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If you are an artist, there is no better time to sell your crafts and artwork. Unique artwork is in demand as people rebel against department store items and seek to find something unique. Not only do you get to do what you love, but you can make money doing it. Best of all, creating crafts or artwork offers you a flexible schedule to work around the needs of your family, if necessary.
However, before you jump into creating crafts or artwork to sell, there is some research you should do first.
1. Find out what is hot. What is selling good right now? That is one of the most important questions you can answer. One crafter on Etsy went through a Dave Ramsey Financial Peace University class and was inspired to create her own unique cash envelope system. As more and more friends complimented her on it, she decided to create some more and put them up for sale on Etsy. Now, she and her husband both work full-time on their Etsy business. Finding what is hot and will sell well is essential.
2. Discover where you want to sell. Certainly, online craft and artwork sales offer you greater flexibility. You could use a site like Etsy to sell your work online. There are a few drawbacks to Etsy, though. First, you must be able to safely ship all of your items. Second, Etsy is extremely competitive, so you have to make sure your product is unique and fills a niche, which is another reason why you want to make sure you are creating something that is hot.
In addition to Etsy, you can try other online sales sites like artfire.com, madeitmyself.com, bonanza.com and shophandmade.com.
Another good venue for selling your crafts and artwork is art fairs that are held throughout the country. Some art fairs are open to any crafter or artist, while others require that you “audition” and are chosen by judges. When choosing which art fairs to attend, it is important to consider how many people attend a particular art fair, how much a table is, and how much your transportation costs to and from the event will be. According to Entrepreneur, making $2,000 in one craft fair weekend is considered to be a good profit. If you sell at art fairs, you don’t need to worry about shipping, and you can also develop a mailing list to stay in contact with potential customers.
3. Determine how you want to price your items. If you sell smaller items with lower prices, you will need to sell a large volume to make a decent profit. If you sell higher priced items, you may not sell as many as you need to. One strategy is to sell items that span multiple price ranges so your products (and prices) are attractive to a wide range of buyers.
Crafting or creating art for a living can be rewarding and lucrative if you choose the right thing to sell as well as the right venue in which to sell it.
Kyle Taylor blogs about wacky and weird ways to make money at ThePennyHoarder.com. Learn more about crafting and 100’s of others ways he has made extra money by subscribing to the weekly newsletter.
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I am very crafty and enjoy selling at craft fairs. I have found though that you definitely need to have friends or family as back-ups and have shifts set up because you can’t even leave your booth to potty that some unscrupulous person may see an opportunity to steal from you! Consider how many days and hours per day the craft fair is. I also love to sell at a local event that has a craft fair annually. It is a Children’s Christmas Store, while kids shop, parents wander around craft fair (nothing better than a captive parent, waiting). The Carousel that sponsers it runs the craft fair and then keeps 20% of your profits. I then can deduct that on taxes as a charitable donation. Very easy, just price, drop off and pick up your items! Helping others while helping yourself!
I’ve always wanted to sell my handmade bags, but I’m just not that good at marketing myself. Etsy is definitely extremely competitive and I’m kind of shy about venturing out to craft shows. I’ve thought about going directly to local boutiques and other shops and seeing if they would carry my items. Other than that, I’m not sure going into business is really my thing.
This is my dream to make artisal soap and hyjpertuffa pots and sell them at craft fairs, flea markets and such.