This week Etsy announced the launch of Pattern, a month-to-month seller service that helps Etsy sellers create their own custom websites outside of their Etsy shop. It is the fourth seller service launched by Etsy, and the first that utilizes a subscription model.

Etsy designed Pattern to help its sellers to better promote and market their businesses.

“Offering high-impact seller services is one of Etsy’s four strategic initiatives. The way we view seller services at Etsy is that they should address fundamental pain points our sellers face running their creative businesses, so they can spend more time making and less time on the administrative aspects of their shops. Our focus is on listening to what our sellers need, and providing services that add value and give them opportunities to grow,” said Etsy CEO Chad Dickerson in Tuesday’s announcement.

“Pattern is a fantastic new option for sellers who want to take their creative businesses to the next level. I can’t wait to see the Pattern sites our sellers build to highlight their growing brands,” added Dickerson.

Etsy was founded in 2005. It currently has more than 1.6 million sellers, 24 million buyers and gross annual sales of $2.39 billion. In addition to Pattern, Etsy offers three other seller services to help Etsy shop owners to sell their handmade, vintage or curated goods:

1. Direct Checkout which simplifies payment processing and lets sellers accept different payment types
2. Promoted Listings which offer advertising in on-site search results
3. Shipping Labels to make it easy for sellers to purchase and print shipping labels at home

Pattern is the first Etsy service that allows the company to support its sellers beyond their Etsy stores.

According to Bloomberg, Pattern is free for the first month and will cost sellers $15 a month after that. The service is only available to sellers who use the Direct Checkout method.

Insider Take:

We are Etsy shoppers, so we already love the concept of supporting individual, creative businesses through online ecommerce. Etsy has built tools that make it easy for someone to generate revenue, either full-time or part-time from selling their own products. This new subscription service is an added bonus for sellers, especially for those who also utilize other platforms like eBay.

By adding Pattern, Etsy has accomplished three things. First, it has provided a way to support sellers outside of their Etsy shops, assisting with one of their biggest pain points – marketing and promoting their businesses.

Second, it is providing this service to sellers in an affordable way. $15 a month is more than a business owner would pay for web hosting, but Etsy is offering more than web hosting. It is offering a platform and support for that $15 while generating recurring revenue for itself.

Third, Etsy is securing its position as a strong supporter of its shop owners and giving them a reason to sell more via Etsy, or a separate Etsy-supported website. This gives Etsy goodwill as well as brand loyalty.

At the outset, this sounds like everybody wins. We hope Etsy has tested this idea, or will test it on a small scale, so it can work out any kinks before Pattern becomes widely available.