A purse with personal flair, an original work of art or a custom-built dining table – if you’ve ever complimented your friends’ unique possessions, you’ve probably heard at least one respond, “Thanks! I got it on Etsy.”
Don’t let its cute name fool you; Etsy.com is the new giant of the online retail world, providing storefront space to more than 8,000 shops peddling handmade and vintage goods.
Drawing comparisons to eBay, you can search via keyword or item type to find what you’re looking for. And with more than 13 million items listed on the site, you’ll probably be able to find it. If not, there’s always the option to request a custom item from a particular seller.
Lewis Center resident Kristy Sickles stumbled across Etsy in 2007, only two years after the site was launched. She was looking for a coupon wallet and a Google search turned up an Etsy listing for one she liked.
“(The link) went right to the buyers shop and I just sort of explored from there,” Sickles says. “I started buying pretty frequently after that.”
Sickles immediately saw the site’s potential as an outlet for her own creative juices.
“I had already started making some things,” she says. “I didn’t know if it would pan out as a place (where) I could sell, but I thought I’d give it a shot.”
She started her business Daisy Mae Designs (etsy.com/shop/DaisyMaeDesignsShop) Dec. 31, 2007. Since then, she’s racked up more than 5,000 sales of her custom jewelry and household goods made with vintage maps. She had a breakthrough moment in December 2009 when Good Morning America featured a set of her magnets in a gift guide of chic, cheap gifts for co-workers.
One of the benefits of running a business that features map products: Sickles gets some insight into the cities, big and small, that are important to her customers. It’s given her a unique view into one of the lesser-known functions of Etsy – the “Shop Local” feature. She gets a fair amount of local business thanks to Shop Local, which allows you to search for sellers in your area.
“It's fun to think that an atlas that was found in an attic in Worthington has found new life as a wine stopper for a client in Clintonville,” Sickles says.
To find local sellers on Etsy, visit Etsy.com/local and enter the city you wish to search. From there, you can narrow down your interest until you find the perfect item, or just browse, clicking on whatever looks appealing.
Sellers who claim Columbus as their location collectively have more than 31,500 items listed on the site. When contacted, some of the sellers admit they live elsewhere in Ohio, but are seeking the somewhat larger “Shop Local” traffic Columbus provides.
One such seller is Bits Bair, who lives in Marengo in Morrow County and has a day job at The Ohio State University. Her shop, BagChemistry, has been around since 2008. Bair’s canvas messenger bags and backpacks are embellished – some with heat-transferred book page silhouettes, others with embroidered designs. It’s a niche market, Bair says.
“Basically I’m creating bags for people who are a little bit like myself – interested in words and science and things like that,” Bair says. “I had been making bags for myself and sometimes giving them as gifts to family members and friends, and hadn’t even seriously thought about selling them until I came across the Etsy website.”
Because her bags are targeted at a specific demographic, Bair doesn’t find that an overwhelming number of customers seek her out because of her Columbus location, but her identification as a central Ohioan has helped her connect with other central Ohio Etsy sellers.
Bair has gotten involved with Etsy Team Columbus, a group of about 100 Etsy sellers from Ohio that organizes local get-togethers for vendors, as well as arts and crafts fairs for the general public.
“We try to promote a local presence as far as being involved in different (art) shows,” says Amy Ressa of Gahanna, a member of the leadership panel for Etsy Team Columbus.
The group’s signature event, the Eco-Chic Craftacular, has been held in May at Whetstone Park for the last four years, and the team has been asked to exhibit at the Old Hilliardfest Art Fair Sept. 8 in Old Hilliard.
“We’re trying to help promote the arts within Columbus and help it grow,” Ressa says.
Ressa creates custom bridal hangers (for sale at etsy.com/shop/OriginalBridalHanger), but there are also many Columbus-based Etsy sellers whose goods have a more artistic flair. For example, Mike Dexter (etsy.com/shop/dexmex) creates American and Mexican inspired typographic artwork. The Grandview Heights resident is a full-time graphic designer who started selling his personal creations on Etsy just over a year ago.
“I’m half Mexican, so not all of it, but some of my art has a slight Spanish influence to it,” Dexter says. “I’ve been a graphic designer for 30-some years. … I just wanted to see what I could do with my design talent. I rarely got to do illustration, so I thought I’d do this on the side to see if I could sell any.”
Dexter has been moderately successful, with 70-plus sales on Etsy over the course of the year, and is exhibiting his work at the Upper Arlington Labor Day Arts Festival Sept. 3.
Megan Howard, owner of Tulane Road Pottery (etsy.com/shop/TulaneRoadPottery), says her Etsy site generates a lot of interest in her business, though that doesn’t always translate into Etsy sales.
“They see my Etsy shop and realize I’m in Columbus,” Howard says. “I’ve had a lot of people who have wanted to come over to the studio and see my work in person or shop in person that found me on Etsy.”
Howard throws her handmade pottery in the basement of her home at 121 E. Tulane Rd. in Clintonville, and displays her works in the garage. Fewer than half of her customers are local, she says, but that’s a significantly higher percentage of local Etsy buyers than for many other businesses.
“It’s great selling things through my Etsy shop, but also finding customers and other artists in that community,” Howard says. “I do a lot of custom work. People find me through Etsy for all kinds of projects.”
In addition to her Etsy shop and at her studio, Howard also sells pieces at five brick-and-mortar stores throughout Ohio, including Wholly Craft in Clintonville.
Sickles’ Daisy Mae Designs products are also available in six central Ohio locations, including LP designs in the Short North and Open Door Art Studio in Grandview Heights.
But for Bair, Etsy is the perfect venue for her business. She has no plans to expand.
“Etsy has been a great match for my personality,” she says. “Selling at street fairs really tires me out a lot. I’m a reserved person.”
Lisa Aurand is a contributing editor. Feedback welcome at gbishop@cityscenemediagroup.com.
