The world is getting more high tech all the time. Products are factory made. Items that used to have individual character are being made into commodities. Everything is getting slicker and slicker. What is this doing to our individuality? Individuality has not gone away. The human drive for individuality is being encouraged 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 yadda-yadda that your Aunt Myrtle made. No antimacassars these days. New craft items are being dreamed up every day. For example, what about the 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 nurturing the world of handmade crafts. The most effective way to sell handmade crafts is to sell them directly on the Internet. Sure, you can find stores that sell craft items, but you have to know where they are and have to travel there. And for the seller, the process from making the trinket to putting the item in the buyer’s shopping bag can be complicated. The crafter may have to meet with the store owner—on the store owner’s time. The store owner undoubtedly will want to evaluate the item and either accept it for sale or reject it. Then the artist must accept 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 obligations for promotional activities.
Selling on the Internet is a simpler way to go. The buyer can just sit at home and browse the sites. And even locating the online shops is easy. Just do a search for the item that you crave, and the site where it is located will come up. One of the best known sites, eBay, allows anyone to sell just about anything to any buyer. Its fame makes it a go-to place for people looking for handmade crafts. The crafter doesn’t have to make herself known to the world because the world knows eBay. Other online shops are more specifically craft oriented. For example, Etsy is a site that is gaining a reputation as a place to find nothing but handmade crafts and vintage items. On Etsy, the artist has full control of a mini-site. She can develop an identity consisting of a profile, a photograph, and a logo. The selling process is also easy on the pocket. The cost is just twenty cents per item for a three-month period, and Etsy’s commission is only 3.5 per cent. The artist can upload a number of photographs of each item.
People are excited to purchase handmade objects because unique possessions allow them to express their individuality in a truly modern way.
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