Why did online marketplace Etsy purchase Reverb for $275 million? Etsy CEO Josh Silverman made his first public comments about why his company made the acquisition.
“As you have heard me say many times, vibrant two-sided marketplaces are lightning in a bottle. There are only a handful of them at scale and Reverb is one. This transaction is a great strategic fit that firmly aligns with our mission of keeping commerce human. Reverb is the Etsy of musical instruments, with significant competitive differentiation and we see tremendous value and potential in the business,” Silverman said during Etsy’s 2019 second-quarter earnings conference call on Aug. 2. “What Reverb’s founder David Kalt and his team have created in only six years is incredible, essentially a new and special place to buy and sell musical instruments and I will bet some of you out there are musicians who are familiar with the platform. They have been a disruptive force in this space where used musical instrument sales are now outpacing new. Reverb has redefined the sector and grown it online.
“Why am I so jazzed about this deal? It’s a great strategic fit and similar business model to Etsy,” continued Silverman. “And the company is in the infancy of its growth. We see a number of similarities between the levers of growth for Etsy and Reverb, such as improving search and discovery, making selling and buying easier and building a global brand and user community. We have successfully implementing these types of initiatives at Etsy and are confident that we can similarly impact Reverb’s business. We will have more to share with you about this business once the transaction is completed, but since it’s still pending regulatory approval and other customary closing conditions, we are keeping our commentary to a minimum today.”