"What is an 'etsy'?", you ask?

Well, your first lesson is that "etsy" is pronounced like "Betsy" without the "B".

Esty is an online marketplace where you can buy and sell anything handmade. You can pretty much find anything you can think of. Handmade greeting cards, photographs, purses, jewelry (oh, the jewelry. whew! love, Love, LOVE it!), scarves, baked goods, and bath and body products, of course.

Not even counting the time I spend on etsy listing my products, I have spent HOURS looking at other seller's shops. Several of them are my myspace friends. You should check them out.

Registration with etsy is free, but you don't have to register to browse. When you want to purchase something (and believe me, you will) you pay the seller directly. Most sellers accept money orders and Paypal. If you don't have a paypal acct, I can accept credit card payments through Paypal. That way, the sellers don't actually get your credit card numbers, so you can relax. :)

When I was introduced to etsy (Thanks, Jill) I couldn't even believe a site like that existed, and I hadn't heard about it! Etsy is definitely gaining popularity. It was featured on Martha Stewart on Friday. A lot of newspapers and magazines have featured etsy in articles. Here's a link to a Business Week article.

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/08_02/b4066060100841.htm?chan=smallbiz_smallbiz+index+page_top+small+business+stories

And also an article about sellers leaving ebay to sell on other sites that was featured on US News and World Report.

http://www.usnews.com/articles/business/2008/02/11/boycotting-ebay-here-are-three-alternatives.html

Happy shopping, my friends, and please don't blame me for all of the housework you WON'T be doing while you are on Etsy. :)