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Posted on December 18, 2007
Handmade in a Web 2.0 World
BY JENNIFER EUBANKS
A few days ago, an article appeared in The New York Times Magazine, entitled Handmade 2.0. Being a somewhat crafy individual, I took interest in this story that focused on Etsy.com, a popular online site for selling hand-crafted items.
There is a movement to buy handmade items--as a method to decrease the ill-effects that mass production causes, as well as support and encourage individual crafters. The movement must be working, because so far, every day this December Etsy has had record-breaking sales. For comparison, $4.3 million were spent on the site during the month of November, which was a 43% increase from October.
The site is not profitable, but it embodies a spirit that is making it increasingly popular--even moreso during this Holiday season. Although somewhat lengthy, the article makes many good points about how Etsy allows crafters a chance to sell their wares to a larger market than they would otherwise have access to, as well as potentially making a living doing something they love.
However, as the article points out, not all is rainbows and sunshine, as the site suffers from the same problems that affect other marketplace venues--in order to make money, a crafter must produce what the consumer demands. You are free to offer a variety of wares, but it is entirely possible that you will spend all of your time making the same 1 or 2 items over and over and over again, which can make it feel more like work than a labor of love.
Also, as the site expands, it becomes increasingly difficult to breakout as a new artist. Another common problem is that of pricing--an established artist may be reluctant to raise prices, and prices can only go so low in order to still adequately compensate the artist for their time and cost of materials. As the article states, "Etsy is another manifestation of how D.I.Y.-ism has evolved." We've already seen other instances of how the crafting world is tech-savvy and taking advantage of the sense of community that the web has to offer--most recently my post on the Knitting and Crochet site, Ravelry.
While a pairing of handcraft and internet may seem anachronistic, it is a union that is ultimately beneficial. It allows craftspeople to do what they love, while also allowing consumers to purchase unique handcrafted items without having to travel to boutiques and fairs, scouring multiple locations for that perfect treasure.
