(Welcome again to Alison, one of the finalists in our San Francisco Blogger search.
Comment away!)
“Shop local” usually makes us think farmers’ markets and mom and pop hardware stores. While those are wonderful for so many reasons, we had another positive experience shopping local the other day.
On Sunday we bid on a lamp on eBay just before the auction ended. We ended up with a bargain $4 alabaster lamp. The seller was local, so on Monday we decided to go a couple extra stops on the train to pick it up rather than spend $33 dollars on shipping.
Local pickup saved a lot of money, avoided a lot of potential headache filling out post office insurance claim forms, and kept us from giving desperate looks to the company mail guy every time he walked by our cube empty handed. (Almost) instant gratification.
Now we’re hooked. It’s like Craigslist armed with seller-feedback information.
eBay lets you search by zip code in the “advanced search” mode. Etsy has a new Shop Local feature. Here are some favorite local sellers to keep an eye on. (Always ask the seller about local pickup before bidding/buying. Also note that California sellers must charge sales tax for California buyers.)
eBay:
Modern Living Space
swellpad-sf
Asa’s Swedish Attic
sanfranfabu
kcolchin
stleroy
lomastuff
newall
Etsy:
Green Chair Press
Redbean Design
Ciuccio
Laura Marie Walker
Lizard Press
Suspect Shoppe
Lab Partners
Sara Paloma Pottery
charmfoundry
small stump
The auction for the credenza (pictured above) ends next Wednesday. Bid here.
-alison
Other Posts by Alison:
Wooden Mobiles by Adrift
that's great- I didn't know etsy added the local feature. thanks!
view Anna Toy's profile
I'd rather take a risk on that ebay credenza than an ugly heart shaped table from a site that advertises with spam!
view ARC's profile
Um Emma03 ... eck ... not so pretty honey.
view bud smith's profile
i use the zip code search on ebay quite often, but had no idea you could do it on etsy too, thanks for the tip!
view southof290's profile
(Am commenting so that deleted spam comment disappears.)
view leslie's profile