Working from home seems like the ideal situation for most professionals. No worrying about road conditions or parking spots, troublesome co-workers or demanding bosses, dress-codes or staff refrigerators. Unfortunately, the dream of operating a successful, profitable home business eludes most people due to a lack of opportunity or knowledge about the process. But for those skilled with crafts and creativity, a certain Web site provides the needed outlet to make a hobby into a living, all from the comfort of home. That site is Etsy.

Launched in June 2005 in Brooklyn, New York, Etsy transformed the world of arts and crafts. While most galleries take a significant commission to sell the work of individual artists, Etsy charges a flat listing fee of 20-cents per item and only takes a commission of 3.5% off all items sold. These low costs coupled with the site’s ever-growing popularity – the number of registered members is currently 3. 75 million – have made working from home a reality for many artists. Four members hailing from the Twin Cities have discovered the benefits of Etsy, using it to expand their businesses and create a profession out of a hobby.

Back in spring 2008, Sharon Schneider typed “How to sell my handmade totes online” into Google and was led to Etsy. In September, she joined the site as a member. By October she had made her first sale as shaggybaggy, her profile name. Although she has sewn for approximately 25 years, Schneider has no formal design background – something that could have inhibited the sale of her work before discovering Etsy. Her primary source for selling totes and bags, Etsy is also the medium through which several local stores and craft sales have found Schneider, increasing her sales opportunities outside the Internet.




Marnie discovered Etsy in 2007 when a friend liked to it to show her examples of fused glass jewelry. An avid card maker and scrap-booker, Marnie browsed through Etsy’s then-small greeting card section and realized her products were just as good, if not better, than those being sold. With a nudge of encouragement from friends and family – and an extended maternity leave from teaching – Marnie became a member of Etsy. Under the pseudonym of Crafterall, she listed a dozen handmade cards and waited. As sales slowly trickled in, Marnie decided to learn more about the site and find out what it took to succeed as a seller. “I poured over the Etsy forums, dug into chat rooms, sat in on virtual labs, and researched listing times, packaging, policies and profile information of my Etsy role models,” Marnie says. “I lived and breathed Etsy.” And all that research paid off. Through her digging, Marnie found that the greeting card section of the site was no longer small and her own cards were “drowning in a sea of tougher competition.” This led her to try a different angle, pursuing papercut cards instead. A relatively new genre on Etsy, her items sold well and led her to pursue topography-inspired cards and art. As of today, Etsy is Marnie’s main business. Due to her exposure on the site, she has displayed her work at craft fairs, sold it wholesale and on commission, and worked with dozens of loyal buyers on custom pieces.



Amy Hernandez found inspiration to expand her bag and jewelry making hobby into sales from the encouragement of those who received her work. She found Etsy in spring of 2008, joined the "HandmadeMN Etsy street team" as cayennepeppy, and started to network and sell. Due to her Etsy page, Amy's love for sewing and crafting jewelry grew from being creative outlets and escapes from every day stress to a growing side business. Her bags and jewelry have found their way all over the world, from local stores to Ireland. In addition to the exposure provided by Etsy, the site has also helped Amy to grow as an artist.

Since stumbling upon Etsy in January 2008, Emily has been able to upgrade her love of pottery from being a small hobby to a profitable one. While she considers her work as a potter (who goes by DiTerra on her site) a side-project to being a photographer, Etsy has taught Emily business tactics that are beneficial to her work as a professional artist. “At first my process was pretty sloppy,” Emily says. “I was mailing pots out in old shoe boxes sealed with hot pink duct tape. Now, I’ve upgraded to purchasing boxes from ULINE and designing my own shipping labels.” It’s this professional appearance that encourages repeat sales, she says, and has likely contributed to the national and international sales of her pots. “It’s so exciting to think that someone sitting in their New York City apartment is drinking out of one of my mugs each morning,” she says. “It’s an exciting feeling that you can reach out to people so far away from you.” It’s that outreach that makes Etsy an attractive forum for artists, giving them the opportunity to expand their business and keep creating… all from home.