Being crafty online
A new online store has been launched specifically with the crafts market in mind. This online shop, called Startershop, can be bought for just £199. It has been designed to be simple to set up and operate while remaining both professional and stylish to look at and use.
Significantly, Startershops have been designed without any built-in techno babble. A Startershop owner can load up to a thousand products, with descriptions, prices and photographs – all requiring no more computer expertise than it takes to open a web page or type an email.
David Yates, Startershop’s founder explained. “Everyone knows that people are increasingly buying gifts and other goods on the web these days. There are greater choices and savings available to consumers through the Internet. But it does mean that only those who are selling through online have any chance of benefiting from this shift. “
Certainly the latest Government statistics bear this out with over half the UK’s households spending in excess of £18 billion through the web on goods and services and the average cost of getting online is in excess of £2000.
David went on to explain, “Until now, for any small business, trading on the web has either been prohibitively expensive, totally confusing or both! At £199, we have made Startershop cheap enough to be affordable to just about anyone. We have also designed it so that, if you can turn on a computer and use the keyboard and mouse, you can run a Startershop”.
Startershop has already attracted craftspeople including a site selling Fair Trade crafts from South African community projects and a site selling wooden garden crafts. These have been joined by a range of other ventures including an virtual community of artists selling CDs, clothing and cards, an international commercial rights organisation, and a group of students selling tee shirts.
Further information can be found about Startershop on their website at www.startershop.com