The holiday season is rapidly approaching (a little too rapidly, if you ask me!), and that means one thing: It's probably time for you to really start considering holiday gifts and where you want to buy them from.
When it comes to shopping, lots of people like to visit small businesses and local businesses whenever possible. There's often something really special about being able to see the person who made the product you're buying, and you can feel good knowing exactly where your money is going.
But this holiday season is still a little unusual, and the ongoing health crisis might have you wanting to still stay home more than typical. If that's the case, there are still ways to shop small and local without ever leaving your home.
There are lots of websites that can help you shop local.
Granted, the best part of shopping locally might just be going into the shop and actually interacting with the people who work there and the products they create and sell, but if that's not an option (or you just don't want to), you can often shop local online. Here are a few sites that can aid you in this quest:
Etsy and eBay also offer a location function.
There are other ways you can shop locally online, too. Etsy is always a pretty amazing go-to, especially as the site has a search function that allows you to set your location for results. To make it happen, type in the item you're looking for (example in photo: "vintage earrings"). Then click "filters" and scroll down until you see "shop location." You can enter your zip code, and boom! Online local shopping.
Support small businesses if you can't shop local.
If shopping locally isn't an option, you can still find plenty of ways to shop small businesses before heading to a big box alternative. When you shop at a small business, you know that your purchase is going directly to help the person who is in front of you, which is a pretty special feeling.
There are many ways to support small businesses.
There are a bunch of things you can do to show your support for small businesses around the US or even around the world. Here are a few ideas:
- Buy gift cards to small businesses near someone you know and love.
- Promote small businesses you love on your social media.
- Learn more about small businesses in cities you've visited, and consider buying from them, too.
The internet makes it easy to shop small.
While sites like Etsy are a great go-to for small business owners and the products they create, there are tons of ways to find small businesses around the US to support. Shopify has a great list of shops to check out, and that's not the only site. Here are a few collections of small businesses to check out:
- "Our Favorite Sustainable Small Businesses To Support Online or Through Gift Cards" / The Good Trade
- "Our Readers Nominated These Small Businesses Across America for Vogue’s Retail Directory" / Vogue
- "10 Most Popular Small Businesses" / MightyCall
*Psst: if you choose to purchase an item from this post, LittleThings.com may receive a small cut. Each item and price is up to date at the time of publication; however, an item may be sold out or the price may be different at a later date.
