings may occur after anticipated release dates or they may be introduced as pilot programs, which may not be continued for various reasons. In addition, new offerings may not be successful due to defects or errors, negative publicity, or our failure to market them effectively.
New offerings may not drive GMS or revenue growth, may require substantial investment and planning, and may bring us more directly into competition with companies that are better established or have greater resources than we do.
If we do not continue to cost-effectively develop new offerings that satisfy Etsy sellers and Etsy buyers, then our competitive position and growth prospects may be harmed. In addition, new offerings may have lower margins than existing offerings and our revenue from the new offerings may not be enough to offset the cost of developing them, which could adversely affect our business, financial performance and growth.
Our marketing efforts to help grow our business may not be effective.
Maintaining and promoting awareness of our marketplace and services is important to our ability to attract and retain Etsy sellers and Etsy buyers. One of the key parts of our strategy is to create more habitual buyers by inspiring purchases across multiple categories and special occasions. In addition, one of the primary goals of our 2018 pricing increase was to enable us to make further investments in marketing designed to attract more buyers to Etsy. Generating a meaningful return on our investments in marketing initiatives, however, may be difficult, particularly as we anticipate that our marketing investments will be more speculative in the future. In addition, there can be no assurance that we will deploy additional funds resulting from our 2018 pricing increase effectively.

The marketing efforts we implement may not succeed for a variety of reasons, including our inability to execute and implement our plans. External factors beyond our control may also impact the success of our marketing initiatives. Our primary marketing efforts currently include search engine optimization, search engine marketing, affiliate marketing and display advertising, as well as, social media, mobile push notifications, and email. Additionally, we have begun experimenting with television and digital video advertising. We obtain a significant number of visits via search engines such as Google. Search engines frequently change the algorithms that determine the ranking and display of results of a user’s search and may make other changes to the way results are displayed, which can negatively affect the placement of links to our marketplace and, therefore, reduce the number of visits to our marketplace. In addition, search engines and other third-parties typically require compliance with their policies and procedures, which may be subject to change or new interpretation with limited ability to negotiate, which could negatively impact our marketing capabilities and GMS. The growing use of online ad-blocking software, including on mobile devices, may also impact the success of our marketing efforts because we may reach a smaller audience and fail to bring more Etsy buyers to our platform. In addition, ongoing privacy regulatory changes, such as the E.U. General Data Protection Regulation, may impact the scope and effectiveness of marketing and advertising services generally, including those used on our platform.

We also obtain a significant number of visits through email. If we are unable to successfully deliver emails to Etsy sellers and Etsy buyers, or if Etsy sellers and Etsy buyers do not open our emails, whether by choice, because those emails are marked as low priority or spam, or for other reasons, our business could be adversely affected. Social networking websites, such as Facebook and Pinterest, are another important source of visits to our marketplace. As ecommerce and social networking evolve, we must continue to evolve our marketing tactics accordingly and, if we are unable to do so, our business could be adversely affected.
If the mobile solutions available to Etsy sellers and Etsy buyers are not effective, the use of our marketplace could decline.
Purchases made on mobile devices by consumers, including Etsy buyers, have increased significantly in recent years. The smaller screen size and reduced functionality associated with some mobile devices may make the use of our platform more difficult or less appealing. Etsy sellers are also increasingly using mobile devices to operate their businesses on our platform. If we are not able to deliver a rewarding experience on mobile devices, Etsy sellers’ ability to manage and scale their businesses may be harmed and, consequently, our business may suffer. Further, although we strive to provide engaging mobile experiences for both Etsy sellers and Etsy buyers who visit our mobile website using a browser on their mobile device, we depend on Etsy sellers and Etsy buyers using our mobile apps for the optimal mobile experience. Mobile web conversion rate is lower than our desktop and Buy on Etsy app conversion rates. Therefore, if mobile web visits continue to grow as a percentage of overall visits, it could be a headwind to future conversion rate gains and result in less GMS and revenue for us.
As new mobile devices and mobile platforms are released, we may encounter problems in developing or supporting apps for them. In addition, supporting new devices and mobile device operating systems may require substantial time and resources.

46

Table of Contents


The success of our mobile apps could also be harmed by factors outside our control, such as:
actions taken by providers of mobile operating systems or mobile app download stores;
unfavorable treatment received by our mobile apps, especially as compared to competing apps, such as the placement of our mobile apps in a mobile app download store;
increased costs to distribute or use our mobile apps; or
changes in mobile operating systems, such as iOS and Android, that degrade the functionality of our mobile website or mobile apps or that give preferential treatment to competitive products.
If Etsy sellers and Etsy buyers encounter difficulty accessing or using our platform on their mobile devices, or if they choose not to use our platform on their mobile devices, our business, financial performance, and growth may be adversely affected.

Expanding our community outside of the United States is part of our strategy and the growth of our business could be harmed if our expansion efforts do not succeed.
Our vision is both global and local and we are focused on growing our business outside of the United States. Although we have a significant number of Etsy sellers and Etsy buyers outside of the United States, we are a U.S.-based company with less experience developing local markets outside the United States and may not execute our strategy successfully. Operating outside of the United States also requires significant management attention, including managing operations over a broad geographic area with varying cultural norms and customs, and adapting our platform to local markets.
Despite our execution efforts, the goods that Etsy sellers list on Etsy.com may not appeal to non-U.S. consumers in the same way as they do to consumers in the United States. In addition, non-U.S. buyers are not as familiar with the Etsy brand as buyers in the United States and may not perceive us as relevant or trustworthy. Also, visits to Etsy.com from Etsy buyers outside the United States may not convert into sales as often as visits from within the United States, including due to the impact of the strong U.S. dollar relative to other currencies and the fact that most of the goods listed on our platform are denominated in U.S. dollars.
Our ability to grow our international operations may also be adversely affected by any circumstances that reduce or hinder cross-border trade. For example, the shipping of goods cross-border is typically more expensive and slower than domestic shipping and often involves complex customs and duty inspections and the dependency of national postal carrier systems.
Our success outside the United States depends upon our ability to attract Etsy sellers and Etsy buyers from the same countries in order to enable the growth of local markets. If we are not able to expand outside of the United States successfully, our growth prospects could be harmed. An inability to develop Etsy’s community globally or to otherwise grow our business outside of the United States on a cost-effective basis could adversely affect our GMS, revenue, and operating results.
Competition is also likely to intensify outside of the United States, both where we operate now and where we plan to expand our operations. Local companies based outside the United States may have a substantial competitive advantage because of their greater understanding of, and focus on, their local markets. Some of our competitors may also be able to develop and grow internationally more quickly than we will.
Continued expansion outside of the United States may also require significant financial investment. For example, in June 2018, we announced a referral agreement with DaWanda, a German e-commerce marketplace, which encouraged the migration of DaWanda buyers and sellers to Etsy’s marketplace and helped expand Etsy’s presence in Central Europe. Etsy also made initial investments to explore growth opportunities in India, a dynamic market where we have limited operating experience. We plan to invest in seller and buyer acquisition marketing, enhancing our machine translation and machine learning to help sellers and buyers connect even if they do not speak the same language, forming relationships with third-party service providers, supporting operations in multiple countries, and potentially acquiring companies based outside the United States and integrating those companies with our operations. Our investment outside of the United States may be more costly than we expect or unsuccessful.

47

Table of Contents


Further expansion outside of the United States will subject us to risks associated with operations abroad.
Doing business outside of the United States subjects us to increased risks and burdens such as:
complying with different (and sometimes conflicting) laws and regulatory standards (particularly including those related to the use and disclosure of personal information, online payments and money transmission, intellectual property, consumer protection, online platform liability and taxation of goods and services);
fluctuations of foreign exchange rates;
potentially heightened risk of fraudulent or other illegal transactions;
limitations on the repatriation of funds;
exposure to liabilities under anti-corruption, anti-money laundering and export control laws, including the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977, as amended, the U.K. Bribery Act of 2010, trade controls and sanctions administered by the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control, and similar laws and regulations in other jurisdictions;
varying levels of internet, e-commerce, and mobile technology adoption and infrastructure;
our ability to enforce contracts and intellectual property rights in jurisdictions outside the United States;
geopolitical events such as natural disasters, terrorism and acts of war;
uncertainties and instability in European markets caused by Brexit; and
barriers to international trade, such as tariffs, customs or other taxes.
Etsy sellers face similar risks in conducting their businesses across borders. Even if we are successful in managing the risks of conducting our business across borders, if Etsy sellers are not, our business could be adversely affected. In particular, Etsy buyers and sellers seeking to engage in cross-border sales may become subject to an increasing number of barriers to international trade such as tariffs, customs or other taxes.
If we invest substantial time and resources to expand our operations outside of the United States and cannot manage these risks effectively, the costs of doing business in those markets may be prohibitive or our expenses may increase disproportionately to the revenue generated in those markets.

