Northfield Artisans Head to the Web To Sell

Ever consider shopping locally—from the comfort of your own home?

At least a dozen Northfield artisans allow you to do so via their individual shops at Etsy.com.

The site, created in 2005, features more than 170,000 web-based shops worldwide that sell handmade items ranging from hand-knit sweaters to belly-button cleaners.

Northfield High School graduate Virginia Berry opened her shop, YazBerry Fashions, on Etsy three years ago and maintains an online inventory of about 300 items.

"It's really inexpensive and easy to run your own business on Etsy," says Berry, a seller of handmade and vintage clothing and accessories.

Like Berry, Northfielder Becky Ruud launched her shop, OwlyBaby, with a small number of items at the start. Ruud says she decided to give online sales a try after receiving positive feedback producing baby and toddler clothing and patterns for friends and family.

She's logged 1,189 sales in her first 18 months.

Etsy takes small cuts of each sale and online payment systems take another bite. But Berry argues that it would cost thousands of dollars to entice the same number of online visitors to a shop if run independently.

It's the same reason Christine Stanton, also from Northfield, took her shop, prayerbedes, to the web—to maximize potential customers.

"When I first started my business, I knew that what I was offering was quite specialized," she said. "A little shop in Northfield that sold Christian prayer beads would probably not do very well."

Things went so well on Etsy that she opened a second shop, Christine by hand, specializing in metal and glass jewelry.

But for all the positives, the women say online sales pose their own challenges.

Berry says that when an item isn't selling, it can be hard for her to pinpoint whether customers don't like the item or simply haven't seen it. There's a fine line, she's noticing, between having not enough items in her shop and so many that visitors grow tired of browsing.

Ruud says another challenge is that people only have a few photos and a brief description to entice them to buy a product.

"So not only are you the creator and designer, but you've also got to be a photographer and sales marketer," she said.

Berry and Stanton both have hopes to one day take the business lessons they've learned from online sales and transfer them to brick-and-mortar stores.

"My next objective is to make my work available at local shops," says Stanton. "I just need to create enough inventory."

Several of the artists who sell their wares at the downtown store also sell via Etsy, she added.

Meanwhile, their customers live all over the world. Berry says she has shipped items to all ends of the Earth—Kansas, South Africa and the United Arab Emirates.

ETSY SHOPPING TIPS FROM LOCAL SELLERS:

• When you search for an item, Etsy gives you results organized by items most recently added, Berry notes. The items on the last page of results might be just as relevant as those on the first page.
• "Try looking at the Treasuries," Ruud says. "They are collections of items—usually featured on the front page—and can lead you to interesting stores."

LOCAL SELLERS ON ETSY

Agate Lake Designs: Colorful Artisan Jewelry

Annette's Expressions: Jewelry and beaded items

christinebyhand: Artist / Designer specializing in metal & glass jewelry

Created2Inspire jewelry

Eastvold Furniture

Fine stationery, monograms and patterns

Frippery Factory: Miniature Dollhouse Food

Oolala handmade jewelry

Owly Baby

prayerbedes: Handmade Artisan Beads for Christian Prayer

Sharon's Creative Side jewelry

Sweet Kreations by Karylu: Original paintings

YazBerry Fashion

*This list may not be all-inclusive, as not all sellers choose to identify their location.