Artisans Cooperative has crafted an online handmade marketplace for an inclusive network of creatives. We are a member-owned, member-run and member-benefiting co-op. We promote creativity, support artist livelihoods, create opportunities for social impact art collectives, and connect people through an equitable artistic community.
From October 1 – October 31, 2024, Artisans Cooperative is conducting a Membership Drive.
We’re inviting artisans and supporters with a passion for cooperative values to participate by joining the Coop as member-owners and help in creating an even better handmade marketplace.
Check out our membership application page for more info on becoming a member, or our support page to learn about other ways you can support us.
Why do we need members?
Members can choose to buy-in to the Coop by earning points, with cash, or a combination of the two. Points are earned by performing “member activities”, which are the various tasks needed to help keep the Coop up and running. Each task is performed by a team, such as Team Money, who handle artisan payouts, or Team Marketing, who put together our social media and blog posts. Cash, on the other hand, gives us financial support for the platforms we use for marketing and customer service, as well as pay for any needed professional services, such as our lawyer. Most importantly, however, the more members we have, the more we are able to grow our community of artisans and supporters and help each other to realize the benefit of the products we create.
Who can join as a member?
- Individuals or partnerships
- Micro-businesses (fewer than 10 employees and limited capital investment)
- Co-ops, collectives, or mutual aid societies of artisans (with one designated representative as the point of contact)
Our accomplishments so far:
In just our first year since incorporating as a cooperative, all of us together have accomplished amazing things and have created incredible momentum. We look forward to how this momentum will continue and evolve into further growth, but more importantly into an ever stronger and effective resource for artisans.
Our Coop has grown from a loose band of just a few artisans and supporters into an incorporated company, drove a membership drive in 2023–resulting in over $50K and now a membership of over 345, and organized teams of over 80 to run the business and thriving community. We’ve built an impressive website and a functioning marketplace that launched with 65 shops and 1,000 handmade items and now has 133 shops and 3,691 handmade products; and in its first 6 months, accumulated 108,217 online sessions, with 3,408 customers spending $19,774.71 in 429 orders (with “customers” defined as having created a customer account or placed items in their carts). Some of our teams have grown into robust and resilient organizations of their own. We proved communal buy-in with a competitive field and voter turnout for our first board election. We’ve all learned so much for our own businesses, and hopefully serve as an inspiration to others who also create much-needed marketplaces and communities for artisans. We’ve created good policy and procedure, and more that has been started and can be continued. See our 2023 Year in Review for more of our changes and achievements.
Help us continue to grow – spread the word about the 2024 Membership Drive.
Check out our membership application page for more info on becoming a member, or our support page to learn about other ways you can support us.