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Written by columnist Rebecca of RaigeCreations
Slide and above photo courtesy of kitschville
What is it that men want? And how do we find it? These are questions that have plagued women since the beginning of time. Since joining the world of handmade and its venues for showcasing handmade, this question has been in the back of my mind. It is particularly challenging to find things men want in general, and even more so on these sites. My searches to find things for my husband has led me nowhere. I expressed this frustration to him, and he finally said, “I will look and see what I can find.” He found things within minutes! I should note he is an artist, and has very specific tastes which usually makes any search to find him things he likes near impossible. So how did he find things on Etsy and Zibbet so fast?
The first and most important thing I noticed is how he searched differently than I typically do. His searches are specific to things he likes or thinks are interesting, not broad terms like I would search. Then he weeds through to find things that surprise him.
He likes motorcycles, so he searched ‘motorcycle parts’, not motorcycles as I would have. He was surprised to find this cool clock lamp made from motorcycle parts by ChromeSculptures. He likes clocks and lamps, but would never search for those things. Add motorcycle parts to these things and it goes in the cart with a simple click.
As an artist exploring sculpture, he searched ‘contemporary sculpture’, not sculptures as I would have, and found this artist, Uturn. A figurative sculpture he liked pulled him into the store, but he really found his interest in the masks, and picked this great mask to add to his collection.
A search for just ‘masks’ would have yielded too many results not even close to his tastes.
My search terms led to very different finds, and the creators I found did not lead me to items he would impulsively purchase like these things he found. They weren’t ‘man-friendly terms’. For example, a clutch to him relates to a transmission, not a handbag. I never thought of that!
His searches generally do not use the plural, mine often do. His searches used terms that were specific to his liking while still general in terminology, a method I would have never thought of. And of course, once the search results come up, what peaks his curiosity takes him to an artist, and once in their shop, he finds the “it” he has been looking for without setting out to find it. My searches seem to be less of an adventure than his, but more an end results oriented search. We end up going down completely different paths, he finds items he impulsively must have, and I find items that he should have but probably will not like.
Acting on his attraction to vintage, he searched ‘skeleton key’, and was lead to coldtententacle’s shop, and ultimately to this great pocket watch. I never thought he would be interested in keys so that search did not occur to me, but that path led him to something else that he loves to collect – pocket watches with visible mechanisms.
He tried a search on Zibbet for fine arts as he is always interested in this market. His search was 2 simple words, ‘contemporary painting‘, not a search of fine art paintings like I may have. It didn’t take long to find Laura Barbosa and her Crystal Skulls painting.
The appeal to this one for him, other than the macabre, is the freedom to re-arrange and display the pieces how you like them best. Perfect for my perfectionist husband who prefers interactive, hands-on pieces.
He also discovered, by checking a tag on an item he found interesting enough to click on, search words can be found in tags. By adding the prefix ‘high end’ to ’sculpture’, seen in a tag, he found this dresser by GArtFurniture, and before I knew it, the cart was overflowing.
The dresser, come to find out, was not actually something he wanted for himself, but for our daughter. So it is true, they will shop for others, but it does have to meet their standards and criteria. In fact, GArtFurniture has another item that does have a very good response from men, a bouquet of hand carved roses, with a secret compartment for a small gift.
Now that is a man shopping with a woman in mind!
In the end, I discovered what my man wants, and how he finds it. We search completely different, follow distinctly different paths, and find entirely different items. My husband finds an item that peaks his curiosity and instinctively follows the path to his must have item. Men seem to shop impulsively. The thrill is in the hunt. The search is following the tracks. The purchase is the kill. Women tend to gather.
Hopefully we all can learn from this and find great handmade treasures for the men in our lives. I need to remember, he likes hard materials: metal, clay, and wood. I like softer materials: yarn, fabric, and sparkly things. Perhaps it is true, I am from Venus, he is from Mars, but now I think know what he wants and how to find it.
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