Making money selling crafts

fiddlesticks

Aplogies if this has been discussed before or is in the wrong place. I did a search and didn't find anything.

I am a crafter. I knitt, I sew. I crochet and I make polymer clay items- mostly beads but NOT finished jewelrey.
I would like to sell some of these. I know about Etsy, Folksy etc but I'm not sure where to start as all the online help is aimed at serious crafters

I do not want to 'set up a business' or go to craft fairs- not a people person and I'm not intrested in marketing and promotion- marketing is about selling what people want to buy and thats not my thing. I just want to stop things taking up valuable house room once I've finished them and reduce the costs of my enjoyable hobbies- unlikely to break even, as some hobbies are expensive.
For me making things is about the creative process not about the end product so making things to order or making to fufill a market need would be diffcult. But the type of things I make are not really gumtree or ebay types.

Other than the hoarding things until I drown in beads and yarn, has anyone sold handmade stuff on any of the sites and can offer advice?

Browntoa

try wordpress blogging about your hobby with pictures of the items you wish to sell , you can paypal invoice them direct


The art of wordpress is in correct choice of "categories" Featured images and Tags so your blog gets picked up by people on the reader .


Wordpress is free , its easy to see if your blog is getting hits from the stats


see reader view here


https://wordpress.com/read/search?q=crafts


others may come up with other ways to blog

Flyonthewall

fiddlesticks wrote: »

I do not want to 'set up a business' or go to craft fairs- not a people person and I'm not intrested in marketing and promotion- marketing is about selling what people want to buy and thats not my thing. I just want to stop things taking up valuable house room once I've finished them and reduce the costs of my enjoyable hobbies- unlikely to break even, as some hobbies are expensive.

You're making them with the intention of them being sold so that makes it a business and taxable. Whether you lose money, break even or gain you should be declaring it.

Whether you bother marketing or promoting them is up to you, you could just put them up on Etsy, for example, and do nothing more and hope they sell.

You can call it a hobby, do as little or much as you want, but that doesn't change the fact that it is still a business.

Making stuff for yourself to keep and later having to sell to gain space is different, they'd be personal items being sold as used. But as soon as you start making items, knowing they'll be sold it becomes a business.

For me making things is about the creative process not about the end product so making things to order or making to fufill a market need would be diffcult. But the type of things I make are not really gumtree or ebay types.

Other than the hoarding things until I drown in beads and yarn, has anyone sold handmade stuff on any of the sites and can offer advice?

As below, Wordpress is an option. However, you would need to market that else your site will never be found.

Although Paypal is trusted for payment, most people wouldn't ever trust buying off a free blog site. It suggests scam (because scammers don't want to pay out).

Ebay and Gumtree aren't really meant for homemade items. Facebook is a good option though.

fiddlesticks

well given I never make stuff to sell thats not a problem but i've been S/E before so it wouldn't be a problem if I crossed that line.

Might just go for 'bung em on Folksy and see'. I'm not on Facebook- find it far too depressing.

mickeymouse303

I'd recommend setting up your own blog and keeping people updated with what you make. Also, if you want to sell the patterns you could contact some online retailers (e.g. https://www.laughinghens.com).

Flyonthewall

fiddlesticks wrote: »

well given I never make stuff to sell thats not a problem but i've been S/E before so it wouldn't be a problem if I crossed that line.

Might just go for 'bung em on Folksy and see'. I'm not on Facebook- find it far too depressing.

fiddlesticks wrote: »

I just want to stop things taking up valuable house room once I've finished them and reduce the costs of my enjoyable hobbies- unlikely to break even, as some hobbies are expensive.

If once you've finished them they're taking up room so you sell them you've made the item to sell.

Even if you make 1 item and put it somewhere with the idea that you'll sell that after you've created item 2 so you'll have space for that you've created item 1 with the intention to sell and that makes it a business.

Everything you've already made you've kept so that makes it a personal item. Everything from now on (with some possible exceptions) is being created with the intention to later sell it, which is a business.

From what you've said here I'd say HMRC would consider it a business and I think you'd have a very hard time convincing them you didn't make an item to sell when you've kept it such a short time and/or keep making new items and selling previously made ones in order to continue making new ones.

You can always contact HMRC to be sure.

Also, if you do become a business you should really have insurance so worth remembering that.

ERICS_MUM

Are there any shops in your area that would let you put your items on display and they receive a 'commission' if any are sold. Around here some garden centres, greetings card shops and florists do this with hand made cards, cushions, baby clothes etc.

It's a tough world to break into but very good luck to you.

fiddlesticks

Given that I'd be making well under 50GBP per month and with a profit of less than 5. I'm not sure HMRC would be that interested. I'm not making to sell anyway. I'm making cause I feel like it, I'm only selling what I have.

I had a look at Etsy and Folksy and neither are for me so I've lsited my 1st thing on Ebay, which may prove a bad idea since the fees are more than I want for the item anyway but c'est la vie.

DomRavioli

fiddlesticks wrote: »

Given that I'd be making well under 50GBP per month and with a profit of less than 5. I'm not sure HMRC would be that interested. I'm not making to sell anyway. I'm making cause I feel like it, I'm only selling what I have.

I had a look at Etsy and Folksy and neither are for me so I've lsited my 1st thing on Ebay, which may prove a bad idea since the fees are more than I want for the item anyway but c'est la vie.

HMRC would be very interested. There is no longer a grace period to set up, you need to set up now, the fines are ridiculous.

You seem very blase about the whole situation, and regardless of when you made it, if you are selling it it makes it a business. You need to follow the advice given otherwise face the consequences which can be very nasty indeed.

Saver-upper

Hi fiddlesticks.
I know you are not interested in being on facebook because it is too depressing,and for different reasons (including the fact that I am not interested!),I am not either.If anybody asks,I say I am not on Facebook.
Having said that,I am on Facebook,purely so I can sell items (not crafts,but clothes kids have grown out of,household items,etc).In the search bar,type in things like "crafts for sale","knitting for sale","crochet",and up will come local groups that you can join and start selling in.No fees,the person usually comes to you to collect,no postage....

Flyonthewall

fiddlesticks wrote: »

Given that I'd be making well under 50GBP per month and with a profit of less than 5. I'm not sure HMRC would be that interested. I'm not making to sell anyway. I'm making cause I feel like it, I'm only selling what I have.

I had a look at Etsy and Folksy and neither are for me so I've lsited my 1st thing on Ebay, which may prove a bad idea since the fees are more than I want for the item anyway but c'est la vie.

Course they would, you'd be breaking the law by not declaring it!

Making it because you feel like it doesn't make it any less of a business. Just because you want to make the items and enjoy it doesn't mean it's not a business, it just means you're running a business you enjoy.

Not sure how you'd ever sell something you don't have!?

How are sites specifically for selling crafts not for you, someone who is selling crafts?

The fees can never be more than the item, the fees are a percentage of the total (item price+postage). Unless you mean the price you want after all costs? In which case if you're happy with the amount you're getting it doesn't really matter if the fees are higher.

If you can't get the price you want then don't sell it on there.