Oh holy moly.
World of Good got acquired by eBay and Greater Good!
Now you can find World of Good at eBay.
What is World of Good?
World of Good was founded in 2004 by Priya Haji, MBA with the mission to help small artisan producers improve their livelihoods by providing them with access to mainstream retail markets. The company has helped more than 40,000 individual artisans across 70 countries by connecting them with millions of U.S. consumers. Haji also founded World of Good Development Organization, a sister non-profit focused on improving the lives of low-income women in the developing world.
Have you ever bought or sold something on eBay?
Have you ever bought anything from World of Good?
Has a hybrid nonprofit ever before been bought out by a for-profit?
It looks like they’re trying to compete with places like 10,000 Villages AND Etsy, because they highlight American-made goods as well as international, fair trade goods.
Wow. Imagine a new vision for your nonprofit. Imagine that you get so profitable and your nonprofit brand gets so popular that eBay is looking to buy you! Imagine what partner you’re currently collaborating with that you could convince to buy your nonprofit and help you scale your solutions!
World of Good’s take on the situation: “eBay’s acquisition of the brand results from a two-year long collaboration between the two companies that led to the development of WorldofGood.com by eBay, the world’s largest multi-seller marketplace for socially and environmentally responsible shopping. The transaction reflects eBay’s growing commitment to engaging consumers to affect social change through sustainable commerce. It also represents World of Good’s commitment to creating the greatest market opportunity for small, Fair Trade and environmentally responsible producers around the world. The online marketplace hosts hundreds of sellers, with tens of thousands of sustainable products from 85 countries.
“We are excited about the opportunity to scale the World of Good mission to an unprecedented degree through eBay,” said World of Good co-founder and CEO Priya Haji. “Also, we are confident that GreaterGood will be an excellent steward of the retail partnerships we’ve built and will continue to grow Fair Trade through mainstream retail channels.”
“GreaterGood’s acquisition of World of Good’s wholesale division reflects its growing Fair Trade business, including its Global Girlfriend apparel line. Since 2004, World of Good has developed extensive retail product lines for partners like Whole Foods Market, Hallmark and Disney, among others. GreaterGood will continue to work with the same retail partners and artisan groups in order to grow market access for small artisan suppliers around the globe.”
I hope that GreaterGood will not try to create more sweatshops for artisans that currently get fair trade. I hope they will do the right thing, since both Hallmark and Disney are not exactly known for discouraging sweatshop labor.
“Robert Chatwani, Director of eBay Global Citizenship said of the acquisition, “We look forward to this next step in our commitment to building an integrated, sustainable shopping experience within the eBay marketplace and are dedicated to applying our reach, resources and business model to create a positive impact for people, the planet and communities throughout the world.” -All quotes taken from The World of Good website
Wow. This is a big step for eBay and GreaterGood. It seems like they want to challenge Etsy, 10,000 Villages, and other companies that are helping more socially conscious consumers buy American-made or fair-trade goods. I wonder how these other companies will respond.
Imagine if you could get big companies like Paypal, Google, Dell, or others interested in buying your nonprofit and continuing your charitable work because of what you sold and how well you marketed yourself! Imagine how many more people you could reach, how much more you could work towards global solutions for poverty, clean water, hunger, vaccines, etc!
What do you think of the acquisition? Good? Bad? Indifferent?