Etsy Sees Huge Interest For Fabric Face Masks After CDC Recommendation

Late last week, the CDC updated its guidelines/recommendations suggesting everyone wear protective masks while interacting with others.

“CDC recommends wearing cloth face coverings in public settings where other social distancing measures are difficult to maintain (e.g., grocery stores and pharmacies), especially in areas of significant community-based transmission.”

CDC Statement

With an acute shortage of surgical and medical face masks as new production is being reserved for front-line medical staff, there has been considerable interest by the public about fabric masks as an alternative, especially since the CDC recommendation.

Fabric face masks are not medical grade and Etsy informs buyers that these masks are not sold as medical devices.

Etsy Sellers Uniquely Positioned to Offer Fabric Masks

Etsy reports today since the CDC recommendation, it has seen significant demand for fabric face masks on its marketplace.

Over the weekend (April 4-6), buyers searched for face masks on Etsy an average of 9 times per second, over 2 million searches. Furthermore, Etsy reports:

• Over the past week, Etsy sellers have sold hundreds of thousands of face masks per day.
• The number of face mask sellers has increased five-fold in the last two weeks to nearly 20,000 sellers.
• Etsy has seen a three-times increase in the number of shops selling face masks daily in the last week alone.

This sudden high demand for fabric masks couldn’t have come at a better time for many Etsy sellers. With many sellers offering unique and custom products that may not be at the top of consumers’ shopping lists right now, this opportunity enables sellers to provide products buyers want.

The rush on masks is helping small and micro-businesses stay afloat during this difficult time by using their skills to make high-demand products.

And the large variety of masks available from Etsy sellers also means consumers can choose from different designs and patterns to fit their wardrobe and style.

Etsy hopes the availability of non-medical, consumer masks on its marketplace will continue to allow more medical and surgical masks to reach the people who need them most: front-line health care workers.

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