I've Created a Monster

I've got my husband hooked on Etsy!

Living in a far away state, a thousand miles away from my equally shopping minded mom and sister, my husband Pete has become my loyal antiquing buddy. He's so great - he's patient, he always does all the driving, he carries my purchases for me, and he even points out things he thinks I might like. But, as wonderful as he is, my shopping stamina usually far surpases his.

So, sometimes, he takes the camera along and takes pictures of... ahem, interesting finds...

But, most of the time, being a history buff and an avid reader of old books, he usually ends up camping out in the book section of whatever antique mall or flea market we happen to be visiting.

A few months ago, I suggested that he should start his own Etsy shop, and sell some of the interesting books that he comes across.  I think he resisted at first, finding the whole idea of Etsy a little too "girly" for him, but the idea grew on him as he began to find great deals on first edition books, classic literature, and interesting history anthologies. So, with a growing stack of book inventory at home, this weekend he finally sat down and opened his very own Etsy shop.... The Book Snob!

And boy, is he ever hooked!

He's adding things to his "favorites", finding cool manly stuff he wants to buy, and making treasuries left and right...

He's done 3 treasuries in just 2 days... We have "Someday for my Library", "Things that I think are cool" and, "One of these things is not like the other..."

And, more importantly, he's discovered how exciting it is when someone adds your shop to their "favorites", or leaves a comment on a treasury, or says all kinds of encouraging and admiring things about your good taste and general awesomeness. Pete and I would both count "words of affirmation" as one of our top love languages, and the lovely people who buy, sell and create on Etsy are generous with heartfelt words of encouragement, connection, friendly support, and instant gratificiation for a good idea. 

Of course, as he eagerly awaits his first sale, my husband likes to say he's "just in it for the money"...

But I know better than that... Because, at it's core, Etsy is not as much about things as it is about people... Not as much about purchases as it is about personality. Not as much about the sale as it is about affirmation. It really is a rather addicting and wonderful outlet to express your particular brand of style and coolness, and discover strangers who share your discriminating taste.

Strangers who, be it book snobs or flea market junkies, strangely enough, start to become friends.