Would You Like To Make Money From Your Homemade Crafts?
By villageanne
@villageanne (8553)
United States
March 18, 2007 5:06pm CST
My husband and I both love to go to craft shows. I take a notepad with me to draw and write the instructions to things that I like and want to make. I am not good at selling my stuff as I tend to give it away as gifts. I will never be rich because I am just too generous. If someone says that they like somehting that I have made, I usually make them one or give them the one I already made. At a craft show, I can always find something fun and homemade that might be the perfect gift for someone. I’ve often thought about making soap and other crafts, then selling it at a craft show, but I really had no idea how to go about selling it. I posted a similar article on gather and found that many others made crafts and did not know how to sell them at crafts shows for a profit. So I thought that I would share this information with you als. I hope you enjoy it and you are able to make enough money to help with your bills.
Well, I just found this wonderful site and it will has so much information that even I may be able to sell my homemade crafts. If you are interested in selling your crafts, this is the site for you. You will love this site because you can learn all the ins and outs of selling your crafts at a craft show near you. From how to get in to how much you should charge your customers, this site can help you. Start your journey off by looking to the side menu where you will find all the sections of the site.
They are:
How To Get In
What a wonderful resource this is. Here you will learn how to get in to sell your products at craft shows, as well as, some tips for who to talk to about it and even where you might want to start at.
Your Products
Not sure what you want to sell? Well, you can get some great ideas from this section, along with some good ideas on where to look to find out what is currently selling at other craft shows. You will be armed with so much knowledge that you will be a pro in no time.
Your Prices
Pricing can be a very difficult part of craft shows. I know as a shopper what I’m willing to pay for something as soon as I see it. So, finding a price that gets people to buy it, but still making a profit for yourself is very important. Here in this section, you will learn all about how to best price your products to sell.
Supplies
What could you possibly need to set up at a craft show? I had no idea that this much was involved and it's more than I would have ever thought. This section gives great tips on what you should bring with you to a craft show. Some even with presentation in mind.
Setting Up
Here you’ll find important tips about when to arrive at the show and how long to stay, as well as, how you can place your products so they sell better.
Photo Page 1 & 2
Here you can see photos from the author’s craft show experiences. It was pretty cool to actually see the progression from his early shows to the more recent ones.
There is still one other neat feature of this site is that each section can be translated into Spanish, German, French, Italian or Portuguese. Just click on the drop down menu to choose the language you want. Then click the Translate Now button.
Now you will be armed with knowledge to use your skills as a craftsman to make money. You can Check out Craft Shows 50g now at this link.
http://www.craftshows.50g.com/
7 people like this
22 responses
@Polly1 (12645)
• United States
18 Mar 07
My mom and I were in a couple of craft shows. It seems that they have lots of shows in the spring and in the fall, the competition is fierce. We rented a table at a local church when they had the show. It seemed not many people were buying because there were dozens of shows all over town. I had crochet baby afghans, my price was $15, no buyers. I dropped the price down to $10 and still no buyers. At $10 that barely paid for the yarn I had used. My afghans were really nice too. It seemed dollar and under items sold better. We had other things for sale too, people really liked what we had, they just were not buying. To come up with a price, we would add up the total for supplies and then triple it, thats how much we would charge. Since we were splitting the cost of the table (only $15 for the day) we did manage to pay for that. I like to go to the craft shows and look at everything, but I no longer sell at them. Thanks for the link, I will check it out.
2 people like this
@twilight021 (2059)
• United States
19 Mar 07
I think $15 for a blanket is a steal! I would keep the price there. Don't sell yourself short. Plus sometimes if the price is too low, people assume it's "cheap". My guess is that wasn't your crowd, especially if people were only buying dollar items.
I have found around the holidays is the best time for craft fairs.
I also use the triple supply rule for pricing :-)
2 people like this
@villageanne (8553)
• United States
19 Mar 07
I went to a fruit bowl making seminar once and we were told to take all the ingredients that we used
container we used
extra add ons small things that we used in all of them
What we thought our time was worth per hour then determine how long it took us to make them
Then we have the total from above and multiply by 5 except the hours and add in the money per time we spent.
that is the selling price. We always sold alot of them.
This was a professional seminar.
1 person likes this
@twilight021 (2059)
• United States
19 Mar 07
Oh wow, that's an intersting formula. I should see how that would work for me. My items are largely knitted items (Check my profile for my website) so a bit time consuming. But that might be something I should look into more and try out. Thanks!
1 person likes this
@tammyr (5946)
• Etowah, Tennessee
12 May 07
Why You really have a knack for finding me some good sites! Again I have to say thank you.
I am one of those people who needs to keep my hands busy all the time. Sometimes I get on the computer, but other times I make things. And like you, I tend to just give them away. I will check out the site further.=o}
1 person likes this
@villageanne (8553)
• United States
14 May 07
Tammyr,
I had you in mind when I posted this. LOL Not really but it sounded nice anyway, didnt it??? LOL I am glad that you can use it.
@lilaclady (28207)
• Australia
18 Mar 07
I used to sell a few of my handmade things years ago, but these days unfortunately it is very hard for handmade things to compete with cheaper mass produced item that sell so cheaply, but fortunately there are still a few people who appreciate handmade....goodluck with it all.
@feralwoman (2199)
• Australia
19 Mar 07
I completely agree lilaclady. I sell handcrafted jewellery at a local market on sundays and it's a devil of a job to compete with foreign imports. Like you say there are still people out there who prefer handcrafted items for themselves or for gifts. Here in Oz, the latest thing is soy candles. They seem to be very easy to make and when you light them the whole thing burns away leaving no messy wax to clean up.
