NEWS

Ways to Sell Your Crafts Online and Offline

Selling crafts can be a simple task. It's important to be adaptable to satisfy your customers. Here's a list of ways to sell your crafts, both online and offline.

Offline:

• Sell your crafts at consignment shops. This is a great way to start selling your crafts. Since the store owners aren't risking their own money, you'll almost always have a chance to sell what you've made. However, consignment shop fees can be expensive. Most shops charge a third of what you make, plus a monthly fee.

• Sell through museum shops. People working in museum shops are usually volunteers, making them easy to approach. They'll help you set a price point to sell your products. However, business in museum shops is usually slow, meaning you may not make much money while selling there.

• Sell at craft shows near you. Here, you can earn a lot of money in just a week's time. You're in charge of your products, allowing you to set prices and display them. Good craft shows can cost hundreds of dollars to enter into, though.

• Sell at trade shows. You can earn a year's worth of income in just a couple of days at places like this. However, like craft shows, trade shows can be costly to enter into.

• Sell from your own home. Even after advertising costs, you'll quickly make your money back. However, you may have less time with your family as you may need to be available for at least 12 hours a day.

Online:

• Sell your products through eBay. By selling through eBay, you'll know within a week if your merchandise sells or not. However, people buying from this site are often looking for bargains, so you may not always get the price you want for your products.

• Sell your products using Etsy. Start-up costs are low, and online support is appealing to many people. However, to be successful on Etsy, your product needs to be unique. There's a lot of competition on this site, so you may not always be able to sell your merchandise.

• Sell through Amazon. Many handmade categories on Amazon do well and sell for a reasonable price. However, fees to sell through Amazon are higher than Etsy's prices.

When selling your products, make sure you're not selling yourself short, but that prices are reasonable enough for people to want to buy your products.