P1OLITICALLY CORRECT it ain’t. Geezer.com is the name of a site – expected to go live in May – that sells handicrafts made by artisans age 55 and older.
It’s sponsored by Arlington, VA-based Green Thumb, a national nonprofit training and employment organization for senior citizens. “Research shows you’ve got to get people’s attention,” insists Andrea Wooten, president and CEO of Green Thumb. “Even people who have a negative impression, once they see the site will love it. Seniors love it. We’ve had people writing in saying, `I’m 52. Am I too young to be a geezer?'”
The Geezer site follows the example of eBay, showing product descriptions and pictures. But it will also foster a “strong community feeling” by featuring photos of the vendors and their stories. “So you have a sense of who you’re doing business with and who you are helping,” says Wooten. Many vendors are connecting with Geezer to start or expand craft businesses they need to help make ends meet. At press time, 50 had signed up, including seven men over 70 who make twig furniture in a rain forest in Puerto Rico, a woman from the mountains of Tennessee who carves wooden toys, several women who sew vests, quilt makers, birdhouse designers, knitters, and someone who fashions angels and dolls from corn husks. About 600 more people have requested application forms.
Geezer.com will charge $9.95 for vendors to put their products on the site. A third party will handle monetary transactions. Geezer gets 6% of sales, and the vendors get the rest. The artisans are responsible for fulfillment. Geezer.com will use snail mail and other means to support vendors who aren’t online.
Big on idealism, low on funds, venture capitalists aren’t exactly clamoring to get a piece of this site. Two local universities – George Washington University in Washington, DC, and the University of Maryland in College Park, MD, are donating time and expertise to attract craftspeople and marketing partners.
A U.S. Department of Labor grant will be used to set up a help desk – manned by seniors – to assist customers and vendors alike. And some $1 million has been allocated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture for marketing and training seniors about information technology.
But while all this is a pittance by typical Web site advertising standards, Wooten is not discouraged. She plans low-tech marketing – driving customers to the site primarily through word of mouth. Pointing out that Geezer.com serves thousands of organizations in 44 states and in Puerto Rico, Wooten intends to distribute posters and business cards touting the site. E-mail broadcasts are not out of the question later on, she adds.
Optimism abounds. The group has already contacted the Webster’s Dictionary people to change the definition of the word “geezer,” since they like their new definition so much better: “Today’s geezer is a bright, experienced, talented person.”
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