The global online marketplace Etsy has become a platform where do-it-yourself products are bought and sold worldwide, particularly decorative items, jewelry, and art. Among the sellers are several creative individuals from Hesse, Germany, who use the platform to distribute their works globally.
"I'm a florist, and I'm a woman - that's a perfect combination," explains Alisa Erbes when asked why she sells her artwork on Etsy. Her paintings feature fruits and plants that resemble female genitalia.
The Darmstadt resident is also a graphic designer who opened an online shop called "AlisaErbes" on Etsy five years ago, where she offers artistic linocut prints. At first glance, her works appear floral and subtle, but upon closer inspection, they reveal vulvas.
The idea came to her when she created a print for a friend as a "gift against sexual frustration." The response was so positive that she began searching for new motifs and quickly found them in her work as a florist. Most plants and fruits already have shapes that resemble vulvas, Erbes explains. Looking at a rose, for example, one can immediately recognize it. "I incorporate into my prints what is already naturally there and then artistically enhance the vulva shape a bit more."
With her artwork, Alisa Erbes doesn't aim to provoke but rather to appreciate and empower women. "I want to capture a moment where someone gains acceptance for their body. Where they think: I accept myself exactly as I am and I find myself beautiful - everything that's there belongs to me and I radiate confidence."
Alisa Erbes' art is popular on Etsy. She has already shipped 342 prints, which cost starting at 23 euros depending on size, to customers around the world. Her shop is typical of the products sold on Etsy: handmade items for specific target groups.
Saeideh Keshawarz and Majid Saberinejad also offer their art on the platform. The painter couple operates the Etsy shop "Majid Art Studio" from Marburg. Five years ago, they left Iran and moved to Marburg. There, they wanted to establish themselves as artists and quickly discovered that to make money from it, it's important to present their works online as well. Two and a half years ago, they registered a seller account with Etsy. Because they had heard that customers there love personalized products, they primarily offered their customers paintings that are individually created.
"Customers can order portraits with personalization from us," reports Saeideh Keshawarz. "They choose a template from the shop, send us a photo, and we paint exactly that image with their face on it." The costs for these completely personal paintings start at 180 euros. The artist duo's paintings are in demand: Saeideh Keshawarz and Majid Saberinejad have sold 220 to date.
However, customer contact in "real life" is also important to the Marburg painters. Therefore, they maintain a presence with their studio in Marburg's old town. There they offer workshops and sell paintings of Marburg to tourists. "In our studio, our Marburg cityscapes are particularly popular. Many tourists buy the motifs as postcards, art prints, or even the original paintings," says Saeideh Keshawarz. Online, customer preferences are completely different from those in the studio. Therefore, the two sales locations complement each other very well for them.
For three years, Sarah Höfle from Darmstadt has also been selling her "BOKA socks" - tennis socks with abstract graphic patterns - through the platform. The graphic designer is building a second professional pillar with this venture. Currently, the small business serves as a good side income. A pair of her socks costs 17 euros on Etsy.
"It basically started with Etsy," she reflects on her beginnings. "It's super easy to upload an image and text there and then see how it goes." Since then, she has sold 91 pairs of socks through Etsy. Meanwhile, Etsy has become just a secondary sales location for her. The reason: the platform isn't completely free for sellers. They must give approximately a quarter of their revenue to Etsy. Fees apply to shop opening, product uploads, and sales.
Additionally, Sarah Höfle has noticed minor weaknesses in communication between Etsy and herself as a seller. Therefore, she has opened additional sales channels and is currently developing her own online shop. She also maintains a presence in real life: her socks are regularly available at markets and in stores nationwide, especially in pop-up stores in cities like Darmstadt, Frankfurt, Stuttgart, and Cologne.
Etsy is a US-American e-commerce platform, an online marketplace founded in 2005 in Brooklyn, New York. The platform has been online in Germany since 2010. On Etsy, sellers worldwide can offer their mostly handcrafted products for sale. According to Etsy, there are currently about 5.9 million actively listed shops worldwide, with 226,000 sellers currently listed for Germany. According to company data, 95.2 million people worldwide have already purchased something through Etsy in 2025.
