{"id":2452,"date":"2015-07-26T18:12:55","date_gmt":"2015-07-27T00:12:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/?p=2452"},"modified":"2016-01-05T11:52:28","modified_gmt":"2016-01-05T17:52:28","slug":"the-etsy-economy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2015\/07\/the-etsy-economy.html","title":{"rendered":"The etsy economy"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Remember when I made an amigurumi teddy bear<\/a> for my son\u2019s birthday?<\/p>\n

\"IMG_0320a\"<\/a><\/p>\n

After experimenting, I spent some time looking on etsy for ideas of what I could do with my new-found crochet skills. \u00a0And here is what surprised me at the time (though I didn\u2019t blog about it then): \u00a0many of the sellers were not American, but located all over the world.<\/p>\n

Revisiting this again, I typed in \u201ccrochet\u201d to see what was on offer today.<\/p>\n

The first item (actually an ad): \u00a0two handmade curtain panels<\/a>, cotton with crochet insets and lace accents. \u00a0(I\u2019ll link these but don\u2019t know how permanent the links are.) \u00a0 4.5 stars, 466 reviewers. \u00a0The seller? \u00a0Located in China.<\/p>\n

Other items: \u00a0baby slippers<\/a> from the UK.<\/p>\n

Crochet flowers<\/a> from Switzerland.<\/p>\n

A bikini top<\/a> from Ukraine.<\/p>\n

\u201cBarefoot sandals<\/a>\u201d (who wears these?) from Latvia.<\/p>\n

Another bikini <\/a>from Turkey.<\/p>\n

A crochet dress<\/a> (!) from Spain.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

or another from Thailand<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Or a skirt<\/a> from Russia.<\/p>\n

Or a shawl<\/a> from the Netherlands.<\/p>\n

Or a poncho<\/a>\u00a0from Bulgaria.<\/p>\n

I am not cherry picking!<\/p>\n

Sure, there were items made in the U.S., but the substantial majority of the items for sale that I click on are made outside the United States. \u00a0Same thing when I typed in \u201cknit sweater\u201d \u2014 Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Latvia, as well as wealthier countries such as Canada and the U.K. \u00a0(But not Greece, in what I browsed through, anyway!)<\/p>\n

So, yes, a part of this is simply that etsy is international, but I would have to think that the economics are also different for knitters and crocheters in Poland or Turkey. \u00a0Etsy, after all, opens up a whole new market for women in \u201cmiddle-income\u201d countries, a way to reach customers in wealthier countries who will pay a higher price than simply selling to friends and neighbors.<\/p>\n

Same with all the e-bay shops you stumble upon when you\u2019re looking for a charger for your camera or a similar product \u2014 small businesses at the other end of the world have an opportunity to market directly to American customers, rather than pitching their wares to a middleman.<\/p>\n

How much of an economic impact does this have? \u00a0Is the solution to all of Greece\u2019s woes for their womenfolk to get out their knitting needles? \u00a0Dunno, but it\u2019s a part of the etsy story that isn\u2019t (so far as I know) being told.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Remember when I made an amigurumi teddy bear for my son\u2019s birthday? After experimenting, I spent some time looking on etsy for ideas of what I could do with my new-found crochet skills. \u00a0And here is what surprised me at the time (though I didn\u2019t blog about it then): \u00a0many of the sellers were not […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2209,"featured_media":1909,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[243,244],"class_list":["post-2452","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-etsy","tag-globalization"],"yoast_head":"\nThe etsy economy<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Remember when I made an amigurumi teddy bear for my son's birthday? 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