Looking for a unique gift—such as a personalized, hand stamped fishing lure or maybe a vintage gold hairpin or even a crocheted hat for your cat? if so, you might want to join the 24 million active buyers who turn to the web site etsy as their source for handmade and vintage products—ranging from art and photography to clothing and jewelry to home décor and furniture. etsy was founded in 2005 in an apartment in brooklyn, new york, by a small group of people who saw a need for an online exchange where crafters and artists could sell their handmade and vintage goods along with art and craft supplies. the company, which views itself as a global community of creative entrepreneurs, shoppers, manufacturers, and suppliers, now has more than 800 employees and a peer-to-peer e-commerce site that generated close to $2.4 billion in sales in 2015. currently, the site has over 35 million items available for sale from 1.6 million active sellers around the world.