Legal, political and economic uncertainty surrounding the planned exit of the United Kingdom from the European Union may be a source of instability in international markets, create significant currency fluctuations, adversely affect our operations in the United Kingdom and pose additional risks to our business, revenue, financial condition, and results of operations.

On March 29, 2017, the United Kingdom formally notified the European Council of its intention to leave the E.U. It is unclear how long it will take to negotiate a withdrawal agreement, but it appears likely that Brexit will continue to involve a process of lengthy negotiations between the United Kingdom and E.U. member states to determine the future terms of the United Kingdom’s relationship with the E.U.

Lack of clarity about future U.K. laws and regulations as the United Kingdom determines which E.U. rules and regulations to replace or replicate in the event of a withdrawal, including financial laws and regulations, tax and free trade agreements, intellectual property rights, supply chain logistics, environmental, health and safety laws and regulations, immigration laws and employment laws, could decrease foreign direct investment in the United Kingdom, increase costs, depress economic activity, and restrict access to capital. In addition, depending on the terms of the United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the E.U., the United Kingdom could lose the benefits of global trade agreements negotiated by the E.U. on behalf of its members. The long-term effects of Brexit will depend on any agreements (or lack thereof) between the United Kingdom and the E.U. and, in particular, any arrangements for the United Kingdom to retain access to E.U. markets either during a transitional period or more permanently.

Such a withdrawal from the E.U. is unprecedented, and it is unclear how the United Kingdom’s access to the European single market for goods, capital, services and labor within the E.U., or the European single market, and the wider commercial, legal and regulatory environment, will impact our U.K. operations, including our sellers and buyers in the United Kingdom. We may also face new regulatory costs and challenges that could have an adverse effect on our operations. The announcement of Brexit

48

Table of Contents


has already created economic uncertainty, and its consequences could adversely impact our business, revenue, financial condition, and results of operations.

Regulation in the areas of privacy and protection of user data could harm our business.
In addition to the actual and potential changes in law described elsewhere in these Risk Factors, global developments in privacy and data security regulations are changing some of the ways we and our vendors collect, use, and share personal information. Compliance with these changing regulations have necessitated some specific product changes for our non-U.S. activities. In May 2018, the General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”) went into effect in the E.U., effectively extending the scope of E.U. data protection law to all non-E.U. companies processing data of E.U. persons. The GDPR seeks to harmonize the data protection regulations throughout the entire E.U. The regulation contains numerous requirements and changes from existing E.U. law, including more robust obligations on data processors, greater rights for data subjects (requiring potentially significant changes to both our technology and operations), security and accountability obligations, and significantly heavier documentation and record-keeping requirements for data protection compliance programs. Specifically, the GDPR introduced numerous privacy-related changes for companies operating in the E.U., including greater control over personal data by data subjects (e.g., the “right to be forgotten”), increased data portability, access and redress rights for E.U. consumers, data breach notification requirements, increased rules for online and e-mail marketing, and stronger regulatory enforcement regimes. The GDPR requirements apply to some third-party transactions (such as commercial contracts with partners and vendors) and to transfers of information between us and our subsidiaries, including user and employee information. GDPR requirements may also apply, depending on interpretation of its reach, to some users in Etsy’s worldwide community of sellers. We may experience difficulty retaining or obtaining new E.U. sellers or new sellers selling into the E.U. due to the legal requirements, compliance cost, potential risk exposure, and uncertainty for them in respect of their own compliance obligations with respect to GDPR. In addition, although Etsy sellers are independent businesses, it is possible that a privacy authority could deem Etsy jointly and severally liable for actions of Etsy sellers, which would increase our potential liability exposure and costs of compliance, which could negatively impact our business. We could face potential liability, regulatory investigation, and costly litigation, which may not be adequately covered by insurance.
GDPR, the recently passed California Consumer Privacy Act, and similar laws coming into effect in other jurisdictions may continue to change the data protection landscape globally and could result in potentially significant operational costs for internal compliance and risk to our business. Some of these requirements introduce friction into the buying and selling experience on Etsy and may impact the scope and effectiveness of our marketing efforts, which could negatively impact our business and future outlook. Non-compliance with these laws could result in proceedings against us by data protection authorities, other public authorities, third-parties, or individuals. Under GDPR alone, noncompliance could result in fines up to 20 million Euros or up to 4% of the annual global revenue of the noncompliant company, whichever is greater.

In addition, the laws relating to the transfer of personal data outside of the E.U. continue to evolve and remain uncertain. Although we are taking steps to comply and mitigate the potential impact to us, the efficacy and longevity of these steps are uncertain. We may find it necessary to establish systems to maintain personal data originating from the E.U. in the European Economic Area, which may involve substantial expense and distraction from other aspects of our business. In the meantime, the evolving data protection landscape also creates uncertainty as to how to comply with E.U. privacy law, including potentially inconsistent guidance, rulings or requirements from multiple authorities in the E.U., as well as in the U.S. and worldwide. Further, we may not be entirely successful in our compliance efforts due to various factors either within our control (such as limited internal resource allocation) or outside our control (such as a lack of vendor cooperation, new regulatory interpretations, or lack of regulatory guidance in respect of certain GDPR requirements).
Our payments system depends on third-party providers, requires ongoing investment, and is subject to evolving laws, regulations, rules, and standards.
Etsy buyers primarily pay for purchases using Etsy Payments or PayPal. In the United States and other countries where Etsy Payments is available, Etsy Payments enables our sellers to accept various forms of payments such as credit cards, debit cards, PayPal, Google Wallet, Apple Pay, and Etsy Gift Cards.
We rely upon third-party service providers to perform underlying compliance, credit card processing and payment disbursing, currency exchange, identity verification, sanctions screening, and fraud analysis services. If these service providers do not perform adequately or if our relationships with these service providers were to change or terminate, Etsy sellers’ ability to receive orders or payment could be adversely affected and certain fraud prevention and detection tools may not be effective, which could lead to potential legal liability and negatively impact our business. In addition, Etsy and our third-party service providers may experience service outages from time to time that negatively impact payments on Etsy. We have in the past experienced, and may in the future experience, such service outages and, if we are unable to provide an alternative payment

