Two years ago twentysomething Brooklynites Robert Kalin, Chris Maguire and Haim Schoppfik decided Ebay had ruled the online world for long enough. It was time to launch a revolution and Etsy.com, a shopping portal specialising in the handmade - from Brit GreyGoat's side-tie knickers to the Japanese blouses of Chicstore - was the result.

"Many of the goods in our lives are so utterly disposable," says Etsy's Matt Stinchcombe. "We do not think we are alone in being pretty fed up with it."