Educating the Handmade Consumer
26. Jun, 2012 
17 Comments
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Educating the Handmade Consumer
By: Janet (aka Curator Violet!)
I’ve been writing Etsy Stalker (http://etsystalker.com) for three years and people often voice surprise that I’m not a shop owner myself. Why would I spend so much time promoting handmade if I didn’t have my own creations to champion? Sellers of handmade are rock stars when it comes to discovering and promoting other sellers of handmade. They pull together in the trenches to get the word out and rightly so. But sometimes it feels like the same $25 is being passed around from seller to seller to seller as artists support their fellow creative types.
While sellers supporting sellers is a vital and thriving part of the handmade world, it doesn’t solve a fundamental problem. A handmade transaction necessarily involves two parties: the seller and the buyer.
What’s missing? The educated handmade buyer. We are a nation of consumers. They urge to amass is strong in our culture. Getting people to buy is not an issue. Getting people to buy handmade is. While this is already second nature to us, it’s a reminder that to promote the sale of a single item, we must promote the idea of handmade as whole. This happens by educating the consumer of the advantages of buying handmade.
Here are just a few:
1. Directly support an individual. Sick of corporate greed? Stop contributing to it by purchasing from corporations. A little bit of browsing around and you’ll discover that your handmade purchase enables a mother to stay home with her children, a college student to fund her studies, or assists a family in covering medical bills.
2. Put the meaning back into gift giving. We go to the mall, we browse around, we choose something that may or may not speak to us because we need a “thing”…a birthday present, a hostess gift, etc. As consumers, we’re blind to the fact that there is more available to us than what we see in a store. For Valentine’s Day last year, an Etsy artist custom made a series of ceramic plates depicting each of the five states my husband and I have lived in together. He considers them one of the best gifts he’s ever gotten and they hang in a place of honor in our kitchen.
3. Individuals are where the trends start. By the time you’ve come across those “new” jewelry designs or fashion accessories, they are already old news in handmade land. If you want to be on the cutting edge, look to see what individuals are creating. They don’t have the mass market in mind as they design; they’re working from their hearts.
4. Handmade and vintage are the best ways to “go green”. My mind is regularly blown by the way people recycle, reuse, and repurpose things. I live so firmly inside the box, that I can’t even conceive of turning old magazines into trendy frames
colorful picture frame (portrait) - made from recycled magazines by : colorstorydesigns
or computer parts into striking jewelry.
Computer Parts Hoop Earrings Blue Resistors Fan Computer Jewelry by: clonehardware
And what could be greener than giving vintage jewelry or clothing a brand new home? (Not to mention the fact that I’ve never had to spend time wrestling a handmade purchase out of a ridiculously wasteful plastic enclosure.)
As an educated handmade consumer, I find myself looking at the world differently. There are entire categories of things I have stopped buying in mass retails markets. Things like jewelry, greeting cards, purses, and soap. The mall has become a soulless place for me. The benefit I get from buying handmade is infinitely greater than the item I receive in the mail.
Janet Sahni writes as Curator Violet at Etsy Stalker (http://etsystalker.com)
About The Author
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This is an excellent post full of great reasons to buy handmade.
I had to smile when you mentioned trends. It’s so true. By the time a lot of my friends were buying their owl necklaces and mustache rings at the mall, I was sooooooooooooo sick of them!
This is such a great article! One of the first things I started doing when I started my business was ordering supplies from fellow Etsy sellers. I have given away countless purses away for presents and its really rewarding for someone I care about to get something I hand made – and love it!
Thank you for posting this
Great piece. Wonderful reasons to buy handmade…some I surely hadn’t thought of.
Awesome. Well written and all true. :O) Those of us in handmade land laughed really hard at the “Put a bird on it” Portlandia sketch b/c we’d been over those blasted silhouettes of birds and plants for a year.
Great article!!
Love the article. I’m with you on no longer going to the mall as I prefer to purchase an individual handmade piece instead of mass produced “stuff”
This is so well said. Thank you for what you do! I am surrounded by a great handmade community and they appreciate what I do. But you are right about getting it out to the rest of the world. I try to do that by telling the story…especially for my memory items. Facebook has been a great way to reach out – yes, to fans on my page – but also share what I do with the rest of the world (only once in a great while – to my friends.)
Good article, but you’re preaching to the choir on this site. Hope to see this article in a publication geared to the people who could use the education.
Wonderful article….I’ve been repurposing, recycling forever and dread any trips that I take to a mall. I agree that they are “soul less”.
I think we as consumers have bought into the whole “new Lexus car in the driveway for Christmas” advertising. What a shame!
In our family, handmade has always trumped store bought for gifts. What can possibly say more than taking the time and effort to make something personal for a gift?
Labels do not impress me – it is mindless shopping to perpetuate consumerism………too bad.
I love selling vintage and know that the cherished items are going to a good home!!! – They will be around a long time after the designer handbags have gone out of style!
great article Janet. all fantastic reasons to look for handmade!
Handmade items are the best. Etsy is the place I shop when buying a gift.
Janet – I love this piece! I want to share it all over the place! I’ll FB, Stumble, Tweet. Any way to pin this? I have a board of all things handmade. http://pinterest.com/michelecordaro/all-things-handmade-support-the-artisan-community/
Do you mind if I paste your list of advantages onto the description of the board?
AMEN! I agree with you whole heartily!
I totally agree! I haven’t been inside a mall in over 4 years and I’m proud of it!
Handmade is so much better. When people shop at the mall they settle for mass produced products that don’t have a soul. When buying something that is made by hand the energy of the maker goes into it. When the customer learns the story of how something is made they get a little bit of us along with the item.
Much of what we know of ancient cultures is learned from handmade items left behind.
True that! My mum keeps saying “people won’t pay a lot of money for it, because it is HOMEMADE” – not even handmade, lol!
What a great post!!! Really good reasons… pass on the word, and share this post!