49

Table of Contents


solution, our business could be harmed. In addition, if our third-party providers increase the fees they charge us, our operating expenses could increase. If we respond by increasing the fees we charge to Etsy sellers, some Etsy sellers may stop listing new items for sale or even close their accounts altogether.
The laws and regulations that govern payments are complex, evolving, and subject to change and vary across different jurisdictions in the United States and globally. Moreover, even in regions where such laws have been harmonized, regulatory interpretations of such laws may differ. As a result, we are required to spend significant time and effort to determine whether various licensing and registration laws relating to payments apply to Etsy and to comply with applicable laws and licensing regulations. Any failure or claim of our failure to comply, or any failure by our third-party service providers to comply, could cost us substantial resources, could result in liabilities, could cause us significant reputational damage, or could force us to stop offering Etsy Payments in certain markets. Additionally, changes in payment regulation may occur that could render our payments systems less profitable. For example, any significant change in credit or debit card interchange rates in the United States or other markets, including as a result of changes in interchange fee limitations, may negatively impact payments on Etsy.
We plan to invest ongoing internal resources into our payments tools in order to maintain existing availability, expand into additional markets and offer new payment methods and tools to Etsy buyers and sellers. If we fail to invest adequate resources into payments on Etsy, or if our investment efforts are unsuccessful or unreliable, payments on Etsy may not function properly or keep pace with competitive offerings, which could negatively impact Etsy Payments usage and our marketplace. Further, our ability to expand Etsy Payments into additional countries is dependent upon the third-party providers we use to support this service. As we expand the availability of Etsy Payments to additional markets or offer new payment methods to Etsy sellers and Etsy buyers in the future, we may become subject to additional regulations, compliance requirements, and exposed to heightened fraud risk, which could lead to an increase in our operating expenses.
Further, through our agreements with our third-party payment processors, we are indirectly subject to payment card association operating rules and certification requirements, including the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard, which are subject to change. Failure to comply with these rules and certification requirements could impact our ability to meet our contractual obligations with our third-party payment processors and could result in potential fines. We are also subject to rules governing electronic funds transfers. Any change in these rules and requirements, including as a result of a change in our designation by major payment card providers, could make it difficult or impossible for us to comply and could require a change in our business operations. In addition, similar to a potential increase in costs from third-party providers described above, any increased costs associated with compliance with payment card association rules or payment card provider rules could lead to increased fees for Etsy or Etsy sellers, which may negatively impact payments on our platform, usage of Etsy Payments, and our marketplace.
If sensitive information about members of our community or employees is misused or disclosed, or if we or our third-party providers are subject to cyber attacks, members of our community may curtail use of our platform, we may be exposed to liability, and our reputation could suffer.
Like all online services, our platform is vulnerable to power outages, telecommunications failures, and catastrophic events, as well as computer viruses, break-ins, phishing attacks, denial-of-service attacks, and other cyber attacks. Any of these incidents could lead to interruptions or shutdowns of our platform, loss of data or unauthorized disclosure of personal or financial information of our members or employees. Cyber attacks could also result in the theft of our intellectual property. As we grow our business, expand internationally, and gain greater public visibility, we may face a higher risk of being targeted by cyber attacks. Although we rely on a variety of security measures, including security testing, encryption of sensitive information, and authentication technology, we cannot assure you that such measures will provide absolute security, particularly given the increasingly sophisticated tools and methods used by hackers and cyber terrorists. In addition, we have experienced in the past, and may experience in the future, security breaches as a result of non-technical issues, including intentional, inadvertent, or social engineering breaches occurring through our employees or employees of our third-party service providers. In addition, if our employees or employees of our third-party service providers fail to comply with our internal security policies and practices, member or employee data may be improperly accessed, used, or disclosed.
We are also reliant on the security practices of our third party service providers, which may be outside of our direct control. Additionally, some of our third party service providers, such as identity verification and payment processing providers, regularly have access to some confidential and sensitive member data. If these third parties fail to adhere to adequate security practices, or experience a breach of their networks, our members’ data may be improperly accessed, used or disclosed.
Cyber attacks aimed at disrupting our and our third-party service providers’ services have occurred regularly in the past, and we expect they will continue to occur in the future. If we or our third-party service providers experience security breaches that result in marketplace performance or availability problems or the loss or unauthorized disclosure of sensitive information, or if

50

Table of Contents


we fail to respond appropriately to any security breaches that we may experience, people may become unwilling to provide us the information necessary to set up an account with us. Existing Etsy sellers and Etsy buyers may stop listing new items for sale, decrease their purchases or close their accounts altogether. We could also face potential liability, regulatory investigation, costly remediation efforts and litigation, which may not be adequately covered by insurance. Any of these results could harm our growth prospects, our business, and our reputation for maintaining a trusted marketplace.
Adherence to our guiding principles and our focus on our mission and long-term sustainability may negatively influence our financial performance. Further, our reputation could be harmed if we fail to meet our impact strategy goals.
We intend to operate in line with our guiding principles, focus on the long-term sustainability of our business, and work toward our mission to “Keep Commerce Human.” We may take actions in line with our mission and guiding principles that we believe will benefit our business and, therefore, our stockholders over a longer period of time, even if those actions do not maximize short- or medium-term financial performance. However, these longer-term benefits may not materialize within the time frame we expect or at all. For example:
we may choose to prohibit the sale of items in our marketplace that are inconsistent with our policies even though we could benefit financially from the sale of those items; or
we may choose to revise our policies in ways that we believe will be beneficial to our community in the long term even though the changes may be perceived unfavorably, such as updates to the way we define “handmade.”

Additionally, we have developed an impact strategy that focuses on leveraging Etsy’s core business to generate value for our community and stakeholders through positive economic, social and environmental efforts. Our impact strategy aims to create more economic opportunity for sellers, greater diversity in our workforce and build long-term resilience by reducing our carbon footprint. If we don’t demonstrate progress against our impact strategy or if our impact strategy is not perceived to be adequate, our reputation could be harmed.
Failure to deal effectively with fraud or other illegal activity could harm our business.
Although we have measures in place to detect and limit the occurrence of fraudulent and other illegal activity in our marketplace, those measures may not always be effective.
For example, Etsy sellers occasionally receive orders placed with fraudulent or stolen credit card data. Under current credit card chargeback rules, we could be held liable for orders placed through Etsy Payments with fraudulent credit card data even if the associated financial institution approved the credit card transaction. Although we attempt to detect or challenge fraudulent transactions, we may not be able to do so effectively. As a result, our business could be adversely affected. We could also incur significant fines or lose our ability to give the option of paying with credit cards if we fail to follow payment card industry data security standards or payment card association rules or fail to limit fraudulent transactions conducted in our marketplace.
We have adopted policies and procedures that are intended to ensure compliance with anti-corruption, anti-money laundering, export controls, and trade sanctions requirements. In addition, as stated elsewhere in these Risk Factors, we rely upon third-party service providers to perform certain underlying compliance, credit card processing identity verification, and fraud analysis services. If we or our service providers do not perform adequately, certain of our fraud prevention and detection tools may not be effective, which could lead to potential legal liability and negatively impact our business.
Negative publicity and sentiment resulting from fraudulent, illegal, or deceptive conduct by members of our community or the perception that our levels of responsiveness and support for Etsy sellers and Etsy buyers are inadequate could reduce our ability to attract and retain Etsy sellers and Etsy buyers and damage our reputation.
We are subject to risks related to our corporate social responsibility metrics.
We voluntarily report certain corporate social responsibility metrics. This transparency is consistent with our commitment to executing on a strategy that reflects the positive economic, social, and environmental impact we want to have on the world while advancing and complementing our business strategy. These metrics, whether it be the standards we set for ourselves and/or our failure to meet such metrics, may influence our reputation and the value of our brand. For example, the perception held by Etsy buyers or sellers, our partners or vendors, other key stakeholders, or the communities in which we do business may depend, in part, on the metrics we have chosen to aspire to and whether or not we meet these metrics on a timely basis, if at all. While selected metrics receive limited assurance from an independent third party, this is inherently a less rigorous process than

51

Table of Contents


reasonable assurance sought in a typical auditing engagement. Our failure to achieve progress on our metrics on a timely basis, or at all, could adversely affect our business, financial performance, or growth.
By electing to set and share publicly these corporate social responsibility metrics, our business may also face increased scrutiny related to environmental, social, and governance activities. As a result, we could damage our reputation and the value of our brand if we fail to act responsibly in the areas in which we report, such as economic security and personal empowerment, diversity and inclusion, energy and water management, carbon footprint, and data privacy or if we are perceived not to have rigorously measured our achievement against such metrics. Any harm to our reputation resulting from setting these metrics or our failure or perceived failure to meet such metrics could impact: employee engagement and retention; the willingness of Etsy buyers and sellers and our partners and vendors to do business with us; or investors willingness to purchase or hold shares of our common stock, any of which could adversely affect our business, financial performance, and growth.
We face intense competition and may not be able to compete effectively.
Our industry is highly competitive and we expect competition to increase in the future. To be successful, we need to attract and retain Etsy sellers and Etsy buyers. As a result, we face competition from a wide range of online and offline competitors.
We compete for Etsy sellers with both retailers and companies that sell software and services to small businesses. In addition to listing her goods for sale on Etsy, an Etsy seller can list her goods with other online retailers, such as Amazon, eBay, or Alibaba, or sell her goods through local consignment and vintage stores and other venues or marketplaces, including through commerce channels on social networks like Facebook and Instagram. She may also sell wholesale directly to traditional retailers, including large national retailers, who discover her goods in our marketplace or otherwise. We also compete with companies that sell software and services to small businesses, enabling an Etsy seller to sell from her own website or otherwise run her business independently of our platform, such as Bigcommerce, and Shopify.
We compete to attract, engage, and retain Etsy sellers based on many factors, including:
our brand awareness;
the extent to which our tools and services can ease the administrative tasks that an Etsy seller might encounter in running her business;
the global scale of our marketplace and the breadth of our online presence;
the number and engagement of Etsy buyers;
our seller education resources and tools;
our policies and fees;
the ability to scale her business, including through Pattern or with a production partner;
our mobile apps;
the strength of our community; and
our mission.
In addition, we compete with retailers for the attention of the Etsy buyer. An Etsy buyer has the choice of shopping with any online or offline retailer, including large e-commerce marketplaces, such as Amazon, eBay or Alibaba, national retail chains, such as West Elm or Target, local consignment and vintage stores, social commerce channels like Instagram, event-driven platforms and vertical experiences like Zola and Wayfair, and other venues or marketplaces. Many of these competitors offer low-cost or free shipping, fast shipping times, favorable return policies, and other features that may be difficult or impossible for Etsy sellers to match.
We compete to attract, engage, and retain Etsy buyers based on many factors, including:
the breadth of unique goods that Etsy sellers list in our marketplace;
the ease of finding the special item a buyer is looking for;
our brand awareness;

