Etsy!
My sister put me onto this site…and while it’s not something I would personally use often, it has huge, huge potential and I love it’s direction. Few things: (1) Yes, it’s similar in theory to an eBay as it lets user list their own products, sell it, and the host takes a cut. (2) It’s different from eBay in that its truly a ‘shopping’ experience, an on-line store, very easy for the buyer to navigate and drop things in their basket…eBay is all bidding based for the most part and not focused on a specific product category like Etsy. (3) Companies like Etsy.com have taken the Web 2.0 thing to the retail space, and have done so very well. Quick run-down…it’s a artsy-crafty based site where knitters, artisans, creative-types, etc can sell their product to the public through a well presented, well categorized, and highly searchable site…Etsy.com. What makes these guys different from anyone else doing it (see old virginthreads.com) is the amazing presentation and search capability. Just the ‘Search By Color’ thing blew me away…so nice. I’m into it. And they are funded by the Del.icio.us and Flickr crew. So tell your girl to start knitting faster so you can start slangin’ those crazy looking mittens she always makes. 2 for $5s, I got ‘em for cheap!!