Join us in the founding circle as we build a better handmade marketplace!
Artisans Cooperative is now accepting our first members!
We’re looking for artisans and supporters who want to take back control from Big Tech marketplaces and join us today as early members of the co-op. Our marketplace will feature authentic artisans and products, community control, and more profits in the pockets of artisans!
All members get ownership and financial rights (profit-sharing), and Artisan members will have lower fees and priority placement in customer search on the marketplace.
There is a one-time buy-in cost, with multiple options for payment plans and non-cash options so everyone can afford to join today. Read all the details in our blog post, Membership Drive.
The first members to join in-full before July 31st will be lifetime members of our Founders Circle, with a lower sales commission and more perks.
The full cost of membership buy-ins is 1,000 “points” (or $1,000) for Artisans and 100 points ($100) for Supporters. There are no annual dues/fees; membership is a one-time investment.
Payment plans are as follows:
Payment Plan | Artisans | Supporters | ||
| Monthly | Annual | Monthly | Annual | |
| Non-Cash Points | 1,000 Founder’s Circle | 100 Founder’s Circle | ||
| Cash: 1 Year | $83.34 | $1,000.00 Founder’s Circle | $8.34 | $100.00 Founder’s Circle |
| Cash: 2 Years | $41.67 | $500.00 | ||
| Cash: 3 Years | $27.78 | $333.34 | ||
| Cash: 4 Years | $20.84 | $250.00 | ||
What our Members Are Saying…
Gokojo
“Other online marketplaces have become saturated with mass-manufactured items masquerading as “handmade”, creating unfair competition. We need a platform that values the handmade artisan over shareholder profits.”
Lizzy | Supporter
“It has been harder and harder to find authentic and handmade items for years. I hate having to search through 15 pages of dropship shops before finding an actual artist. Artisans Cooperative makes it easy!”
StellaNCWorks
“I love that my handmade work has a place among a community of other authentically handmade artisan products. I really appreciate that Artisans Cooperative puts its artisans first. And it’s exactly the marketplace I want to do my shopping in, too.”
Valerie | Supporter
“I want to shop on a marketplace that I can trust will treat artisans fairly.”
Atypically Artistic
“Artisans Cooperative feels like the happy place I have been looking for to offer my wide variety of creations. I want community, authenticity and a marketplace that actually cares about handmade and the amazing amount of love and work that goes into it!”
Olga | Supporter
“It’s so difficult to find unique and high-quality goods when marketplaces are filled with mass-produced goods. Artisans Cooperative makes it easy to identify handmade goods and to support artisans directly!”
Founders Circle Capital Campaign
Track Our Progress to $25,000 $50,000!
Launch Date: May 23rd, 2023!
July Update: July 7th, 2023!
$50,000 July STRETCH GOAL!
ON JULY 6, WE MET OUR ORIGINAL GOAL OF $25,000! In June, we launched a capital campaign to raise critical early funding from our first founding members. Our June goal was to raise $25,000 by July 31, 2023 to enable us to launch our cooperative marketplace by October 2023.
But our strong momentum made us wonder…. “What if we could build the marketplace without outside investors?”
This would give us more democratic control of the Coop, more true to our values. SO WE DOUBLED OUR GOAL! (Learn more in our blog post)
New memberships ensures our ability to launch in October by:
- Paying for website development
- Proving our community’s commitment to lenders and financial institutions
- Leveraging additional financing for marketing and our first staff
New members who buy-in in full by July 31, 2023, will be recognized as a Founding Member for life. Founding Members get special benefits as part of our Founding Circle including:
- 6.5% promotional sales commission for the first 2 years (compared to 8% for members, 9.5% for non-members)
- Opportunity to be involved in the design, testing, and beta launch of the marketplace
- Priority access to handmade verification: be “Verified” on our launch day
- Special marketing promotions with a search filter label and top billing for our launch, timed for the holiday shopping imperative
- Behind-the-scenes access and a direct communications channel to the General Circle and interim Board of Directors through a dedicated Discord channel
- Listing on a thank-you page with a backlink to your website
Thank you to our Founding Circle Members!
Walnut Studiolo | Founding Artisan Member
Dragontree Emporium | Founding Artisan Member
Bean Bros Handmade | Founding Artisan Member
Stella NC Works | Founding Artisan Member
Atypically Artistic by Miss Thera | Founding Artisan Member
Seramik Studio | Founding Artisan Member
Roff Jewellery & Saskiart | Founding Artisan Member
Pug And Paper | Founding Artisan Member
Emma Fasullo | Founding Supporter Member
Brian Silverstein | Founding Supporter Member
Steve Ediger | Founding Supporter Member
Timothy Kilgore | Founding Supporter Member
Kelly Jo Anderson | Founding Supporter Member
Pauline Orr | Founding Supporter Member
Ravi Sapre | Founding Supporter Member
Zee Spencer | Founding Supporter Member
Learn More About ThE Coop
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