52

Table of Contents


the person-to-person commerce experience;
customer service;
our reputation for trustworthiness;
our mobile apps;
the availability of fair and free shipping offered by Etsy sellers;
ease of payment; and
the availability and reliability of our platform.
Many of our competitors and potential competitors have longer operating histories, greater resources, better name recognition, or more customers than we do.
They may invest more to develop and promote their services than we do, and they may offer lower fees to sellers than we do. Additionally, we believe that it is relatively easy for new businesses to create online commerce offerings or tools or services that enable entrepreneurship.
Local companies or more established companies based in markets where we operate outside of the United States may also have a better understanding of local customs, providing them a competitive advantage. For example, in certain markets outside the United States, we compete with smaller, but similar, local online marketplaces with a focus on unique goods that are attempting to attract sellers and buyers in those markets.
If we are unable to compete successfully, or if competing successfully requires us to expend significant resources in response to our competitors’ actions, our business could be adversely affected.
We rely on Etsy sellers to provide a fulfilling experience to Etsy buyers.
A small portion of Etsy buyers complain to us about their experience with our platform. For example, Etsy buyers may report that they have not received the items that they purchased, that the items received were not as represented by an Etsy seller or that an Etsy seller has not been responsive to their questions.

Negative publicity and sentiment generated as a result of these types of complaints could reduce our ability to attract and retain Etsy sellers and Etsy buyers or damage our reputation. A perception that our levels of responsiveness and support for Etsy sellers and Etsy buyers are inadequate could have similar results. In some situations, we may choose to reimburse Etsy buyers for their purchases to help avoid harm to our reputation, but we may not be able to recover the funds we expend for those reimbursements. Although we are focused on enhancing customer service, our efforts may be unsuccessful and Etsy sellers and Etsy buyers may be disappointed in their Etsy experience and not return.
Anything that prevents the timely processing of orders or delivery of goods to Etsy buyers could harm Etsy sellers. Service interruptions and delivery delays may be caused by events that are beyond the control of Etsy sellers, such as interruptions in order or payment processing, transportation disruptions, natural disasters, inclement weather, terrorism, public health crises, or political unrest. Disruptions in the operations of a substantial number of Etsy sellers could also result in negative experiences for a substantial number of Etsy buyers, which could harm our reputation and adversely affect our business.

Our reputation may be harmed if members of our community use illegal or unethical business practices.
Our emphasis on our mission and guiding principles makes our reputation particularly sensitive to allegations of illegal or unethical business practices by Etsy sellers or other members of our community. Our policies promote legal and ethical business practices, such as encouraging Etsy sellers to work only with manufacturers who do not use child or involuntary labor, who do not discriminate, and who promote sustainability and humane working conditions. However, we do not control Etsy sellers or other members of our community or their business practices and cannot ensure that they comply with our policies. If members of our community engage in illegal or unethical business practices or are perceived to do so, we may receive negative publicity and our reputation may be harmed.

53

Table of Contents


Our business depends on network and mobile infrastructure provided by third parties and on our ability to maintain and scale the technology underlying our platform.
The reliability of our platform is important to our reputation and our ability to attract and retain Etsy sellers and Etsy buyers. As the number of Etsy sellers and Etsy buyers, volume of traffic, number of transactions, and the amount of information shared on our platform grow, our need for additional network capacity and computing power will also grow. The operation of the technology underlying our platform is expensive and complex, and we could experience operational failures. If we fail to accurately predict the rate or timing of the growth of our platform, we may be required to incur significant additional costs to maintain reliability. The investments we make in our platform are designed to grow our business and to improve our operating results in the long term, but these investments could also delay our ability to achieve profitability or reduce profitability in the near term.
We also depend on the development and maintenance of the internet, cloud and mobile infrastructure, and increasingly rely on the availability, features, cost, and reliability of third-party service providers and platforms. For example, this includes maintenance of reliable internet and mobile networks with the necessary speed, data capacity, and security, as well as timely development of complementary products.
Third-party providers host much of our technology infrastructure and are likely to host more in the future. Any disruption in their services, or any failure of our providers to handle the demands of our marketplace could significantly harm our business. We exercise little control over these providers, which increases our vulnerability to their financial conditions and to problems with the services they provide, such as security concerns. Our efforts to update our infrastructure may not be successful or may take longer than anticipated. If we experience failures in our technology infrastructure or do not expand our technology infrastructure successfully, then our ability to attract and retain Etsy sellers and Etsy buyers could be adversely affected, which could harm our growth prospects and our business.
We will rely on Google Cloud for a substantial portion of our computing, storage, data processing, networking, and other services. Any disruption of or interference with our use of the Google Cloud operation would adversely affect our business, financial performance, and growth.
Google Cloud Platform provides a distributed computing infrastructure as a service platform for business operations, and we are in the process of migrating from our data centers to Google Cloud, increasing our reliance on cloud infrastructure. As we implement the transition to the cloud, there will be occasional planned or unplanned downtime for our websites and apps and potential site delays, all of which will impact our sellers’ ability to conduct transactions and our buyers’ ability to purchase items. We may also need to divert engineering resources away from other important business operations, which could significantly harm our business and growth. Additionally, if the costs to migrate to Google Cloud are greater than we expect or take significantly more time than we anticipate, our business could be harmed.
Any transition of the cloud services currently provided by Google Cloud to another cloud provider would be difficult to implement and will cause us to incur significant time and expense. Any significant disruption of, or interference with, our use of Google Cloud would negatively impact our operations and our business would be seriously harmed. In addition, if hosting costs increase over time and if we require more computing or storage capacity, our costs could increase disproportionately. If we are unable to grow our revenues faster than the cost of utilizing the services of Google or similar providers, our business and financial condition could be adversely affected.
We may be subject to claims that items listed in our marketplace are counterfeit, infringing or illegal.
Although we do not create or take possession of the items listed in our marketplace by Etsy sellers, we frequently receive communications alleging that items listed in our marketplace infringe third-party copyrights, trademarks, patents, or other intellectual property rights. We have intellectual property complaint and take-down procedures in place to address these communications, and we believe such procedures are important to promote confidence in our marketplace. We follow these procedures to review complaints and relevant facts to determine the appropriate action, which may include removal of the item from our marketplace and, in certain cases, closing the shops of Etsy sellers who repeatedly violate our policies.
Our procedures may not effectively reduce or eliminate our liability. In particular, we may be subject to civil or criminal liability for activities carried out by Etsy sellers on our platform, especially outside the United States where laws may offer less protection for intermediaries and platforms than the United States. Under current U.S. copyright law and the Communications Decency Act, we may benefit from statutory safe harbor provisions that protect us from copyright liability for content posted on our platform by Etsy sellers and Etsy buyers. However, trademark and patent laws do not include similar statutory provisions, and liability for these forms of intellectual property is often determined by court decisions. These safe harbors and court rulings

