Amazon Marketing Local Artisans' Products
DENVER (CBS4) – Colorado artisans are accessing the Amazon marketplace through a page called Handmade at Amazon. It hosts 15,000 products made by Colorado crafts people. One of them says the site has boosted her business.
LINK: Handmade at Amazon
Sejal Parag walks to work every day, sometimes in socks.
"I get to work from home, which is awesome," she told CBS4.
She works in her basement studio. She is a company of one.
"I love it. I wake up every day thinking, 'I get to make decisions. I don't have to ask anybody,'" Parag said.
Three years ago, Parag quit her job as an event planner.
"I just wanted to do something that set my heart on fire, and gave back, and did good," Parag explained.
Now she makes and sells candles and gives them fun, inventive names, like White Dress, Autumn Equinox, and Favorite Hoodie.
"I was wearing my favorite hoodie, and I thought, 'This scent is cozy. It's warm. It's comfortable. Let's just name it Favorite Hoodie and see what happens.' Best selling candle," Parag said.
Each one comes with a match and striker to get you started.
"When we started Karmalit, we wanted to make sure they were eco-friendly," Parag explained.
Her candles are made from soy wax, as opposed to paraffin.
"When you burn these it's cleaner. It doesn't produce like a big soot because it is natural. It's not petroleum based," Parag said.
She also uses Karmalit as a platform to give back to the community.
"We created an initiative called Smell Good, Do Good. And it's a program where a percentage of each candle sold goes back to fund teacher projects," Parag said.
Parag is President and CEO, but she's also the assembly line worker, marketing manager, and the entire sales force.
LINK: Karmalit
"We have our own website. We're also sold in boutiques across the country, We also do custom orders for companies."
She said that it was Amazon that gave her small business a big boost. She markets on Handmade at Amazon.
"I saw it and I jumped on it because it's Amazon, and you can't really go wrong."
Karmalit will be at the Holiday Flea December 1st through the 3rd. The Holiday Flea is a huge, up-scale flea market at the Sports Castle on Broadway.
LINK: Mile High Holidays
