In the wake of the demise of 1000markets, now might be a good time to update your resources and make a new plan for shopping handmade this holiday season. 1000markets was a wonderful handmade-only venue with a fairly extensive array of artisan “markets” that made holiday shopping a breeze last year. Unfortunately the venue has now been acquired by the newly renamed Bonanza (think ebay with some handmade goods thrown in) so markets and the attractive interface that were the hallmarks of 1000markets are now no more.
Fortunately, the artists themselves continue to live on, along with a few reformed "markets" (really more like collections that link back to an artists' listing elsewhere). Many artists migrated to Zibbet, or CraftisArt (both of which created product importers to help 1000markets artists make a quick move), Artfire, or their own individual sites, and most are represented on Etsy as well. Unfortunately, if you click on any 1000markets link you’ll find yourself on the Bonanza home page instead of in your favorite artist’s shop. So before holiday crunch time you’ll need to purge or redirect those bookmarks!
Probably the easiest way to do that is to search for the artist directly on Google or one of the other handmade venues if you know the shop name, or check the appropriate reformed “market”. Most are still under construction, although you might want to bookmark IndieArtisans and BoardwalkArtisans (both of which I am a member), Mind, Body, Spirit Odyssey, and Reclaimed to Fame for updated collections and information going forward.
Please comment below with your strategy for shopping handmade this holiday season!
