Does anyone here make money from their hobby?

AmyTurtle

Hi all

I was wondering if any hobbyists on here make any money or break even from their hobby (as opposed to people running actual businesses selling crafty things)?

My brother and sister in law are getting married in August and I made my sis-in-law a tiara. I loved making it and it's become quite a hobby since and I have made loads of tiaras, combs, hairpins and hair vines!

Is there anywhere apart from eBay you can sell stuff like this on a casual basis? I don't want to start a business and be obligated to make things/meet deadlines but I love the process, find it really relaxing and don't want to give it up. Equally I can't live in a house full of useless tiaras and some of the bits I use are quite expensive.

I have had a good scout around eBay and due to all the cheap stuff from China most stuff similar to what I make only seems to go for cost price. I sold 4 hair vines/combs at a boot fair on Sunday but people were only interested in the cheaper ones made with plastic beads and not the more expensive ones using Swarovski crystals/ frshwater pearls etc.

b1rdie

What about setting up a facebook page, they seem to do well with craft items and jewellery. You can always offer a competition prize for those who 'like' and 'share' your page - this way your FB page gets to be spread out amongst friends of friends etc

Floss

Boot fairs aren't really the right market place for something hand-made and unique - I'd suggest looking out for a hand-made/craft fair locally to try, but I guess you'd need quite a bit of stock to sell, and a deposit-taking process for orders on the day.

Jo_F

If you are making to sell, even if it's not much then it is still a business and you need to get registered with the tax office, these days there is not such thing as a money making hobby.

You also need to get public and product liability insurance.

SailorSam

Try Etsy for craft type sales

AmyTurtle

Thanks everyone for your comments. I didn't go to a boot fair specifically to sell my crafts, I was just doing one anyway to get rid of some household clutter and thought I would take a few along. Judging by your comments I think I'm just going to continue down the eBay path as that allows me to sell things as and when I feel like making them and even if I only cover my costs I'll be very happy.
I will look online about tax & insurance etc.