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OpenSky, the two-year-old social shopping site that banks on celebrity and expert endorsement to share and sell merch, has launched a marketplace for indie shops. It works like Etsy with the added bonus of a social network: Small business owners trading in everything from lotions to candles to jewelry to gourmet foot open boutiques on the site and OpenSky takes commission (see handy infograph above for how it all fits together).
John Caplan, chief executive officer of OpenSky, listing all the problems that the set-up ameliorates for new businesses, told WWD that "they struggle to reach new customers, to use their time wisely, to interact and engage with their customers to grow their businesses." In exchange, OpenSky gets to be a destination for new product discovery—and unlikely celebrity sponsorship.
· OpenSky Now Selling Celeb-Curated Beauty Products [Racked]