Are there any crafters out there?

StressedSteph

Hi all,


I am in the middle of my debt-free journey and always looking for a way to make some extra money.


I have tried competitions, surveys and all those computer type money making ideas but it just saps my soul every time I spend hours upon hours clicking on the computer only to have the survey get me 50% of the way through to say, I don't meet their criteria (even though I have already answered about 20 questions :mad:).


I dabbled with opening a craft business in 2013-14 making loads of things from bunting, sock monkeys to Christmas Wreaths.


I stopped doing it in the end as I had to do all my sewing in a corner in the lounge which made a lot of mess and I was also pretty slow at making things so my hourly rate ended up being quite poor.


Trouble is I do REALLY enjoy making things and I have started going back to trying to think of something that I could make that might sell fairly well with a decent profit margin.


I often look on this forum for other crafters but never see any posts from anyone who may be doing similar.


If you are a crafter and are making some reasonable money please share xx

lincroft1710

There have been threads from crafters on these boards. From memory the consensus was that making a living from crafting could be difficult.

culpepper

I suppose one way to evaluate what would do well ,is to look on etsy and see what is popular. One of my relatives sells hand knits on there and found it much easier to sell at a sensible price for the work put in, than she had previously managed on ebay.

Kermie

A few years ago, I did craft fairs for a year. I spent all my weekday evenings sewing/crafting to make things for the weekend, and only sold a handful. Winter was the worst - standing all day in the cold on my precious weekend isn't my idea of fun! My hobby became a chore...
I would say that making to order is the most efficient way of earning money. You only buy what you need and you only spend time making something you've already sold!
Etsy is good - do a really amazing sample of each of your favourite items, and get really good pictures taken of it. There was a UK site called Folksy, but not sure if it's still active?

StressedSteph

That's a good idea Kermie, I have so many ideas of things to make and its hard to commit to just one or two things as to do that I would have to be sure they would actually sell well.

Maybe I will just make up one of everything and see how it goes xx

Kayalana99

I run a kind of craft / gift business, more turned into a gift business as time went on as I found what worked and stuck with it (and no I won't 'giveaway' what I sell, I have enough competition!)

Your best bet is to try and find something that is useful* rather then things like sock monkeys that just get given as gifts and then either put on a shelf etc... I can't see them being big sellers anyway.

A couple of ideas glitter glasses sell quite well, but seems their is a lot of competition, I brought a cameo machine and stuck names on in Vinyl but my main business got so busy I never put much effort into it.

Making one up of everything is a good way to start, but your best bet to get your foot in the door is choosing one thing and sticking with it and if it doesn't work out go to something else.

If you do 100 craft things, one being glitter glasses..there will always be someone better then you because there are people JUST doing glitter glasses and how do you expect to be better then them when you are doing 100 other items? Focus on one thing, get your foot in and then expand where needed. My main business has hardly anything to do with what I started out on, and I cut that product out altogether last year but if you just get started the rest will follow with time.

Do some research, ask on selling pages for a gift for a family member etc and see what people show you, see what others are selling...you will have a business plan in no time.

Small craft businesses are well suited for facebook pages to.

If you can knit, photographers props (i.e new born outfits) make a pretty penny!!

soolin

Can I please just remind users that referral links are not allowed on the main forum. Please use the referral board and read the rules there before posting.

decca2013

Why not give it a go and see how it goes for a year? I sell on Etsy. I really enjoy making my crafts and it's great when people post a good review or tell me they really enjoyed my product.

But I'm thinking of giving it up for the following reasons:

1. I don't make much money. After material costs, packaging costs, postage costs, Etsy and PayPal fees it doesn't leave me with a high hourly wage for my efforts!
2. The time it takes on top of my full time job. It's not just the crafting time, it's also photographing the items, listing them, responding to buyer queries, going to the post office and keeping accounts. If you're going on holiday you have to remember to put your Etsy shop on holiday mode - I once forgot which was a bit awkward when someone placed an order and I had to tell them I couldn't post it for a week.
3. Having to be registered for self assessment tax. It's such a pain to do a yearly return when you're not even making much money from it! It's not too much hassle but does complicate things, eg my yearly student loan statement now has 2 lines on it from my main job and my crafting.

My basic advice is it would only be worth doing as a sideline if you're gonna be earning a decent amount from it. Working out what that amount is to you and how much you'd have to sell to make that, then consider whether the time investment would be worth it. Hope that helps!

KxMx

My cousin's etsy business is doing brilliantly, but then she is doing it near full time (alongside a couple of other ventures, she gets Tax Credits as self employed) and has an enormous amount of skill and talent. I do not believe she can be labelled as an amateur.

She makes things to order as has been suggested, does a fair amount of experimenting, and adds in seasonal items for Halloween and Christmas etc.

Last year her fabric robin tree decorations flew out of the door by themselves (she had to rope in her Mum to help she had that many orders), and she had quite a few questions from people who thought they couldn't possibly be hand made!

She's had orders from USA, Japan and Africa and is now getting a lot of repeat custom.

I think it's hard making a living when you are an amateur, and working another job ft. I think my Cousin is the exception rather than the rule.