54

Table of Contents


may change unfavorably. In that event, we may be held secondarily liable for the intellectual property infringement of Etsy sellers.
Regardless of the validity of any claims made against us, we may incur significant costs and efforts to defend against or settle them. If a governmental authority determines that we have aided and abetted the infringement or sale of counterfeit goods or if legal changes result in us potentially being liable for actions by Etsy sellers on our platform, we could face regulatory, civil, or criminal penalties. Successful claims by third-party rights owners could require us to pay substantial damages or refrain from permitting any further listing of the relevant items. These types of claims could force us to modify our business practices, which could lower our revenue, increase our costs or make our platform less user-friendly. Moreover, public perception that counterfeit or other unauthorized items are common in our marketplace, even if factually incorrect, could result in negative publicity and damage to our reputation.
Our business and our Etsy sellers and Etsy buyers may be subject to sales and other taxes.
The application of indirect taxes, such as sales and use tax, value-added tax, provincial taxes, goods and services tax, business tax, withholding tax, digital service tax, and gross receipt tax, to businesses like ours and to Etsy sellers and Etsy buyers is a complex and evolving issue. Significant judgment is required to evaluate applicable tax obligations and as a result amounts recorded are estimates and are subject to adjustments. In many cases, the ultimate tax determination is uncertain because it is not clear when and how new and existing statutes might apply to our business or to Etsy sellers’ businesses. If Etsy is found to be deficient in how it has addressed its tax obligations, our business could be adversely impacted.
One or more states, the federal government, or other countries are seeking to, or have recently imposed additional reporting, record-keeping, or indirect tax collection and remittance obligations on businesses like ours that facilitate online commerce. If requirements like these become applicable in additional jurisdictions, our business could be harmed. For example, taxing authorities in certain U.S. states and in other countries have identified e-commerce platforms as a means to calculate, collect, and remit indirect taxes for transactions taking place over the internet, and are considering related legislation. Additionally, the Supreme Court’s recent decision in South Dakota v. Wayfair, Inc. et al overturned existing law that sellers are not required to collect sales and use tax unless they have a physical presence in the buyer’s state. As a result of the Wayfair decision, states or the federal government may adopt, or begin to enforce laws requiring Etsy sellers to calculate, collect, and remit taxes on their sales. Such changes to current law or new legislation could adversely affect our business if the requirement of tax to be charged on items sold on Etsy causes our marketplace to be less attractive to current and prospective Etsy buyers, which could materially impact our business, financial performance, and growth. Additionally, new legislation could require us or Etsy sellers to incur substantial costs in order to comply, including costs associated with tax calculation, collection, remittance, and audit requirements, which could make selling in our marketplace less attractive.
Our business is subject to a large number of U.S. and non-U.S. laws, many of which are evolving.
We are subject to a variety of laws and regulations in the United States and around the world, including those relating to traditional businesses, such as employment laws and taxation, and laws and regulations focused on ecommerce and online marketplaces, such as online payments, privacy, anti-spam, data security and protection, online platform liability, intellectual property, and consumer protection. In light of our international operations, we need to comply with various laws associated with doing business outside of the United States, including anti-money laundering, sanctions, anti-corruption, and export control laws. In some cases, non-U.S. privacy, data security, consumer protection, e-commerce, and other laws and regulations are more detailed than those in the United States and, in some countries, are actively enforced.
These laws and regulations are continuously evolving, and compliance is costly and can require changes to our business practices and significant management time and effort.
Additionally, it is not always clear how existing laws apply to online marketplaces as many of these laws do not address the unique issues raised by online marketplaces or ecommerce. For example, as described elsewhere in these Risk Factors, laws relating to privacy are evolving differently in different jurisdictions. Federal, state, and non-U.S. governmental authorities, as well as courts interpreting the laws, continue to evaluate and assess the privacy requirements that are applicable to Etsy.
Some providers of consumer devices and web browsers have implemented, or have announced plans to implement, ways to block tracking technologies which, if widely adopted, could also result in online tracking methods becoming significantly less effective. Any reduction in our ability to make effective use of such technologies could harm our ability to personalize the experience of Etsy buyers, increase our costs and limit our ability to attract and retain Etsy sellers and Etsy buyers on cost-effective terms. As a result, our business could be adversely affected.

55

Table of Contents


Existing and future laws and regulations enacted by federal, state, or non-U.S. governments or the inconsistent enforcement of such laws and regulations could impede the growth of ecommerce or online marketplaces, which could have a negative impact on our business and operations. Examples include data localization requirements, limitation on marketplace scope or ownership, intellectual property intermediary liability rules, regulation of online speech, limits on network neutrality, and rules related to security, privacy, or national security, which may impede Etsy or our users. We could also face regulatory challenges or be subject to discriminatory or anti-competitive practices that could impede both our and Etsy sellers’ growth prospects, increase our costs, and harm our business.
We strive to comply with all applicable laws, but they may conflict with each other, and by complying with the laws or regulations of one jurisdiction, we may find that we are violating the laws or regulations of another jurisdiction. Despite our efforts, we may not have fully complied in the past and may not in the future. If we become liable under laws or regulations applicable to us, we could be required to pay significant fines and penalties, our reputation may be harmed and we may be forced to change the way we operate. That could require us to incur significant expenses or to discontinue certain services, which could negatively affect our business.
Additionally, if third parties with whom we work violate applicable laws or our policies, those violations could result in other liabilities for us and could harm our business. Furthermore, the circumstances in which we may be held liable for the acts, omissions or responsibilities of our sellers is uncertain, complex, and evolving. For example, certain laws have recently been enacted seeking to hold marketplaces like ours responsible for certain compliance obligations for which sellers have traditionally been responsible. If an increasing number of such laws are passed, the resulting compliance costs and potential liability risk could negatively impact our business.
Our software is highly complex and may contain undetected errors.
The software underlying our platform is highly interconnected and complex and may contain undetected errors or vulnerabilities, some of which may only be discovered after the code has been released. We rely heavily on a software engineering practice known as “continuous deployment,” meaning that we typically release software code many times per day. This practice may result in the more frequent introduction of errors or vulnerabilities into the software underlying our platform, which can impact the user experience on Etsy.com. Additionally, due to the interconnected nature of the software underlying our platform, updates to certain parts of our code, including changes to Etsy or third party APIs on which Etsy relies, could have an unintended impact on other sections of our code, which may result in errors or vulnerabilities to our platform that negatively impact the user experience and functionality of our marketplace. Any errors or vulnerabilities discovered in our code after release could result in damage to our reputation, loss of our community members, loss of revenue or liability for damages, any of which could adversely affect our growth prospects and our business.
Our business depends on continued and unimpeded access to the internet and mobile networks.
Etsy sellers and Etsy buyers rely on access to the internet or mobile networks to access our marketplace. Internet service providers may choose to disrupt or degrade access to our platform or increase the cost of such access. Mobile network operators or operating system providers could block or place onerous restrictions on the ability to download and use our mobile apps.
Internet service providers or mobile network operators could also attempt to charge us for providing access to our platform. In addition, we could face discriminatory or anticompetitive practices that could impede both our and Etsy sellers’ growth prospects, increase our costs, and harm our business. In 2015, rules approved by the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) went into effect that prohibited internet service providers from charging content providers higher rates in order to deliver their content over certain “fast traffic” lanes; however, those rules were repealed in June 2018. This repeal may make it more difficult or costly for many small businesses such as our community of sellers, as well as our buyers, to access our platform and may result in increased costs for us, which could significantly harm our business, and the millions of microbusinesses that utilize our platform. We, along with other companies and public interest groups, are challenging this repeal in the courts, but these efforts may not be successful and may be costly.
Outside of the United States, it is possible that governments of one or more countries may seek to censor content available on our platform or may even attempt to block access to our platform. If we are restricted from operating in one or more countries, our ability to attract and retain Etsy sellers and Etsy buyers may be adversely affected and we may not be able to grow our business as we anticipate.

