We are anthropologists of commerce. We’re curious about people and what they make, exchange and consume. By looking around at the stuff that matters to our lives, we believe we can understand more about what moves us as human beings.

Around the world, there’s a new clamoring to know the story behind what we buy — who made it, how, what route did it travel to our door? We’re here to tell these global stories, to introduce you to makers and collectors and the history of their goods.

William Morris famously instructed that you should “have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful.” Like you, we’re bored by the artificiality and ugliness of most products out there. We endeavor to inspire you with the imaginative, the durable, the forward-thinking, the lovely, the comforting, the provocative.

Here on this blog we report on issues that matter to Etsy members — like supporting independent businesses and artists, eating well, living sustainably. Together we’re going to define what it means to live the handmade life, and how goods can relate to the common good.

Etsy is a beautiful experiment in restoring community and culture to our commerce. We are witnesses, diving deep into the waters of this marketplace and returning with tales about what’s emerging. We know that markets are conversations and we ask that you talk vigorously back to us.