If you're new to hand-crafting travels online you may not have heard of
Etsy.com - the website that caters to cottage industry in a new way. Only a few years old, this site allows artisans, crafters and small business owners to sell their handmade or vintage wares (or supplies) on the internet. Essentialy Etsy is like an eternal craft fair!
Beyond providing this service, which does cost a little money (but not a lot!), the people at Etsy strive to share the culture of crafting and Do-It-Yourself with everyone who happens upon it. Etsy teams are made up of vendors who have common goals, locations, or motivations. For example, my team -
The Handmade Hustlers - are all from the greater Reno/Tahoe/Sparks area and meet in person to talk about selling strategies, successes and failures, and all kinds of other things that are involved with trying to sell things that made by hand in an online environment. Last November our team worked with
VSA Arts of Nevada,
The Waldorf School, and other non-profits to put on an independent holiday craft fair at the
Lake Mansion where there were booths for non-profits and part of the fees for participating were donated.
Our team leader applied for a grant from Etsy to help fund that fair, and we have been lucky enough to receive another grant for our spring fair: Indie Reno May Day! We were even written up in the
Etsy Blog.
So thanks to Etsy for helping promote local and independent small businesses! Come see what cool things we have at May Day.
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