56

Table of Contents


Our business could be negatively affected as a result of actions of activist stockholders.
The actions of activist stockholders could adversely affect our business. Specifically, responding to common actions of an activist stockholder, such as requests for special meetings, potential nominations of candidates for election to our Board of Directors, requests to pursue a strategic combination, or other transaction or other special requests, could disrupt our operations, be costly and time-consuming, or divert the attention of our management and employees. In addition, perceived uncertainties as to our future direction in relation to the actions of an activist stockholder may result in the loss of potential business opportunities or the perception that we are unstable as a company, which may make it more difficult to attract and retain qualified employees. Actions of an activist stockholder may also cause fluctuations in our stock price based on speculative market perceptions or other factors that do not necessarily reflect the underlying fundamentals and prospects of our business.
We may be subject to intellectual property claims, which are extremely costly to defend, could require us to pay significant damages, and could limit our ability to use certain technologies in the future.
Companies in the internet and technology industries are frequently subject to litigation based on allegations of infringement or other violations of intellectual property rights. We periodically receive communications that claim we have infringed, misappropriated, or misused others’ intellectual property rights. To the extent we gain greater public recognition, we may face a higher risk of being the subject of intellectual property claims. Third-parties may have intellectual property rights that cover significant aspects of our technologies or business methods and prevent us from expanding our offerings. Third parties may also allege a company is secondarily liable for intellectual property infringement, or that it is a joint infringer with another party. Any intellectual property claim against us, with or without merit, could be time consuming and expensive to settle or litigate and could divert the attention of our management. Litigation regarding intellectual property rights is inherently uncertain due to the complex issues involved, and we may not be successful in defending ourselves in such matters. In addition, some of our competitors have extensive portfolios of issued patents. Many potential litigants, including some of our competitors and patent holding companies, have the ability to dedicate substantial resources to enforcing their intellectual property rights. Any claims successfully brought against us could subject us to significant liability for damages and we may be required to stop using technology or other intellectual property alleged to be in violation of a third party’s rights in one or more jurisdictions where Etsy does business. We also might be required to seek a license for third-party intellectual property. Even if a license is available, we could be required to pay significant royalties or submit to unreasonable terms, which would increase our operating expenses. We may also be required to develop alternative non-infringing technology, which could require significant time and expense. If we cannot license or develop technology for any allegedly infringing aspect of our business, we would be forced to limit our service and may be unable to compete effectively. Any of these results could harm our business.
We may be unable to protect our intellectual property adequately.
Our intellectual property is an essential asset of our business. To establish and protect our intellectual property rights, we rely on a combination of trade secret, copyright, trademark, and patent laws, as well as confidentiality procedures and contractual provisions. The efforts we have taken to protect our intellectual property may not be sufficient or effective. We generally do not elect to register our copyrights, relying instead on the laws protecting unregistered intellectual property, which may not be sufficient. We rely on both registered and unregistered trademarks, which may not always be comprehensive in scope. In addition, our copyrights and trademarks, whether or not registered, and patents may be held invalid or unenforceable if challenged, and may be of limited territorial reach. While we have obtained or applied for patent protection with respect to some of our intellectual property, we generally do not rely on patents as a principal means of protecting intellectual property. To the extent we do seek patent protection, any U.S. or other patents issued to us may not be sufficiently broad to protect our proprietary technologies.
In addition, we may not be effective in policing unauthorized use of our intellectual property and authorized uses may not have the intended effect. Even if we do detect violations, we may need to engage in litigation to enforce our intellectual property rights. Any enforcement efforts we undertake, including litigation, could be time-consuming and expensive and could divert our management’s attention. In addition, our efforts may be met with defenses and counterclaims challenging the validity and enforceability of our intellectual property rights or may result in a court determining that our intellectual property rights are unenforceable. The legal framework surrounding protection of intellectual property changes frequently throughout the world, and these changes may impact our ability to protect our intellectual property and defend against third party claims. If we are unable to cost-effectively protect our intellectual property rights, then our business could be harmed.

57

Table of Contents


We are subject to the terms of open source licenses because our platform incorporates open source software.
The software powering our marketplace incorporates software covered by open source licenses. In addition, we regularly contribute source code to open source software projects and release internal software projects under open source licenses, and we anticipate doing so in the future. The terms of many open source licenses relied upon by Etsy and the internet and technology industries have been interpreted by only a few court decisions and there is a risk that the licenses could be construed in a manner that imposes unanticipated conditions or restrictions on our ability to operate our marketplace. Under certain open source licenses, if certain conditions were met, we could be required to publicly release aspects of the source code of our software or to make our software available under open source licenses. To avoid the public release of the affected portions of our source code, we could be required to expend substantial time and resources to re-engineer some or all of our software. In addition, use of open source software can lead to greater risks than use of third-party commercial software because open source licensors generally do not provide warranties or controls on the origin of the software. Use of open source software may also present additional security risks because the public availability of such software may make it easier for hackers and other third parties to determine how to compromise our platform. Additionally, because any software source code we contribute to open source projects is publicly available, while we may benefit from the contributions of others, our ability to protect our intellectual property rights in such software source code may be limited or lost entirely, and we will be unable to prevent our competitors or others from using such contributed software source code. Any of these risks could be difficult to eliminate or manage and, if not addressed, could adversely affect our business, financial performance and growth.
We may experience fluctuations in our tax obligations and effective tax rate.
We are subject to taxation in the United States and in numerous other jurisdictions. We record tax expense based on current tax payments and our estimates of future tax payments, which may include reserves for estimates of probable settlements of tax audits. At any one time, multiple tax years could be subject to audit by various taxing jurisdictions. As a result, we could be subject to higher than anticipated tax liabilities as well as ongoing variability in our quarterly tax rates as audits close and exposures are re-evaluated. Further, our effective tax rate in a given financial statement period may be adversely impacted by changes in tax laws, changes in the mix of revenue among different jurisdictions, changes to accounting rules, and changes to our ownership or capital structure. Fluctuations in our tax obligations and effective tax rate could adversely affect our business.
In December 2017, the U.S. government enacted comprehensive tax legislation that includes significant changes to the taxation of business entities. These changes include, among others, (1) a permanent reduction to the corporate income tax rate, (2) a partial limitation on the deductibility of business interest expense, (3) a shift of the U.S. taxation of multinational corporations from a tax on worldwide income to a quasi-territorial system (along with certain rules designed to prevent erosion of the U.S. income tax base), and (4) a one-time tax on accumulated offshore earnings held in cash and illiquid assets, with the latter taxed at a lower rate. Notwithstanding the reduction in the corporate income tax rate, the overall impact of this tax reform is uncertain, and our business and financial condition could be adversely affected.
In January 2015, we implemented a revised corporate structure to more closely align our structure with our global operations and future expansion plans outside of the United States. Our new corporate structure changed how we use our intellectual property and implemented certain intercompany arrangements. We believe this may result in a reduction in our overall effective tax rate over the long term and other operational efficiencies; however, the tax laws of the jurisdictions in which we operate are subject to interpretation, and their application may depend on our ability to operate our business in a manner consistent with our corporate structure. Moreover, these tax laws are subject to change. Tax authorities may disagree with our position as to the tax treatment of our transfer of intangible assets or determine that the manner in which we operate our business does not achieve the intended tax consequences. If our new corporate structure does not achieve our expectations for any of these or other reasons, we may be subject to a higher overall effective tax rate and our business may be adversely affected.
We may be involved in litigation matters that are expensive and time consuming.
In addition to intellectual property claims, we may become involved in other litigation matters, including class action lawsuits. Under certain circumstances, we have contractual and other legal obligations to indemnify and to incur legal expenses on behalf of current and former directors, officers, and underwriters. Any lawsuit to which we are a party, with or without merit, may result in an unfavorable judgment. We also may decide to settle lawsuits on unfavorable terms. Any such negative outcome could result in payments of substantial damages or fines, damage to our reputation, or adverse changes to our offerings or business practices. Any of these results could adversely affect our business. In addition, defending claims is costly and can impose a significant burden on our management.

58

Table of Contents


We may expand our business through acquisitions of other businesses, which may divert management’s attention and/or prove to be unsuccessful.
We have acquired a number of other businesses in the past and may acquire additional businesses or technologies in the future. Acquisitions may divert management’s time and focus from operating our business. Acquisitions also may require us to spend a substantial portion of our available cash, issue stock, incur debt or other liabilities, amortize expenses related to intangible assets, or incur write-offs of goodwill or other assets. In addition, integrating an acquired business or technology is risky. Completed and future acquisitions may result in unforeseen operational difficulties and expenditures associated with:
integrating new businesses and technologies into our infrastructure;
consolidating operational and administrative functions;
coordinating outreach to our community;
maintaining morale and culture and retaining and integrating key employees;
maintaining or developing controls, procedures and policies (including effective internal control over financial reporting and disclosure controls and procedures); and
assuming liabilities related to the activities of the acquired business before and after the acquisition, including liabilities for violations of laws and regulations, commercial disputes, cyber attacks, taxes, and other matters.
Moreover, we may not benefit from our acquisitions as we expect, or in the time frame we expect. We also may issue additional equity securities in connection with an acquisition, which could cause dilution to our stockholders. Finally, acquisitions could be viewed negatively by analysts, investors or the members of our community.
If our insurance coverage is insufficient or our insurers are unable to meet their obligations, our insurance may not mitigate the risks facing our business.
Our insurance policies cover a number of risks and potential liabilities, such as general liability, property coverage, errors, and omissions liability, employment liability, business interruptions, data breaches, crime, product liability, and directors’ and officers’ liability. For certain types of business risk, we may not be able to, or may choose not to, acquire insurance. In addition, our insurance may not adequately mitigate the risks we face or we may have to pay high premiums and/or deductibles for the coverage we do obtain. Additionally, if any of our insurers becomes insolvent, it would be unable to pay any claims that we make.
The growth of our business may strain our management team and our operational and financial infrastructure.
We have experienced rapid growth in our business, in the number of Etsy sellers and the number of countries in which we have Etsy sellers and Etsy buyers, and we plan to continue to grow in the future, both in the United States and abroad. The growth of our business places significant demands on our management team and pressure to expand our operational and financial infrastructure. For example, we may need to continue to develop and improve our operational, financial, and management controls and enhance our reporting systems and procedures. If we do not manage our growth effectively, the increases in our operating expenses could outpace any increases in our revenue and our business could be harmed.
Operating as a public company requires us to incur substantial costs and requires substantial management attention.
As a public company, we incur substantial legal, accounting, and other expenses that we did not incur as a private company. For example, we are subject to the reporting requirements of the Exchange Act, the applicable requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, (“the Sarbanes-Oxley Act”), and the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act and the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). The rules and regulations of the Nasdaq Global Select Market (“Nasdaq”) also apply to us. As part of these requirements, we have established and maintained effective disclosure and financial controls and made changes to our corporate governance practices. Continued compliance with these requirements may increase our legal and financial compliance costs in the future and may make some activities more time-consuming. In addition, as described elsewhere in these Risk Factors, as a public company, we may be subject to stockholder activism, which can lead to additional substantial costs, distract management, and impact the manner in which we operate our business in ways we cannot currently anticipate.

