Crafting with Kids

Today’s world is getting more high tech every day. Products are mass produced. Items that used to have individual character are being made into commodities. Manufactured goods getting slicker and slicker. What is this doing to our individuality? Individuality has not disappeared. The human drive for individuality is being fostered by increasing 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 grandmother made. No antimacassars here. New types of crafts are being invented every day. For example, have you ever heard of a purse dangle ? No? It’s the same as a handbag pendant. Adornment for your purse. Doesn’t that sound fun?

But there’s not actually 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 get handcrafts into the hands of the buyers 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 it 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 undoubtedly will want to evaluate 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 overhead will consume 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 sites is easy. Just google the item that you crave, 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 people looking for handmade crafts. The artist doesn’t have to make herself known to the world because the world knows eBay. Other sites are more specifically targeted to the crafter. For example, Etsy is a site that is becoming more and more well known as a place to find nothing but handmade crafts and vintage items. On Etsy, the artist has full control of a personal shop. She can develop an identity based on 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 a number of 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.

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