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While pundits and economists worry about Wall Street’s well-being, Americans worry about losing their jobs, paying their bills, and the health of the planet. The capitalist marketplace promotes the exploitation of people and natural resources as cheap fixes. But you don’t have to abandon your values to save a buck. Welcome to the People’s Marketplace.

By Martina Steiner

Are you crafty? Handy with a sewing needle, a drawer of greeting cards, or a hobby woodworker? Whatever your talent you may be able to make some money from it by selling your stuff online, through the website Etsy. That’s Etsy – E-T-S-Y, an online market devoted to handmade items. Check it out at www.etsy.com.

If you are not looking to sell, but you are in the market to buy something unique straight from its creator, the thousands of shops on Etsy are worth browsing.
Three categories of items can be sold through Etsy: handmade, vintage, and supplies – as in crafting supplies.

Whether you’re buying or selling, Etsy is incredibly easy to use. Becoming a seller on Etsy is affordable – much cheaper than setting up a booth at the local county fair or farmer’s markets – which are great options but require registration fees that can be a little costly for new merchants.

To set-up shop on Etsy you need to be comfortable using a computer, and uploading pictures from a digital camera, but you don’t have to be a computer wiz. Each seller gets their own web page that is pre-designed and pretty minimal. You name it and you add the content and pictures. You do NOT need to know how to design a website, or how to write html code.

What does it cost you? The seller pays 20 cents to list each item for 4 months. And for each item sold the seller is charged a 3.5% transaction fee. What you get in return is an easy to use website to sell your stuff, a customer pool in the millions, and a connection to an active community of other creative types.

Buyers have it easy on Etsy too. First, there is a list of general categories like music, pets, furniture, and clothing. Within a category, for example, “housewares”, you can search for “red picture frame”. Then – here’s where you might be able to save yourself some money – you can set a minimum and maximum amount, like between 10 and 25 dollars. When I searched for red picture frames costing no more than 25 dollars, I got 205 results. The terms “handmade” and “vintage” are certainly not synonymous with “bargain”. But here you’ll often find unique items for the same price as something store bought, and occasionally for less. If you’re planning a wedding, Etsy sellers will shock you with the many ways they have re-invented staid items like the guest book.

Etsy also provides a way for local makers and shoppers to connect. It has a “shop local” option, that allows you to search for merchants by city and state. Shopping local keeps your money in the family, so to speak, and it may save you from paying shipping costs. For example, if you live in Oakland, Ca and you’re looking for unique glass beads, check out Flamingfool on Etsy. They will let you go to them and pick-up your order so you avoid paying for shipping. And no matter who you buy from, you know that a hundred percent of your hard earned money is going to the hardworking crafter who made your purchase. No shareholders, no CEO with a 7-figure paycheck.

So check out Etsy for a break from commerce as usual. Try it, and stretch your dollar to meet you values. Together, we can take back the economy.
For the People’s Marketplace this is Martina Steiner