ETSY and Martha Stewart

WOW! Another GREAT promotion for ETSY!!

On Leap Day, Rob(founder of etsy), was on the Martha Stewart Show, talking about etsy and what a great showcase it is for artisans around the world.

With him he had brought a large number of items from various shops and stores, and helped show the world exactly what etsy is and what we stand for as a whole.

ETSY: a worldwide marketplace for sellers to sell their HANDMADE goods of every kind. Of course there are the vintage and supplies categories, but generally everything on etsy is made and crafted by hand. There are over 100,000 sellers on etsy, and over 750,000 members total. They sell an average of 15,000 products A DAY.

I will say I have done both ebay and etsy, and I vote ETSY all the way. ebay is overfiltrated with junk and mass produced crap and people are only trying to score a deal. They may charge you 99 cents for the item and then 30$ for shipping to avoid paying fees. It is ludicrous. But on etsy, everything is handmade. shipping fees are generally actual shipping costs. You may pay a little more, but you know you are getting quality and something handmade, not mass produced. Many times when you buy an etsy item you are getting a one of a kind, not to be found anywhere else item.

Here are 2 things I have recently gotten from etsy:

This awesome totebag/purse from sewgracious

I LOVE this bag. I had a whole post devoted to this bag awhile back. I get compliments on it wherever I go, and I DEFINATELY could not have found it in a department store.

This boro lampwork glass pendant called "daisy".

Thanks to flamekist for this AWESOME pendant. Sterling silver bail fused onto a a gorgeous daisy pattern lampwork glass pendant.

the packaging it came in was almost as pretty as the pendant itself!!

I am in love with this pendant, and am off to the jewelry store today to find a silver chain on which to hang it.

Watching Martha, and seeing all the talent on her stage, I was really proud to be a member of etsy.

I am Blueboygifts, where I mainly sell polymer clay pendants, jewelry, greeting cards and crochet items. It took me a full month to get my first sale, I felt really bad about myself and my crafts. I didnt realize that I needed to promote my items and my shop and that posting does not equal sales. So I started participating in the forums more, offering free shipping in promotions on certain items, relisting and renewing regularly and the sales started coming. Then I responded to a forum thread posted by Matt from admin. He liked my story and asked me to be a featured seller. It was a huge blessing to be featured , (September 2006) which really helped me gain exposure. To date I have sold almost 500 items as blueboy.

Then in January of 2008, I decided to open my SECOND shop Thebalmshoppe.

Granted I have to get my name out there(AGAIN) but it is totally worth it. I have bath and body products, balms, salts and more. I currently have several batches of soap curing that I cant WAIT to list!!

So thank you to Martha Stewart, for helping get the name of etsy out into the public. Thank you for showing america that they can buy quality, beautiful and unique items from artists and crafters all over the world and not mass produced junkyard crap you find on OTHER sites.

It was funny to me as I was watching: As the camera's panned over the items I was telling my husband "Oh Look, thats Black Apple!", "Oh there's Littleput!" or "I recognize Janine King Designs anywhere!" and "Don't you LOVE those popsicle soaps by LoveLee??" I have come to recognize many etsyans by their products and by their style and flair.

Thank you to etsy as well. Being a member has given me the chance to step outside my comfort zone and succeed where I didnt think I had a chance. It has given me focus and a goal. It has helped me define who I am as a crafter and what i want to be as a businessperson.

It has shown me that I can achieve anything I want, if I put the work into it.