Sites I Love – Etsy
The internet never ceases to amaze me. As such, I feel compelled to give a shout-out to some of my favorite sites. For this post, my choice is Etsy.com.
I first learned about Etsy nearly a year ago when one of my students gave a speech encouraging people to use the site. Etsy is an internet marketplace where people can buy and sell all things handmade. These items range from artwork to clothing to jewelry and even furniture. People wishing to sell their wares can create stores to showcase and sell their work while people looking to make a purchase can search for a specific item or browse by category. There is also a blog, chat, online classes, news articles and other community-building tools.
One of my favorite features of the site is alchemy. With alchemy, people who are searching for something specific can post the specifications of what they want and then artists can put in bids to create the piece. I used alchemy in November when I wanted a painting of the family cats to give to my sister for Christmas. I got nearly 30 bids and was able to browse the works of all of these artists as well as compare their prices. In the end I chose a great artist called brigittemarie. I sent her a picture of my cats and she went right to work. Through Etsy, we were able to discuss the specifications of the picture and she was very dilligent in sending me in-progress photos to make sure I was getting exactly what I had wanted. In the end I recieved this beautiful painting:
Etsy is such a great site because buyers and sellers can interact directly with each other. If someone has an issue with a purchase, they can go directly to the seller without having to sit on hold for hours or fill out generic feedback forms. Just visiting the site makes you feel like you have entered a close-knit community rather than the site of some entity trying to make money off of you. Whether you are looking to buy, sell or simply browse, please take a moment to visit this amazing site. You might just find that perfect handmade gift for a loved one or even yourself.
This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 21st, 2009 at 10:43 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