59

Table of Contents


If we are unable to maintain effective internal control over financial reporting, investors may lose confidence in the accuracy of our financial reports.
As a public company, we are required to maintain internal control over financial reporting and to report any material weaknesses in such internal controls. Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act requires that we evaluate and determine the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting. It also requires our independent registered public accounting firm to attest to our evaluation of our internal controls over financial reporting. Although our management has determined, and our independent registered public accounting firm has attested, that our internal control over financial reporting was effective as of December 31, 2018, we cannot assure you that we or our independent registered public accounting firm will not identify a material weakness in our internal control in the future.
If we have a material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting in the future, we may not detect errors on a timely basis. If we are not able to comply with the requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, or if we identify a material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting in the future, it could harm our operating results, cause us to fail to meet our SEC reporting obligations or Nasdaq listing requirements, adversely affect our reputation, cause our stock price to decline, or result in inaccurate financial reporting or material misstatements in our annual or interim financial statements. Further, if there are material weaknesses or failures in our ability to meet any of the requirements related to the maintenance and reporting of our internal controls, such as Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, investors may lose confidence in the accuracy and completeness of our financial reports and that could cause the price of our common stock to decline. We could become subject to investigations by Nasdaq, the SEC or other regulatory authorities, which could require additional management attention and which could adversely affect our business.
In addition, our internal control over financial reporting will not prevent or detect all errors and fraud. Because of the inherent limitations in all control systems, no evaluation of controls can provide absolute assurance that misstatements due to error or fraud will not occur or that all control issues and instances of fraud will be detected.

We have a significant amount of debt and may incur additional debt in the future. We may not have sufficient cash flow from our business to pay our substantial debt when due.
 
Our ability to pay our debt when due or to refinance our indebtedness, including the 0% Convertible Senior Notes due 2023 we issued in March 2018, (the “Notes”), depends on our future performance, which is subject to economic, financial, competitive, and other factors beyond our control. Our business may not continue to generate cash flow from operations in the future sufficient to service our debt and make necessary capital expenditures. In addition, any required repurchase of the Notes for cash as a result of a fundamental change would lower our current cash on hand such that we would not have those funds available for us in our business. If we are unable to generate such cash flow, we may be required to adopt one or more alternatives, such as selling assets, restructuring debt or obtaining additional equity capital on terms that may be onerous or highly dilutive. Our ability to refinance our indebtedness will depend on the capital markets and our financial condition at such time. We may not be able to engage in any of these activities or engage in these activities on desirable terms, which could result in a default on our debt obligations. 
 
In addition, we and our subsidiaries may be able to incur substantial additional debt in the future, subject to the restrictions contained in our debt instruments, some of which may be secured debt. If, for example, we incur additional debt, secure existing or future debt or recapitalize our debt, these actions may diminish our ability to make payments on our substantial debt when due.

The accounting method for convertible debt securities that may be settled in cash, such as the Notes, could have a material effect on our reported financial results.

In May 2008, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued FASB Staff Position No. APB 14-1, Accounting for Convertible Debt Instruments That May Be Settled in Cash Upon Conversion (Including Partial Cash Settlement), which has subsequently been codified as Accounting Standards Codification 470-20—Debt with Conversion and Other Options, (“ASC 470-20”). Under ASC 470-20, an entity must separately account for the liability and equity components of the convertible debt instruments (such as the Notes) that may be settled entirely or partially in cash upon conversion in a manner that reflects the issuer’s economic interest cost. The effect of ASC 470-20 on the accounting for the Notes is that the equity component is required to be included in the additional paid-in capital section of stockholders’ equity on our Consolidated Balance Sheet, and the value of the equity component would be treated as original issue discount for purposes of accounting for the debt component of the Notes. As a result, we will be required to record a greater amount of non-cash interest expense in current periods presented as a result of the amortization of the discounted carrying value of the Notes to their face amount over the term of the Notes. We will report lower net income in our financial results because ASC 470-20 will require interest to include

60

Table of Contents


both the current period’s amortization of the debt discount and the instrument’s coupon interest, which could adversely affect our reported or future financial results, the trading price of our common stock and the trading price of the Notes.

In addition, under certain circumstances, convertible debt instruments (such as the Notes) that may be settled entirely or partly in cash are currently accounted for utilizing the treasury stock method, the effect of which is that the shares issuable upon conversion of the Notes are not included in the calculation of diluted earnings per share except to the extent that the conversion value of the Notes exceeds their principal amount. Under the treasury stock method, for diluted earnings per share purposes, the transaction is accounted for as if the number of shares of common stock that would be necessary to settle such excess, if we elected to settle such excess in shares, are issued. We cannot be sure that the accounting standards in the future will continue to permit the use of the treasury stock method. If we are unable to use the treasury stock method in accounting for the shares issuable upon conversion of the Notes, then our diluted earnings per share would be adversely affected.

The terms of our debt instruments may restrict our ability to pursue our business strategies.

We do not currently have any obligations outstanding under our credit facility. However, our credit facility requires us to comply with various covenants that limit our ability to take actions such as:

disposing of assets;

completing mergers or acquisitions;

incurring additional indebtedness;

encumbering our properties or assets;

paying dividends or making other distributions;

making specified investments; and

engaging in transactions with our affiliates.

These restrictions could limit our ability to pursue our business strategies. If we default under our credit facility and if the default is not cured or waived, the lenders could terminate their commitments to lend to us and cause any amounts outstanding to be payable immediately. Such a default could also result in cross defaults under other debt instruments. Moreover, any such default would limit our ability to obtain additional financing, which may have an adverse effect on our cash flow and liquidity.
We may need additional capital, which may not be available to us on acceptable terms or at all.
We believe that our existing cash and cash equivalents and short-term investments, together with cash generated from operations will be enough to meet our anticipated cash needs for at least the next 12 months. However, we may require additional cash resources due to changes in business conditions or other developments, such as acquisitions or investments we may decide to pursue. We may seek to borrow funds under our credit facility or sell additional equity or debt securities. The sale of additional equity or convertible debt securities could result in dilution to our existing stockholders. Any debt financing that we may secure in the future could result in additional operating and financial covenants that would limit or restrict our ability to take certain actions, such as incurring additional debt, making capital expenditures or declaring dividends. It is also possible that financing may not be available to us in amounts or on terms acceptable to us, if at all.

