Selling Crafts.

Thank you for the ideas, I will have to check in to doing some of those things. I am new to the area as we just recently moved here, but I could definitely do some research and see if they have local craft fairs or bazaars or something. I hadn't even thought of ebay either, great idea!

I looked at etsy a while ago, but was skeptical about it just because I had never heard of it before. Maybe it would be worth looking into again! And you are so right! I definitely don't want my hobby to become a job at the moment! Just something for a little extra cash! Thanks!

Etsy is a great site to sell handmade items. The buyers there are much more willing to pay what things are worth than on the similar style site eBay. eBay is mostly buyers wanting great deals and it can be hard to make back the cost of supplies that go into things there except for those with very fine art or really sought after things. I sold my soaps on eBay for years and it went okay, but the expenses there made it far less profitable than Etsy. Plus I get a lot more sales on Etsy, so I just totally gave up on eBay. I also do local craft shows.

Just out of curiosity, when doing local craft shows, how and where do you receive information about them and selling items there? For instance, would I contact the city recreation center or something like that? I really have no idea where to start! Thanks!!

I find out about most of the shows I do from subscribing to Craftmasters News. The magazine is mostly useless and the expensive shows, but the online part has the cheaper shows (i.e. the shows that cannot afford to pay to be in the magazine, but only listed online). The subscription gets you access to the online part, which has all the ones in the magazine and more. I also learn about some shows from other vendors talking about what shows they have upcoming. A few shows I have actually been given the applications for from promoters handing them out to vendors at craft shows. Really you can just get one year of Craftmasters news and then once you go to a few and talk to other vendors you probably can find enough shows to do and not even need to renew the next year. However, I renewed because I have found that there are always new annual shows starting up that I find out about because of my subscription.

Etsy seems to be the most popular suggestion! Thank you! Hopefully I have as much luck as your friends selling my handmade items on there as well! I may also check craigslist!

Hi! Thanks for the welcome! I have been seriously considering and looking at Etsy, as it seems to be fairly a unanimous suggestion from everyone. It looks great, and I am actually trying to think of a name for my shop since it cannot be changed once I create it. I am stuck there, but I know that a great name will come to me some way or another. Do you find that you have to do a lot of advertising on your own to promote your online shop, or do people tend to just find your shop browsing the website? I'm sure you have to do some advertising, I was just curious if you find that you put a lot of extra time and effort into that as well as making your crafts? Thank you for your suggestions!

Etsy does provide a forum in which you can promote your items/shop on their site. I have found that I made many sales through this type of promoting.
Depending upon what type of craft you create, it is quite possible that your items would get lost in the huge amount of items for sale on Etsy (there is a method to the madness, and one thing I would suggest, if you start a shop, only add a few items each day) and promoting your items in the forum allow you to put your creations in front of some of the buyers.
I also promote using blogs (yes, plural, I have two)and Etsy has provided a link for sellers to share our creations on sites like MySpace, FaceBook, Twitter, Google, StumbleUpon, etc.
I promote my Etsy shop at craft fairs, through my blogs, and on several other fashion/beauty sites, along with social networking sites...and at the same time, I'm able to use many of these same promotional avenues to promote my craft fairs and the shops I consign my items in. Promoting is a necessary evil of this business...and one that I don't enjoy, but those that promote consistently make sales because they are constantly putting their wares in front of they eyes of buyers...buyers that may not have found them on Etsy otherwise.

Thank you for all your suggestions! I have been looking at etsy very seriously, I will have to check out the other two you suggested also!

If I do create a web page/blog for my business, how do I go about advertising it on facebook? I have a personal facebook page, am I allowed to try to advertise on there, or is that against the rules? Would it be an actual facebook account for my business? Just needed some clarification, as I think that is a great idea! Thanks!

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