Are we a traditional retailer?

Nourot Glass Gallery in Benicia had been selling a few things in our Benician Glass Gallery on eBay, but not finding a great deal of success. Will the flea market atmosphere of eBay change to a more sophisticated outlet for American Crafts?
It has surely seemed like the economy in California is based on people selling stuff out of their garage that they don't need on Craig's list and eBay.
Now we learn from Trefis.com that a number of brands and retailers are starting to open outlet shops on eBay.  Trefis says that the growing presence of traditional retailers on eBay can help to "increase the number of merchandise listings on the site, which in turn can attract more buyers to the eBay platform." And, we say at Nourot, add to the fees collected by eBay for these listings.  The point being here is that the eBay stock is poised to cash in on America's trend to "push up" items of commerce from the "traditional " brands and stores.
We are all for this "push up" because it is clear to us that people are now looking first on the net when they think of buying.  Some DO like to eventually buy from a bricks and mortar location, but we are fast approaching a tipping point where the majority of shoppers want and will find what they want on the net.
Why can't eBay work for Contemporary blown glass? All of the indications show that it should.  It's just hard to stand out among items from people's garages. These third party seller's dilute the cache of buying from the artist now.
And since it is has been traditionally taboo for an artist in contemporary craft to run their own shopping cart on their own site, you don't see this being done.  Stagnant galleries that continue to wait to buy or just can't buy are forcing this tipping point.
 

Poetry and Crafts Combined

There is poetry associated with glass art. Paul Stankard has long added verses to his paperweighted floral art pieces. But now the writing crowd has entered in:
Significant Objectsis a web project that pairs thrift store "flotsam" with written stories on ebay for a price.

Rob Walker, author of "Handmade 2.0" which appeared in the New York Times and who recently keynoted the American Craft Conference in Minneapolis says: "The story of the handmade item isn’t the only story that we must consider; the story of the consumer should also be considered."

He then goes on to speak about etsy.com the DIY site as "an organizing device for talking about the DIY movement and the recent popularity of buying handmade." What is important he says is that we think of the field of craft as represented by a group of different craft cultures rather than the "singular" craft culture of galleries, and museums where craft objects are usually shown.

Well, this is just fine talk. But how will it hold up? Are these craft items as Significant Objects because they are detailed with very good writing? Or are they just junk that is engaged in a fancy web parlour game? You decide.