Choosing Handmade

A fellow Etsy crafter is quoted as saying: “Choosing handmade is choosing a slower way of life, one rooted in tradition and creative expression. Handmade always involves a story that is as much about the maker as it is about the product.”

In the age of mass produced goods, it’s often hard to find handmade items. While the Industrial Revolution brought about a factory system that allowed for mass production of textiles and other goods, hands-on artisan skills shifted to mechanical production in factories in major cities. This mass production brought about a lower cost for goods and an increase in the number of jobs available.

Such advances in technology and energy led to urbanization, an influx of capital that allowed businesses to grow, and a new social class structure. However, today, a significant portion of American companies have found cheaper alternatives to production outside of our borders and failed trade policies with other countries have decimated the manufacturing base in the United States.

Today, we are hard pressed to find items in our own homes that were not manufactured in Bangladesh, China, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Pakistan, Taiwan, and Thailand. The result of the lack of American-made goods available, unfortunately, has led to a drastically altered structure of our economy. Quality of merchandise and artisan skill has fallen to the wayside when compared to the cost benefit of mass produced items.

However, this cost savings has also cost valuable manufacturing job positions in this country. As a result of our floundering economy, focus is being shifted to the purchase of American-made products. A recent study has shown that if each American spent 1% more each day (just 18¢) on domestic goods, it could produce 200,000 new jobs.

That’s where websites like Etsy come into play. Etsy was formed in 2005 to showcase handmade or vintage items as well as arts and crafts supplies. It has grown significantly to tens of thousands of sellers and five times that amount in buyers. In 2007, Etsy celebrated its one-millionth sale. The site follows in the tradition of open-air craft fairs and allows sellers to have a personal online storefront from which to list their handmade goods for sale. Another rich feature of the online community is the “Buy Local” feature that allows you to search for artisans in your local community. So not only are your purchases helping American-based artisans, but they can also support local craft businesses that in turn help the economy by paying sales taxes.

Etsy has a permanent lab located in DUMBO, Brooklyn (New York), which they call “Etsy Labs”. They are also one of the main members of the Handmade Consortium—a 2007 effort to encourage buying handmade holiday gifts. Etsy keeps their pricing structure simple, charging sellers 20¢ for each item listing plus 3.5% of each sale. It doesn’t cost anything to create a buyer account and get started purchasing handmade goods, vintage items, and supplies.

If you haven’t had a chance to check out the site, click here: www.etsy.com. If you’d like take a look at the handmade items Busy Lil’ Bees Designs has to offer on Etsy, check out our online storefront at www.busylilbees.etsy.com. REMEMBER: Shop local and buy homemade.