Marketing/selling things you make by hand?

[twosweetgirls]

(hope this is the right place to post this )

If you create things–crocheting, knitting, woodworking, jewelry, pottery, artisan or crafty things–do you sell them? Does it make any kind of a side income for your family? Where do you exhibit them? Do you sell enough to recoup any investment or see any profit?

The reason I’m asking: I’m thinking about creating and selling artisan Rosaries, which I’ve only made by commission up to now. I absolutely love creating them, playing around with different beads of all manner of material, finding the form and balance in their creation. Knowing that a finished Rosary might be the one thing that brings a person closer to Jesus is wonderfully enticing. Plus, it’s a very real expression of my Catholic faith, of course.

But, how can I find out if this area would be a good market for such a thing? My town is very small, only 12,000 people, and very rural. I really feel like I should do this, but am certainly not going to go on a “feeling” and spend a ton of money on the outlay of materials, only to have these beautiful Rosaries that no one will buy. Beautiful as they’d be, if they went unsold it would be a bad stewardship of our finances, and I just can’t do that.

So, if you create something and sell it, may I ask
*what you make?
*the cost of your materials and what your upcharge is?
*the markets or venues you sell in?
*what you do with unsold things?
*if it’s all worth it?

Please note, I’m not using this forum to sell or solicit anything! I just want to discover what your experiences are. . . any help you can give would be greatly appreciated.

 

[aloejamb]

I can barely draw a stick figure but I have a friend that makes jewelry. I think the site she uses is called etsy.com
Try that and good luck.

 

[kage_ar]

Have you checked Etsy?

Your local flea market or farmer’s market - set up a booth? Parish Fair?

 

[Snerticus]

I used to make rosaries myself. I loved making them with semi-precious stones like carnelian and jasper and amethyst and turquoise. I loved making them, it was relaxing and I sold some and gave others away. I didn’t make much money on them though, and I felt bad asking for money for them. So I stopped selling them and then eventually stopped making them altogether. Two of my favorite rosaries that I use all the time are ones that I made of carnelian and moss jasper. I still have the supplies and would love to get back into it, but time and health are two major obstacles for me now.

God Bless,
Snert

 

[BrokenFortress]

I do make and sell my creations online, in fact, that’s my sole job

I have my own website, but I also sell through www.etsy.com

I sell pet goods so it’s different than rosaries, but I do know that there are others selling rosaries on Etsy as I’ve looked through them.

If you’d like to look into Etsy and need some help/advice feel free to send me a message, as I’ve done pretty well on there and have a good idea of the ropes around there. Also, Etsy provides a community of artisans. I actually belong to a Christian group on there and it’s great to get together and talk about our faith.

As far as other places to sell, you can always keep an eye out for church craft shows. I’ve sold at craft shows too, but tend to do better online. But I think with selling rosaries, you’d do well at a church craft show.

On to your questions…

*what you make?
Pet items like dog and cat collars, cat and dog toys, bird toys, and houses and toys for small pets like chinchillas, rats, hedgehogs, ferrets etc

*the cost of your materials and what your upcharge is?
Cost is pretty high, but I’ve been doing this for over 2 years, so I have quite a bit of inventory. Upcharge depends on the item, some things I make more off of than others. I try to keep my prices competitive so I try to charge close to the same as others sell. Generally it should be enough to cover your time and materials.

*the markets or venues you sell in?
Craft shows around Christmas time, my personal website (where most of my income comes from) and Etsy.com

*what you do with unsold things?
Sometimes I take them apart and reuse parts of them. But most of the time I make things as ordered (that’s how my website is) so I don’t have tons of left overs.

*if it’s all worth it?
For me it is, I kind of have a niche market. If there’s already tons of people making the same thing, then it’s going to be harder to stand out and make a profit. But I really think if you enjoy it you should do it

 

[just_me_1]

yeah that’s my big plan too. (not the rosaries, but the crafting from home for income… got a few specializes jewelery items I’m messing with, and planning to go to stores that are for that to wholesale them or maybe comission them. like quilt-related jewelery at a quilt store, things of that nature. I have sold craft items on ebay years ago but it’s a tough place to sell… so much competition has really driven the prices down on items with a lower demand anyways… I was also considering souvenir type items. there are quite a few montana-gift stores (for out of state visitors I guess) within a couple hundred miles… maybe try some religious stores/book stores, hospital gift shops, Catholic stores (never actually seen one, but I’m told they are out there!)… I have friends who use etsy too. I’ve browsed it and I’m not sold on it yet. I may try later, but I’m sticking to local shops for now. be sure to put a tag on your rosaries with a URL to your website, to get return customers without losing money to the store! I have also heard craft shows are a tough one… you basically live on the road. being a small item, I bet you could get someone who goes to shows to bring a small display along and sell them for a comission for you. that would be ideal. good luck and let me know how it works out, like I said, I’m trying the same deal… now that I have the kiddo and I’m working for beans after I pay for daycare and gas…

 

[BrokenFortress]

Craft shows aren’t hard, you just pick the ones that are close to your house. I’ve done 4 so far and all have been within an hour of my house. You can do the on the road type, but I don’t have the time for that. So doing ones that are close to home allow you to just do them for a weekend here or there.
Of course some have a higher booth fee than others. And it’s a large upfront cost if you want to make your booth look good ie. tables, covers for the tables (I use sheets) stands for your items etc.
But, they’ve been worth it for me as I can make anywhere from 2x to 4x the booth fee. Of course how well you do depends on the show and the market for your item.
Jewelry is super saturated right now since there’s tons of people doing it, it’s gotten popular lately. So you may have a harder time selling at a show with tons of other jewelry sellers. But I really think if you could get into some church craft shows you’d do well. Or I think you’d also do well on sales around major things like First Communion, Baptisms, Easter Vigil etc.