Shop Locally, Online

The Internet has changed the way we do just about everything, and for those of us who love to shop, our worlds will never be the same.

The 24-hour availability of goods online has become a blessing to those with busy schedules who can’t seem to find the time to make a quick, much less a thoughtful, purchase, as well as to night owls who function best outside the hours normally kept by most retailers.

Unfortunately, there go all your good excuses for not coming up with the perfect gift in time for your niece’s 11th birthday party.  Inclement weather? Sick child? Transportation issues? Sorry guys, those oldies don’t float nowadays, especially in a world of overnight shipping.

Thanks to globally accepted payment methods such as PayPal, you can buy almost anything from anywhere. But has this overwhelming selection of potential purchases caused you to neglect your neighborhood craftsmen and local artists?

It surely doesn’t have to. Many of us are firm believers in keeping our money in our own communities, and it would be a shame for the convenience of Internet shopping to stand in the way. So why not shop locally…online?

Back “in the old days” it used to be a no-brainer. If we were on the hunt for the perfect gift, we'd go to the closest shop that met our needs and make our purchase. Done deal. But when it comes to shopping over the Internet, many people don’t know where to turn to find the quality craftsmanship of local artisans. And with the endless options on the Web, it might be difficult for some to know where to start, especially if you’re not exactly sure who, or what, you’re searching for.

Some of the latest online hot spots to find handmade artists in your community are the websites Artfire.com and Etsy.com. Think of these sites as virtual consignment shops. Though they have existed for years, they have become more popular since the handmade-goods movement has grown.

On these hosting sites, artisans are given the opportunity to create a virtual studio or shop to sell their arts and crafts without having to worry about  building a website from scratch. Another benefit of these sites is that they allow artists to have a professional venue in which to offer their goods without the high monthly rent that comes with an actual physical location.

As a result, artists, regardless of their computer skills, can offer their work to a wider audience, and their prices can be kept affordable for their shoppers.

Here’s the cool part—a search feature on these sites lets you shop by location, making it easy to find and purchase from those who live nearby. A few clicks of a button and voilà, there is an artist’s gallery right in your very own living room.

See for yourself.

On Artfire.com all you have to do is click on the “Browse” button at the top of the home page. You are then given options on how you would like to search, including “by location.” Once you select this choice you are taken to a page that asks you to set your shopping location via your zip code. You can then choose to view the work of artists within 10, 50, 100 or 200 miles of your home.

You can also narrow down the local results by different categories such as handmade, supplies, or fine art within the selected shopping location. This will make it easier to find what you’re looking for. You can even get down to specifics with terms like, “jewelry," “attire," or “home décor," which were all included in the 131 listings that came up “within 10 miles” when Peekskill’s zip code was entered into the search box.

Among the many fine examples of local craftsmanship on this site are the intricately beaded pieces of jewelry by a Montrose-based artisan known to the Artfire community as Moonlight Beadworks. A mother of three, this jewelry designer lists almost 100 items in her “studio.” Her items cater to a broad price range, and shipping won’t cost you more than $3 on most items.

You can purchase a  hand-woven beaded bracelet from Moonlight Beadworks for as little as $20, or splurge on a chunky, multi-strand, red coral and turquoise beaded necklace. The beauty of this item, with its large turquoise scarab pendant hanging at its center, as well as the obvious effort put into making the piece, makes it worth the $150 price tag.

When it comes to the cost of things, one of the great perks of online shopping is that you don’t have to go from item to item checking each tag or bother a clerk for a price check. One click of a button and items will be arranged for you according to price, saving you time and helping you stick to your budget.

On Etsy.com you can seek out local artists in a similar fashion. Simply begin by selecting “Buy” at the top of the site’s homepage and you will be offered various ways of which to view the site’s millions of listings, including “shop local.” 

Upon entering a city name or zip you will be presented with a list of artists in that area.

Here you can browse through shops like ACubanThing and ButterflyGarden2, both of which are run out of Cortlandt Manor.

At ACubanThing you will find everything from paintings and flower baskets to one-of-a-kind collages.

ButtterflyGarden2 offers a variety of stylish handmade jewelry. You can get a lovely pair of glass-and-pearl beaded earrings for as little as $15 or a jasper gemstone bracelet  for only $20.

In Peekskill, FireBright7 , an Etsy shop run by self-taught area artist Beth Dewit, offers exquisitely painted wood serving trays. These works exemplify Dewit’s 16-year professional career as a decorative painter in residential and commercial settings.

Peekskill-based RaysHobbies, a shop filled with the magic, monster, and metaphysical inspired wood and clay creations of Ray Carpentieri, is another local artist featured on Etsy. In this shop you’ll find custom wooden Ouija boards, hand-painted guitars, and lots of carefully sculpted monster statues.

So the next time you want to shop locally, remember these options. And while nothing will ever take the place of window shopping through town on a lazy afternoon, or of the subtle smell of paint drying at your favorite art studio, you’ll have to admit that it is nice to have the local art scene come to you for a change.