Students are buying and selling their handmade items on what the New York Times has called “a crafty cross between Amazon and eBay.”
Etsy, founded in June 2005, is a website that connects sellers of handmade goods and buyers from more than 150 countries across the globe.
“It’s very popular among the artistic community. At least all of the people I probably have classes with know what it is,” said Catie Sampson, studio photography senior.
Its users exchange handmade vintage items, as well as art, clothing, jewelry, photography and more. But there’s one catch — nothing can be store manufactured.
“It’s a very friendly and inviting community of original crafters and artisans that come together to sell their stuff,” said art history junior Rebecca Wade.
The products bought on Etsy are more often than not one-of-a-kind, said undecided freshman Dana Gaude.
“It has so much beautiful stuff on the website. [The items are] very creative, very beautiful, intricate, personal and unique,” Gaude said.
She said she was attracted to Etsy because of the featured customized laptop decals.
The variety of items and do-it-yourself attitude attracts many college students, she said.
“It [also] has appeal to people because of its convenience factor and the widespread availability,” said marketing professor William Black.
Wade, who said she hasn’t stepped inside a mall in years, reaffirms Gaude’s sentiments, claiming everything feels much more authentic when it’s handmade.
“People put more heart into it, more thought into it. It’s just so much more artistic,” Wade said.
Wade, who heard about Etsy through a friend, began selling jewelry on the site to make extra money.
“I’ve made roughly $40 since I began selling my jewelry on Etsy in July,” said Wade of the “fun and flirty” sales she’s made. “It’s not much, but it’s definitely lunch money.”
The support Wade receives from her family, friends and international customers keeps up her store so she can serve people “who don’t want to buy commercially manufactured, mass-produced crap,” she said.
“As students, we should be able to look at [Etsy] and be like, ‘Oh wow, that’s a cool idea. I want to do that’… because it [inspires] people to start doing things for themselves instead of just going out and buying something made in China,” Gauden said.
Contact Julian Tate at [email protected].