1 person likes this
@gewcew23 (8007)
• United States
26 Mar 07
Thanks villageann for the ideas, and the link. I have been thinking about doing a craft show I have so many craft items completed and nothing to do with them besides gifts. I will definately check out this site. I have book marked it so I can check it out later today.
1 person likes this
@classyphotobuggy (647)
• United States
25 Mar 07
I checked out this site and it was very informative!! I even went deeper and seen the wooden puzzle designs. I've often thought about doing craft shows myself, I just don't know where I'd fit in the time being a busy single parent and all. I'm just like you, everything I make, I give away! I rarely even keep anything I've made for myself. I'd have a hard time making enough stock for a craft show, I'd be giving it all away before I could even stock them!
:)
1 person likes this
@craftiladi99 (27)
• United States
25 Mar 07
Thanks for the link. I have played around with selling my handmade crafts for awhile now....I don't do crafts shows except for a few here and there...but I have had a booth at a crafts and antique mall for about 8-10 years...it doesn't make you wealthy, but it is a little extra money. If I didn't enjoy it I wouldn't be in the store...I have been able to experiment alot, and have met alot of new people who have become really good friends to me....the handmade crafts business has gone downhill so badly since everything is imported now. I just try to hang in there :)
1 person likes this
@ElusiveButterfly (45940)
• United States
19 Mar 07
Wow! This is a great site. I have been considering the idea of getting back into making my crafts for profit. I have a couple of really great ideas and I might give them a try this year at the flea market.
1 person likes this
@primecrimson (1388)
• Philippines
19 Mar 07
If only I know how to do a certain craft and I'm gifted of that skill, I will definitely make an online store of my own. I just love trading in the internet and I think home made crafts could be a potential business.
I heard that eBay was not a trading site before and it just started as selling stuff toys online. Now, they became an internet giant store.
1 person likes this
@Perry2007 (2229)
• Philippines
19 Mar 07
this is a great ontribution you made, I sure would be able to learn much from the site, I already did just reading your article here. Thanks for sharing, I love to crochet
@omer_ahmed_tabarik (1057)
• Pakistan
19 Mar 07
That was really helpful dude but i'm more intrested in making money online through internet because it is easy than home made things.
1 person likes this
@sjohnson628 (3197)
• United States
19 Mar 07
Thank you for the link I bookmarked it. I will try to sell some of my crafts this summer. Good luck with selling yours!
1 person likes this
@tess1960 (2385)
• United States
19 Mar 07
Thank you for posting all of this information. Even a seasoned crafter/seller like myself can use this information. I have sold many times at local craft shows. Some I did well at others not so well. Itis a very hard market as at a craft show you may find someone else is selling the same exact items. It is soo much fun though and so gratifying to sell an item you hve made to a happy customer.
I usually give mine away too just to get the interest started and to see if anyone would offer to pay for it. If so then I know it is worth making more to sell.
@xu530923 (28)
• China
19 Mar 07
Homemade crafts is a kind of culture.We like it ,while on the other side,fewer peaple are familiar with them.If it goes on ,we'll lose many good things.On holidays,I like strolling,but ,I just watch without buying.For I don't like mimic.
@daedel2006 (147)
• United States
19 Mar 07
Thank you. I have been thinking about this myself. I have some friends who do craft shows all over the country and I was thinking about talking to them. Thank you for the link.
1 person likes this
@kgwat70 (13388)
• United States
19 Mar 07
I certainly would love to make money on the artwork that I have been doing but have failed in the past on being able to sell my artwork. Even right now as I am thinking about selling in Ebay, I am not sure what price to charge and want to make sure it is fair to others as well as myself so I do not end up losing money instead of making money on my work. I tried a craft show once myself but did not sell anything since it was my first time and did not know what to expect. Thank you for this website as it will be helpful should I try again.
1 person likes this
@wmg2006 (5381)
• United States
18 Mar 07
Thanks I will chck this out. I have done several shows and did ok, but not as much as I had hoped for. I found the best way is to show up each year at the same show then you get recognized and also people may not have bought last year but are coming specifically yo buy from you this year. Each year I sold more and more than the year before.
1 person likes this
@Stringbean (1273)
• United States
18 Mar 07
Thanks for sharing, Villageanne. I have tried a few things like ebay before for crafts and have not had the kind of response I would like. The link you supplied may be just what some of us need to really get started.
Setting up a webpage for your crafts would help a lot. You could have business cards at your exhibit at the craft show showing your website in case someone decided to order something after the original craft show ended.
1 person likes this
@twilight021 (2059)
• United States
19 Mar 07
I sell my crafts both on line and at shows. I usualy do the best during the holidays, and do better at fairs, than I do online, for the most part. I think my items, (largely knitted items, knitting bags, and jelelry) are items that people like to touch and try ton before they by. For instance my bags sell well at fairs, but I have yet to sell one online.
A really important part of doing fairs...and this is a lesson that has been hard learned by me, is to know your audience, and how to find them. My two fair partners and I did a fair this xmas where non of us sold anything! It was so depressing to sit thre are day and not sell a thing! Needless to say we won't do that fair again, it just wasn't our audience. But the next week, new town, new fair, and I did really well. It seems finding the right fair is hit or miss until you check out a few.
@zj0511yuhui (54)
• China
19 Mar 07
in china have more craft maker . their technique is extraordinary. in westen country people like chinese craft product. if you wish do the business . please contact me
1 person likes this
