The Craft Store VS the Internet Site

By Chuck R Stewart

The world is getting more high tech every day. Products are mass produced. Items that used to have individual character are devolving into commodities. Everything is getting slicker and slicker. What's happening to individuality? Individuality has not disappeared. The human drive for individuality is being fostered by the growth of interest in handmade crafts. More and more people are taking up the making of handcrafts as a way of expressing their artistic individuality. But these handcrafts can't be just the same old things that your grandmother made. No antimacassars here. New types of crafts are being dreamed up every day. For example, have you ever heard of a purse dangle? No? It's the same as a handbag pendant. Jewelry for your purse. Isn't that a fun concept?

But there's not really a Great Divide between the world of high technology and the world of handmade crafts. As it turns out, it is the world of high technology that is allowing handmade crafts to flourish. The best and easiest way to sell handmade crafts is to sell them directly on the Internet. Sure, there are stores out there that sell craft items, but the buyers have to know where they are and have to travel there. And for the seller, the process from making the item to putting the item in the buyer's shopping bag can be complicated. The artist may have to meet with the store owner-on the store owner's schedule. The store owner surely will want to examine the item and either accept it for sale or reject it. Then there are the terms of the sale. A store owner has overhead to pay. That means that she will take a large portion of the artist's profits. There can be many other complications in the contract, such as payments for promotional activities.

Selling on the Internet is much easier. The buyer can just sit at home and browse the sites. And even finding the sites is easy. Just Google the item that you are looking for, and the site where it is located will come up. The most widely known site, eBay, allows anyone to sell just about anything to any buyer. Its fame makes it a go-to place for these buyers. The artist doesn't have to make herself known to the world because the world knows eBay. Other sites are more specifically craft oriented. For example, Etsy is a site that is becoming more and more well known as a place to find just handmade crafts and vintage items. On Etsy, the artist has full control of a mini-site. She can create an identity consisting of a profile, a photograph, and a logo. The selling process is also inexpensive. The cost is only twenty cents per item for three months, and Etsy's commission is only 3.5 per cent. The artist can upload multiple photographs of each item.

People are eager to purchase handmade objects because unique possessions allow them to express their individuality in a truly modern way.

Chuck Stewart just bought a purse dangle for his wife. He finds that it is a handmade craft that she loves.

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