This story is part of USA TODAY College
Students get crafty to break into business using Etsy
Shayna Posses, USA TODAY College 7:53 p.m. EDT October 5, 2013
The rise of online shopping has made the dream of starting a business a reality for young
entrepreneurs.
(Photo: Robert Deutsch USAT)
Opening a lemonade stand is for amateurs.
"I have teenage daughters, and one has a friend who makes bracelets and sells them on Etsy," said Frank
Rimalovski, executive director of the New York University Entrepreneurial Institute. "She's all of 16."
The rise of online shopping has made the dream of starting a business a reality for young entrepreneurs.
For newcomers to the retail world, the cost of entry used to be more than they could overcome, said Scott
Gerber, founder of the Young Entrepreneur Council.
For just 20 cents, users can list a product on Etsy, an online marketplace for handmade goods, with little
technical skill.
"You can have a business up and running in less than 24 hours," Gerber said. "It puts sellers on an even playing
field with bigger companies."
By offering a built-in community, sites like Etsy give young sellers an immediate in, he said.
Lauri Smedley, a business professor at Sacramento City College and author of Virtual Entrepreneurship:
Creating and Operating a Home-based Online Business, said college crafters used to be limited to selling at
craft fairs and vendor events.
"With sites like Etsy, the things they create businesswise they can spread to tens of thousands," she said. "It
makes them global players."
This reach translates to a higher chance of success, and for Smedley's students — many of whom rely on
financial assistance — it makes a difference in paying for their education.
Lulu Rolando, 20, first started using Etsy to find products related to her favorite Japanese animated TV shows.
But when she started school at Orlando's Valencia College in January, she needed a job to get by.
"I picked up some clay and began to make elaborate horns and ears for people to wear, and my business took
off," Rolando said. "I pay my bills and get to have fun."
Selling mosaics online gave Sierra Margolies, 19, a manageable way to squeeze another form of income into
her hectic class and work schedule.
"I have an app for Etsy, so even when I'm not at home, I can check if people are ordering," the Florida State
University sophomore said. "It's very easy to keep up with it."
Consumers are also increasingly relying on online shopping.
Forecasts from Forrester Research predict $262 billion in e-commerce sales this year, a 13% increase from
2012.
That number is expected to hit $370 billion by 2017.
To keep up with the shift toward online shopping, companies are adjusting sales tactics.
Neiman Marcus, an upscale department store, has started offering free standard shipping and returns on orders
from its websites, and popular discount retailer T.J. Maxx opened an online store last month.
Even Etsy is making a change, announcing Tuesday that sellers can now apply to offer items made by
"manufacturing partners," relaxing its policy that items must be handmade.
While some worry that the new policy will cause the site to lose its quirky appeal, Samantha Levin, 23, hopes
the move will help her sell more of her sorority jewelry designs during the busy holiday season.
Levin said this entrepreneurial way of thinking is one of the biggest benefits she's taken from the website.
"From advertising to search engine optimization to photography, an Etsy seller needs to have the knowledge
and the skills needed to properly market their shop," she said.
No matter a store's success, college-age store owners walk away a more desirable employee, Smedley said.
"How much more marketable is someone going to be if they can say, 'I have a degree, and I've also owned my
own business'?" she said. "It's going to be a huge leg up."
Recognizing the importance of these skills, Dianne H.B. Welsh founded a cross-disciplinary entrepreneurship
program at the University of North Carolina-Greensboro.
In the program, students run the Spartan Trader, a store that sells artwork created by students, faculty and staff
from across the university.
Welsh said that pairing arts- and business-minded education with experience outside the classroom gives
students the practical knowledge they need to make their dreams feasible.
"I just really realized how much the artistic community needs this. They're great people — fun to be around —
but they need help," she said. "We want to see all artists be successful, not just survive."
Programs like the one at UNC-Greensboro have been popping up nationwide, swelling in popularity over the
last five years, Rimalovski said.
He said shows like Shark Tank, movies like The Social Network and media accounts of runaway success stories
have given entrepreneurship an accessibility it didn't have when he was in school.
"In college, I don't think I knew what a start-up was," Rimalovski said. "I don't think it was in my vernacular in
the '80s."
But for those without access to university programs, the online marketplace provides education on the cheap,
said Gerber.
"It's a fundamental fact that at least a third of young people will be a freelancer or self-employed in their
lifetime," he said. "Anything that will help them learn how to harness these entrepreneurial skills — whether
they think they have them or not — as early as possible is beneficial."
Katelyn Palmer, 21, has been selling jewelry on Etsy for a little more than a year. The Liberty University junior
said the site gave her the confidence that she didn't know she lacked.
"Entrepreneurs make up the world," Palmer said. "If people start their dreams on Etsy, then that's awesome."