Etsy: Handmade gifts
November 24, 2007
Homemade. Handmade. Made in America. Are you a crafter? When you create something, do your friends and family members ask if you can make one for them? Or have you wistfully contemplated the idea of turning a hobby into a money-making venture?
Are you a shopper who has tired of boring and potentially dangerous mass-produced products? Looking for the original and unique item, either for yourself or as a gift? This Christmas season there is a renewed interest in American-made products and one-of-a-kind handmade gifts crafted by individual artists and artisans.
Etsy, an online marketplace of handmade items, might just be the perfect place for crafters looking to sell their products and shoppers interested in one-of-a-kind merchandise.
Etsy has areas that include accessories, art, bags and purses, bath and beauty, books and zines, candles, ceramics and pottery, children, clothing, crochet, everything else, furniture, geekery, glass, holidays, housewares, jewelry, knitting, music, needlecraft, paper goods, patterns, pets, plants and edibles, quilts, supplies, toys, vintage, weddings and woodworking.
At Etsy, the shopper can search by category, color, geographic location, or a product reflecting a specific time in the Time Machine. Etsy provides gift guides for mom, dad, baby, girls, boys, grandparents, best friends, significant others, eco friends, co workers, pets and more. For the seller, Etsy takes a reasonably small percentage of the final sale of each item.
With over 300,000 items for sale by more than 30,000 sellers from around the world, the portal for the homemade is slick and the creativity of the sellers awe-inspiring.