Turn Your Crafts into Cash

For many of us, crafting is a way to relieve stress, and it gives us a fun and rewarding hobby to look forward to.  Have you ever considered the fact that it could be a pretty lucrative activity too?  Even if you have, it can be intimidating at first.

Whether you want to earn a little extra money to pay for vacations, simply recover the costs of your crafting materials, or launch a full-fledged business, you can turn your crafts into cash.  Here’s how:

Practice your Craft

Although it’s totally possible to make money selling your knitting, crocheting, pottery, or other creations, there is a lot of competition out there. That means your crafts need to be of good quality. You don’t need to be a master in your chosen art, but you should practice until you can reliably make great crafts that other people will desire to own.

Build Up Your Stock

Before you start listing your crafts for sale, it’s a good idea to build up a stock of products. That way, you won’t end up disappointing customers with long waiting times or by running out of the items they most want. Buyers of handmade crafts are more patient when it comes to delivery times, but you will get better initial feedback if you can fulfill their orders fast. For these reasons, selling one of a kind items can be difficult, and earnings can be lower when you only make custom or one of a kind products.

Photo by Kaboompics.com from Pexels

Choose the Right Online Store for You

Etsy is probably the best known online market for crafters, but it is not the only one. So, before you start selling, it would make sense to research them all and see where you fit best. You should research which markets are likely to attract your audience, and you should also look at market saturation, fees for listing your items, overall traffic, and how easy it would be to market your stuff on any given store. You may even want to think about setting up your own website to sell your goods. All you’ll need is a website or blog and a simple payment gateway to get started.  You may find it more difficult to market your goods on your own, so think it through carefully first.

Sell Locally

Alternatively, if there are any local craft stores or gift shops, have a word with the business owners to see if they would like to stock your crafts. Negotiate some terms that will be of benefit to the shop owners, and you’ll probably find they’ll take you up on your offer. This will give you the the satisfaction of seeing your crafts on display in your community.  Also, during the holidays, you could set up in a local office building during a lunch hour, or consider setting up a display in a place that men frequent often (barber shops, sports bars, etc.)  This makes gift buying simple and convenient for those who aren’t frequent shoppers.

Learn SEO

Learning basic SEO and marketing skills is a must if you want to make more than just pocket money. It will enable you to ensure your crafts are seen by more people, and that people are more likely to buy your stuff. Not only that but in the internet age, SEO and digital marketing skills are very useful skills to have under your belt in general.

Focus on Quality

Finally, when it comes to selling your crafts, it’s always better to focus on quality over quantity.  So, don’t overstretch yourself, keep it enjoyable, and sell when you can.

You really can turn your crafts into cash!