61

Table of Contents


Risks Related to Ownership of Our Common Stock
The price of our common stock has been and will likely continue to be volatile and declines in the price of common stock could subject us to litigation.
The price of our common stock has been and is likely to continue to be volatile. For example, since January 1, 2018, our common stock’s daily closing price on Nasdaq has ranged from a low of $17.73 to a high of $72.77 through May 3, 2019. The price of our common stock may fluctuate significantly for numerous reasons, many of which are beyond our control, such as:
variations in our operating results and other financial and operational metrics, including the key financial and operating metrics disclosed in this Annual Report, as well as how those results and metrics compare to analyst and investor expectations;
forward-looking statements related to our financial guidance or projections, our failure to meet or exceed our financial guidance or projections or changes in our financial guidance or projections;
failure of analysts to initiate or maintain coverage of our company, changes in their estimates of our operating results or changes in recommendations by analysts that follow our common stock or a negative view of our financial guidance or projections and our failure to meet or exceed the estimates of such analysts;
announcements of new services or enhancements, strategic alliances or significant agreements or other developments by us or our competitors;
announcements by us or our competitors of mergers or acquisitions or rumors of such transactions involving us or our competitors;
the amount and timing of our operating expenses and the success of any cost-savings actions we take;
changes in our Board of Directors or senior management team;
disruptions in our marketplace due to hardware, software or network problems, security breaches, or other issues;
the strength of the global economy or the economy in the jurisdictions in which we operate, currency fluctuations, and market conditions in our industry and those affecting members of our community;
the trading activity of our largest stockholders;
the number of shares of our common stock that are available for public trading;
litigation or other claims against us;
stockholder activism;
the performance of the equity markets in general and in our industry;
the operating performance of other similar companies;
changes in legal requirements relating to our business; and
any other factors discussed in this Annual Report.
In addition, if the market for technology stocks or the stock market in general experiences a loss of investor confidence, the price of our common stock could decline for reasons unrelated to our business, financial performance, or growth. Stock prices of many internet and technology companies have historically been highly volatile. Some companies that have experienced volatility in the trading price of their stock have been the subject of securities class action litigation. We have experienced securities class action lawsuits in the past and may experience more such litigation following future periods of volatility or declines in our stock price. Any securities litigation, could result in substantial costs and divert our management’s attention and resources, which could adversely affect our business.

62

Table of Contents


If analysts do not publish research about our business, or if they publish inaccurate or unfavorable research, our stock price and trading volume could decline.
The trading market for our common stock depends in part on the research and reports that analysts publish about our business. We do not have any control over these analysts. If one or more of the analysts who cover us downgrade our common stock or publish inaccurate or unfavorable research about our business, the price of our common stock would likely decline. If few analysts cover us, demand for our common stock could decrease and our common stock price and trading volume may decline. Similar results may occur if one or more of these analysts stop covering us in the future or fail to publish reports on us regularly.
Our stock repurchases may not achieve the desired objectives.

In November 2018, our Board of Directors approved a stock repurchase program authorizing us to repurchase up to $200 million of our common stock. Previously, in November 2017, our Board of Directors approved a stock repurchase program authorizing us to repurchase up to $100 million of our common stock, which we completed in the second quarter of 2018. There can be no assurance that these stock repurchases will enhance stockholder value because the market price of our common stock may decline below the levels at which we repurchased such shares. In addition, there is no guarantee that our stock repurchases in the past or in the future will be able to successfully mitigate the dilutive effect of recent and future employee stock option exercises and restricted stock vesting.
We do not intend to pay dividends on our capital stock, so any returns will be limited to increases in the value of our common stock.
We have never declared or paid any cash dividends on our capital stock. We currently anticipate that we will retain future earnings for the operation and expansion of our business and do not anticipate declaring any dividends in the foreseeable future. In addition, our ability to pay cash dividends on our capital stock is restricted by the terms of our credit facility. As a result, stockholders will not receive dividends or other distributions and may only receive a return on their investment if the trading price of our common stock increases.
Future sales and issuances of our common stock or rights to purchase common stock could result in additional dilution to our stockholders and could cause the price of our common stock to decline.
We may issue additional common stock, convertible securities, or other equity in the future. We also issue common stock to our employees, directors, and other service providers pursuant to our equity incentive plans. Such issuances could be dilutive to investors and could cause the price of our common stock to decline. New investors in such issuances could also receive rights senior to those of current stockholders.

Anti-takeover provisions in our charter documents and under Delaware law could make an acquisition of our company more difficult, could limit attempts to make changes in our management and could depress the price of our common stock.
Provisions in our certificate of incorporation and bylaws may have the effect of delaying or preventing a change in control of our company or limiting changes in our management. Among other things, these provisions:
provide for a classified board of directors so that not all members of our Board of Directors are elected at one time;
permit our Board of Directors to establish the number of directors and fill any vacancies and newly created directorships;
provide that directors may only be removed for cause;
require super-majority voting to amend some provisions in our certificate of incorporation and bylaws;
authorize the issuance of “blank check” preferred stock that our Board of Directors could use to implement a stockholder rights plan;
eliminate the ability of our stockholders to call special meetings of stockholders;
prohibit stockholder action by written consent, which means all stockholder actions must be taken at a meeting of our stockholders;

63

Table of Contents


provide that our Board of Directors is expressly authorized to amend or repeal any provision of our bylaws;
restrict the forum for certain litigation against us to Delaware; and
require advance notice for nominations for election to our Board of Directors or for proposing matters that can be acted upon by stockholders at annual stockholder meetings.
These provisions may delay or prevent attempts by our stockholders to replace members of our management by making it more difficult for stockholders to replace members of our Board of Directors, which is responsible for appointing the members of our management. In addition, Section 203 of the Delaware General Corporation Law (“DGCL”) may delay or prevent a change in control of our company. Section 203 of the DGCL imposes certain restrictions on mergers, business combinations and other transactions between us and holders of 15% or more of our common stock. Anti-takeover provisions could depress the price of our common stock by acting to delay or prevent a change in control of our company.
Our certificate of incorporation provides that the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware is the exclusive forum for substantially all disputes between us and our stockholders, which could limit our stockholders’ ability to obtain a favorable judicial forum for disputes with us or our directors, officers or employees.
Our certificate of incorporation provides that the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware is the exclusive forum for any derivative action or proceeding brought on our behalf, any action asserting a breach of fiduciary duty, any action asserting a claim against us arising pursuant to the DGCL, our certificate of incorporation or our bylaws or any action asserting a claim against us that is governed by the internal affairs doctrine. This choice of forum provision may limit a stockholder’s ability to bring a claim in a judicial forum that it finds favorable for disputes with us or our directors, officers or other employees and may discourage these types of lawsuits. Alternatively, if a court were to find the choice of forum provision contained in our certificate of incorporation to be inapplicable or unenforceable in an action, we may incur additional costs associated with resolving such action in other jurisdictions.


64

Table of Contents


Item 2. Unregistered Sales of Equity Securities and Use of Proceeds.
Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities.
The table below provides information with respect to repurchases of shares of our common stock during the three months ended March 31, 2019.
Period
Total Number of Shares Purchased
 
Average Price Paid per Share (2)
 
Total Number of Shares Purchased as Part of Publicly Announced Plans or Programs (3) (4)
 
Approximate Dollar Value of Shares that May Yet be Purchased under the Plans or Programs
(in thousands)
January 1 - 31, 2019 (1)
651,706

 
$
50.88

 
532,412

 
$
127,500

February 1 - 28, 2019

 

 

 
127,500

March 1 - 31, 2019 (1)
158

 
72.77

 

 
127,500

Total
651,864

 
$
50.89

 
532,412

 
$
127,500

(1)
The total number of shares purchased includes 119,452 shares withheld to satisfy tax withholding obligations in connection with the vesting of employee restricted stock units (“RSUs”).
(2)
Average price paid per share excludes broker commissions.
(3)
On November 6, 2018, we announced that our Board of Directors had approved a stock repurchase program for the repurchase of up to $200 million of our common stock. The stock repurchase program has no expiration date.
(4)
All of these shares were purchased pursuant to a 10b5-1 trading plan.
Item 3. Defaults Upon Senior Securities.
Not applicable.
Item 4. Mine Safety Disclosures.
Not applicable.
Item 5. Other Information.

None.

65

Table of Contents


Item 6. Exhibits.

Exhibit
Number
 
 
Incorporated by Reference
 
 
Filed
Herewith
 
Exhibit Description
 
Form
 
File No.
 
Exhibit
 
Filing Date
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
X
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
X
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
X
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
X
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
X
 
101.INS
XBRL Instance Document
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
X
 
101.SCH
XBRL Taxonomy Schema Linkbase Document
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
X
 
101.CAL
XBRL Taxonomy Calculation Linkbase Document
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
X
 
101.DEF
XBRL Taxonomy Definition Linkbase Document
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
X
 
101.LAB
XBRL Taxonomy Labels Linkbase Document
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
X
 
101.PRE
XBRL Taxonomy Presentation Linkbase Document
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
X
 

† These certifications are not deemed to be filed with the SEC and are not to be incorporated by reference into any filing of Etsy, Inc. under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended.

66

Table of Contents




Signatures
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned thereunto duly authorized.

ETSY, INC.
Date: May 8, 2019
/s/ Rachel Glaser
 
Rachel Glaser
Chief Financial Officer
 
(Principal Financial and Accounting Officer)

67