Thursday, June 19, 2014

Selling Handmade Items: What, When, Where

When it comes down to it, it’s sometimes a no brainier!  But if you are a crafter like me, you already know that sometimes it becomes a hassle trying to decide what to make, when’s the best time to sell, and where to sell your handmade items. 

When it comes to what to sell, well that is just basically a matter of choice and what you are willing to do.  You can sell already made items or make commissions where you make items as they are ordered based on specific criteria and instructions.  You can sell one or the other, or both.  It just basically depends on what you are willing to make, how much time you will invest and the quality of the finished product.  Also, most importantly, make items that you like to make!  If you dread making a hat or blanket, don’t say yeah okay I’ll make it for you.  It will only become tiresome and you may even lose interest in making any item in question!   Do and make what you Love and what makes you Happy!  In addition, seasons and the “what’s in style” also play major roles in what will sell and what won’t so keep that in mind.

This leads me into the when of selling your handmade items. You don’t necessarily want to make a bunch of beanie hats and try to sell them in the middle of summer.  You wouldn’t make much profit!  Seasons and style also play a role in when to sell your handmade items.  If stripes are in style then you don’t want to sell nothing but solids.  Basically you want to stay on top of the game sort of speak.  You can stay up to date on what’s in style by simply paying attention to seasonal and style items in the store, or online or even being one step ahead of the game by subscribing to magazines like Elle or Instyle Magazines that are published ahead of seasonal trends and styles.  


Now comes the where of selling your handmade goods.  Unfortunately, there are many options out there that will help you in selling your handmade goods, but as we all know, it’s not always 100% Free!  There’s either this charge or that charge just to sell your item through a specific site or even a fee for just posting a photo of your item.  But it’s basically up to you to decide.  You may pay a fee at “site a” but get more traffic while at “site b” you get less traffic but it’s totally 100% Free.  It’s up to you to decide what works best for you!


Additional Resources:

Encouraging Articles about Selling Your Handmade Goods|
Selling Your Crochet Series by Cre8tion Crochet
30 Tips to Sell Handmade by Launch Grow Joy

Help Deciding What Handmade Items to Sell|
5 Best Handmade Items to Sell by Joannie Sfera, Yahoo Contributor Network


Online Places to Sell Your Handmade Goods|
50 Free every month with a 10% fee
Etsy 
.20 listing fee per item for 4 months or until it sells with 3.5% fee on sale items
Free Store, 2.9% Marketplace cost if your item sell through their marketplace otherwise you get 100% of all your sales to your store.
Start out at $29/ month
No sign-up fee, no listing fee, no monthly fee, no transaction fee.





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