Join Our Community!
Membership applications are closed.
Check back here when applications next open—January and July each year. And, sign up for email alerts by filling out our member interest form. The member interest notification list is separate from our general NYHC newsletter.
👋 Hi! We’re the NY Handmade Collective
Established in 2007, we’re the nonprofit artisan and maker guild of NYC. When you join as a member, you’ll be part of a knowledgeable and supportive community of fellow creative entrepreneurs.
We’re 100% powered by our members volunteering their time and talents.. We help each other achieve our business and creative goals through selling opportunities, member promotion, community, professional development, and more!
✨ Member Benefits
Apply for NYHC vendor spots:
at partner markets (e.g., prior opportunities included days at Brooklyn Pop-Up, Grand Bazaar NYC, and the West Side County Fair)
at exclusive markets, only open to members (e.g., prior opportunities included BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn! and Holiday Handmade Cavalcade)
Use our private online community, where we share information, resources, and advice
Network and collaborate with ~300* members in-person and online
Attend exclusive events, workshops, and panels
Increase visibility and legitimacy for customers, retailers, and editors through:
public, searchable profiles on this website
opportunities to be featured by NYHC (e.g., social media, newsletter, blog)
showcasing you’re a NYHC member (e.g., at markets and online)
Access perks through partner organizations
10% discount on new annual memberships to MakerSpace NYC, the city’s largest and best-equipped makerspace
And more!
*as of September 2024
✅ Membership Eligibility
We welcome artisans and makers across all product categories. You’re eligible for membership if you:
sell items handmade by you
sell through an established ecommerce storefront
live within 1 ½ hours of NYC
have a google account (e.g., Gmail address)
pay annual membership dues ($40 in February, or $20 prorated in August)**
** If the cost of dues would be a burden, please consider applying to our Access NYHC program—details below.
That means your business is ineligible if you:
have items handmade for you
import handmade goods from outside the US
work with overseas artisans
use Artificial Intelligence (AI) to design or produce your products
are a vintage reseller and/or supply store
only sell in-person
sell online, but only through social media posts and DMs
🧁 Food and Beverage Businesses
Due to NYC regulations and market restrictions, NYHC members selling food and beverage items—even pre-packaged goods like honey, jam, and tea—are often ineligible to apply for NYHC vendor spots at partner markets and exclusive markets (see ✨ Member Benefits). Please only consider non-selling opportunity member benefits when deciding if NYHC membership is a good fit for your business.
🖐 1. Handmade By You Requirement
Handmade means your items are both designed and produced by you***—with your own hands or tools.
Your design and production processes need to lead to the creation of unique items that would not exist without you.
a. Can I use purchased, pre-made designs to make my products?
Yes, but if your design process relies on simple customization (e.g., choosing from pre-designed options, or selecting colors and shapes), then all items must be 100% produced by your hands or tools—no production partners or employees.
b. Can I use blanks and other ready-made materials to make my products?
As a supply to be transformed by you, yes—but not as a finished product. It also needs to make sense for your craft. For example:
if you sew, then we’d expect you’d start by purchasing fabrics—you don’t need to weave the fabric yourself
if you screen print, then we’d expect you’d start by purchasing t-shirt blanks—you don’t need to sew the shirts yourself
c. Can I use production partners, employees, and/or contractors to make my products?
In limited circumstances, using production partners, employees, and/or contractors to physically help you make your items may still qualify as handmade by you. We ask all applicants to be transparent about who is helping you make your items—what work you do, what work they do, where they are located, and what parts of your production process they help with.
Production partners, employees, and/or contractors are only allowed for a portion of the production process. If most or all of the production process happens without you, even if other handmade artisans do the work, we don’t consider those items to be handmade by you.
Common examples of production partner services include, but are not limited to: printing, apparel printing, 3D-printing, casting, plating, engraving, and finishing.
d. Do my production partners, employees, and/or contractors have to be in NYC?
No, just within the US. International production partners, or working with or employing overseas artisans, is strictly prohibited.
*** For businesses structured as partnerships, “you” refers to all parties of the partnership.
🔗 2. Ecommerce Storefront Requirement
An ecommerce storefront is a professional, secure website with shippable items available for purchase. Providers like Etsy, Shopify, Squarespace, Square, WooCommerce for WordPress, etc are great!
Selling online—but only through social media posts and/or direct messages—does NOT qualify as an ecommerce storefront.
Additionally, your ecommerce storefront must be established—active and list at least 5 of the ‘handmade by you’ items for sale. Active means it must be open, with customers able to add items to a cart, securely check out, and ship to their address (at least the contiguous US). Storefronts that are on vacation or hiatus are not active.
Almost all NYHC members also sell in-person. However, to be (and stay) a member, your ecommerce storefront needs to be open for the majority of the year.
📍 3. NYC Requirement
Our programming and events take place in NYC. We love for members to live in the 5 boroughs, but you’re eligible to apply if you live or create your items within 1 ½ hours from midtown NYC.
📧 4. Google Account Requirement
A Google account is required for file sharing. If you use gmail, that’s a Google account.
👀 Review Process
Once you submit your application, Google automatically emails everyone a copy of your answers. If you don’t see your application copy, check your “All Mail” folder. If it’s not there, then you mistyped your email. Please contact us to confirm your application was received and provide the correct email.
We carefully review each application. We reserve the right to accept or reject any applicant. We do not judge applicants based on race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, national origin, marital or family status, citizenship, disability, veteran status, or record of arrest and conviction.
If needed and if the deadline hasn’t passed, we may ask for more detailed information to better understand your handmade process (including designs, photos, and videos). Anything you provide to us will remain private, and only be used to determine your eligibility.
All applicants will be emailed a membership decision. If you don’t see yours within a week of applications closing, please search your spam and promotional folders (emails sent by info@nyhandmadecollective.org).
📅 Timing
We open member applications twice a year—in January and July. Open applications are announced on this webpage and our social media accounts (linked at the bottom). When we’re accepting applications, please be sure to apply before the deadline. We’re unable to grant any extensions.
If you apply and are invited to join, we’ll onboard you in February or August, respectively. There are 4 time-sensitive onboarding steps to become a member (< 2 hours to finish) within that month. Invited applicants who can’t complete all 4 time-sensitive onboarding steps by the deadline will not become NY Handmade Collective members.
🔑 Access NYHC Program
We believe being an entrepreneur is powerful, and having access to a supportive community makes all the difference.
We sponsor handmade business owners to join us for a free full- or half-year membership (for January and July applications, respectively). We especially encourage members of historically marginalized communities to apply for sponsorship, including BIPOC, as well as anyone who finds the cost of dues a barrier to entry. Access recipients receive:
a free full- or half-year membership (i.e., for January and July applications, respectively)
full access to our community and opportunities
if desired, a volunteer role matched to recipients' schedules and skills
Access program applicants still need to meet eligibility requirements and complete the time-sensitive onboarding steps by the deadline (aside from paying dues) to become a NYHC member.
How to apply to the Access NYHC program: The membership application includes a question where you can let us know you want to be considered for the Access program.
📝 How To Join the NY Handmade Collective
Membership applications are closed.
Check back here when applications next open—January and July each year. Or, sign up for email alerts by filling out our member interest form. The member interest notification list is separate from our general NYHC newsletter.
📧 Questions?
Please reach out to the Membership Director at info@nyhandmadecollective.org.