CNBC Media Money

Empire
Published: Thursday, 31 Mar 2011 | 4:53 PM ET
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By: Julia Boorstin
CNBC Correspondent



Etsy is like eBay, but for a niche market — handmade goods. If you've not one of the site's eight million shoppers, imagine a hipster's DIY dream of handicrafts and art. Instead of buying something mass-produced from a giant corporation, you get to browse for a unique gem.

Etsy
Source: Etsy.com
Over 800,000 people sell their homemade products on the site, everything from jewelry and clothing, to furniture and music. There's a lot that makes Etsy different from eBay [EBAY 31.84 0.45 (+1.43%) ], beyond the fact that sellers set prices rather than hosting auctions. On Etsy every item has a story, and the company considers its sellers a community. You can search items not just by variety, but also by the location of the seller. So if you want, you can opt to support just your local Brooklyn or Silverlake handicrafts.

Etsy may be all about shoppers finding unique items, but it's also a serious business. Here's how it works: it's free to set up a "shop" on the site. It costs 20 cents to list an item and Etsy gets 3.5 percent of every transaction. And that's an increasingly large pie: sales topped $314 million last year and are growing fast.

Etsy's COO Adam Freed tells us this is just the beginning.

In addition to international growth the company is seeing growth in all of its categories. And the company is rolling out more features to make shopping more personal. And the more personal the experience, the more the company expects shoppers to buy.

Investors are on board: Etsy has raised over $50 million from top VCs including Accell Partners and Union Square Ventures. And individual investors are also hungry for a piece of the business. Etsy was the third most traded company on Second Market last quarter, behind only LinkedIn and Facebook.

Etsy's community has had its problems. Just this month it faced major outcry after buyers found that feedback posts, purchases and user profiles, and on occasion even real names, were made public. The company responded by tightening its privacy settings. COO Freed tells us that it takes its members (shoppers) privacy very seriously, and that the company made a fast feature change as soon as it realized there was an issue. Freed seems to understand that even with "communities" like Etsy's, people need to be able to maintain their privacy.

Recycle/Reuse/Upcycle

The Blue cobalt dish was just completed. I turned a blue cobalt water bottle into a beautiful amazing dish. The dish is cleaned,sanitized,fused,slumped,etched and wire wrapped with beads. I LOVE it! Let me know what you think.

Recycle Glass

How do you reuse/upcycle different items in your everyday life?

I guess its time to stop buying new glass for my glass projects and start using what is already available. Glass does last forever. I might as well use it. My current project is cobalt glass water bottles and actually they can be used as vases with out even redesigning them.
Ive decided to slump and etch mine. My first one is slumped into a shallow bowl shape and decorated with beads and etch work! So Fun! I love the reusing the items!

Toledo Art Treasury

Blue Bird Feeder

Here are pictures from the bird feeder I started last week. Its Nearly complete. I just have to add the stand! Love the Blue Glass! It turned out perfect.

Take A Vacation

Etched Leaves on glass vase

Here is my Tall vase with long tulip leaves hand drawn and etched around it. A couple of the leaves are bent over and the rest are straight. the vase is 12" tall. I'm going to add a little color to this one. Some green and yellow accents will look good. this image is before the paint and after the etch process.

Fused Glass

Here are a  few glass pieces I found while straightening up.  Some fused glass , blown glass, recycled glass

Starting the day on my blog.

I just figured out I can have every channel I need to start the day, right on my blog. News updates and Etsy on Live Stream/FB and Twitter. So I grab my coffee and check in with news, weather and then onto the Etsy Virtual labs. Watch Etsy Live right from my blog, This is perfect.

Its early morning and I'm brain storming for some new unique handmade ideas. Paying extra attention to recycling and giving back. Watching the etsy virtual labs are wonderful and inspiring. You should take a look.

The people on there are amazing and their handmade creations are very inspiring. you should see how much time and care go into these items....how cute I just watched them make these little books.they would be good for stocking stuffers, gift toppers or just for jotting down notes.................OK, I need a coffee  refill.