I have bought several beautiful things from Etsy, none of it quilting related. One thing I like is you can put in something odd (like I searched "leafy seadragon" because my sister loves those things) and find beautiful handcrafted items (I found a hand thrown and painted mug with a leafy seadragon on it). I found some really nicely made car litter bags and matching tissue holders I bought and they are great. I bought a few as gifts. I have a friend who sells really pretty silver and beaded jewelry there too.

As far as most sewing stuff, I can do better making it myself, usually. I wouldn't go there for fabric etc unless I was looking for something special and hand dyed.

IMHO i think etsy is to high priced,more like a boutique..at least for fabrics.
most seem to be higher end items made out of fabrics too. beautiful though.

i have bought some other items there, and never had a problem. i still go to ebay first..much better deals.

I agree Etsy is overpriced. I can find same products in other areas online for less.

I have bought zipper pulls from the seller who's link is below. I think Etsy is a good source for unique items. Ebay bidding drives me crazy...not worth the wait or effort.

http://www.quiltingboard.com/t-101820-1.htm

I have an ETSY, but it was mostly geared to my Ultrasuede customers. NOW however, I have closed my ebay store and will be putting my quilting stuff on Etsy...it is so time consuming and costly thought, that it is taking me forever to get motivated enough to get it ALL on there...

One must remember Etsy is geared towards the "artistan" clans and can be over priced for sure...I am hoping that will help me, as I am going to sell my stuff at cost just to get rid of it!

I have made purchases on Etsy but it was a seller known to me. Now that she has her cart up and running on her site, I purhcase there.

My sister Vivian and I have an Etsy shop. We opened it in November....haven't sold anything yet, but I'm going to give it a while longer before giving up.

I'm not sure what you mean by "usefulness". Etsy shop owners often buy supplies from other Etsy sellers, as a way to support the community. Otherwise, I wouldn't buy supplies on Etsy, but it is not really intended for that purpose.

It's a venue for handcrafters and artists to sell their goods and support each other in a community network that works exceptionally well. It's a lot of work, as is any type of self-employment, but well worth the effort.

So, the 'usefulness' depends entirely on what your objectives are.

the secret to selling on Etsy is that YOU have to do a lot of self promoting/advertising...without, you just sit there watching paint dry...
put your link in your email siggy, and in your profile siggy...start a blog if you have to..put a page on facebook, etc..ETSY does not advertise YOU...only you can do that!

I love Etsy for finished products (not quilts though - I'd rather make my own). It's like browsing through my favorite boutique! But I have to agree I have not, and probably never will, by supplies, fabric, etc on Etsy. Those things are generally just too high priced to make them worth my while.