to think it's not really possible to make a decent living from handmade/crafty-type businesses?

[Tinklewinkle]

I really enjoy making stuff - knitting, sewing, anything that takes my fancy really.

I've made things for my home, my kids,, as gifts and as favours if people ask me.

I recently made an appliqué cushion for a friend to give as a gift, and off the back of it, I've been asked if I'd like some stalls at some of our local festival/fayre events over the summer.

I'm really proud of myself to be asked actually as the standards at these places are quite high, so as a confidence boost/feather in my cap I'm really flattered, but I'm just not convinced that once I've accounted for the cost of materials and my time, people are willing to pay the true cost of handmade products.

For example, the appliqué cushion - a couple of hours, at the minimum wage, plus a few quid for fabric, plus a cushion pad, we're looking at £20-25.

I recently made a clock and a mirror for my living room, people who have seen them have been really complimentary about them and suggested selling them, but again, by the time I've accounted for materials and time are people really willing to pay £££ for it - I had an old pallet, plus an old mirror and paint already so cost wise it was less than a tenner for a clock movement on eBay, but they took a few hours to made, and I won't always have access to free wood, an old mirror, etc. There are similar on websites like Etsy for £90/100 ish, but it just seems way too much to me - which is why I made them myself in the first place

So, AIBU to think, yes, it's a lovely dream, but when push comes to shove you can't make a proper living at it?

Crafty/stationery/planner subscription boxes with brand made items seem to do well. Especially if you limit numbers and play a canny social media game.

*hand made items

Completely agree with your sentiments - I love crochet and quilting and people love my stuff and say I should sell them. I then proceed to bore them about the amount of man hours involved and would they be prepared to pay labour plus material costs. This usually shuts them up and that's without even attempting to make a 'profit' which would justify leaving a real job, or enable 'holiday', 'sick', electricity and wear and tear on my machines/tools.
And just because something is on etsy doesn't mean that the person is selling in enough quantity or at a level of profit to be sustainable. The purse example given earlier is unlikely to have made the seller any money - she may have just about covered her material costs from the description.
That said - there will always be people doing it because their goal isn't necessarily a profitable business hence why this industry exists. But I can see how its easy for some people to get swept along by it and use it to fill up their time and think that they are a bona fide business. (And to be honest I prefer this to the MLM scams that prey on mums looking to generate some income)

Completely agree about folk not considering the time involved in making things

A great deal of craft-type stuff is imported in bulk from China, and UK home workers struggle to compete price-wise. Hence the comment "Ooooo, I can get something just like that in the pound shop"

Do sign up to etsy, I have found it the only place to get a decent price for my little things.

I make miniature knitted toys (on 2.25 to 1mm needles), most sell to America, around Christmas I made $600 in about six weeks, but since February about $50. I have to discount my time, as pp said it's "time spent on my hobby". I do a lot of custom orders, so don't need to hold stock.

Personally I'd avoid craft fairs. I used to do them with my mum, it was so demoralising. Everyone wants something for nothing. I think the only exception is possibly touristy London, or yummy mummy areas where there is money for good quality ooak things.

If you aim it at the right market ie and find people who want and love handmade and understand the value of it then I cannot see why not. I think thats the biggest issue.

"the fact that you've seen similar items on Etsy for £100 implies someone must be buying them for that money" Don't assume that because you have seen it on Etsy at that price or on somewhere like Ebay that that's how much they are selling for sometimes sellers over inflate prices, then have a massive price crash to make watchers think they are getting a better deal. Just because it's on there does not mean its worth that much it could of been on there months on end in the meantime the seller is out of pocket until it's sold, that's what the seller thinks it's worth. Unless it's actually sold and they have sold some at that price then that would be a better indication of what it's worth ie what a buyer is willing to pay.

Same sort of problems one of my family members have her cake business started out as a hobby now they are to the highest standards. She works day and often into the night especially wedding cakes (as someone else said lot of money in weddings) as she likes to do them as fresh as possible. Same issue! They do see effort and the amazing talent that goes into her cakes but they dont think about how much time it's taken and the process she has been through to get that end product.
I think people forget that she hasn't got access to ingredients in such bulk as manufactures do and it's the same with craft and fabric and initial layout. She has the odd issue with non collection or cancellation a few times cancelled weddings or date changes once the cake is made which is harder to deal with than crafts which you can resell unless it's a special order or custom to which I would do the same principle and ask for a non returnable deposit to secure so your not totally out of pocket.

Please don't write off your time as it is only a hobby

That means you undercut those for who it is a full time job, further devaluing most crafts in the eyes of the buying public. It is a nasty enough vicious circle as it is!

I make part of my living crafting... cheapy £2.50 a pop stuff up to a couple of hundred pounds for an art piece - all in fabric/mixed media.

People squeak atthe couple of qid prices, not the hundreds of pounds prices. I have never understood why "Well, I could buy one in The Range/Dunelm/Tesco for less" is a sentence anyone thinks is worth uttering!

[climbs off hobby horse, goes back to hand stitching!]

I have made toys for fund-raisers in the past, only to see them being sold for less than the cost of my materials, so won't do that again.

I am delighted to knit or crochet items for people after they admire something I have made for my dcs but always insist they supply their own yarn - that gets rid of most of them!

The only person I knew profiting from hand made items was effectively throwing stuff together from junk it's amazing what idiots will buy on facebook and it wasn't much to be proud of.

How much does etsy charge you to sell on there?

YANBU.

For some reason, people refuse to even consider paying the equivalent of minimum wage for the time involved in creating something, even when a lot of skill is involved.

And crafters don't help themselves. £10 baby jumpers being sold at craft fairs are not selling at a price that in any way reflects the time taken to create it, even by a fast knitter.

Something else that doesn't help is the sheer amount of stuff on sale that has been made for pennies in developing countries. Few people will pay even £60 for a lovingly whittled elephant when they can find one for £12, elsewhere.

YABU, because it depends what it is. I know people who make a decent living from their crafty stuff. People who run classes in what they enjoy doing, for example, can make a lot of money if done well. Some stuff can have low costs and high mark up.

It's certainly not a blanket impossibility anyway.

It's about 14p per item to list on Etsy and a small percentage on the sale, judgeaway. You can build that into your price.

The problem you have is finding the one that will pay the £50 for an item out of the hundreds that will turn up their noses and say they can get it cheaper elsewhere, and not care about the quality.

I think another factor (according to a friend who has a craft type business) is that here are now so, so many places to buy the bits you need to make things yourself, and thousands of Youtube tutorials, that many people have a go themselves to avoid paying for all of those dedicated hours you put in.

That's why there's the wonderful Pinterest 'nailed it' section, but many people with patience, a bit of skill, the right equipment and a decent tutorial can do a pretty good job of many crafts.

I do realise this doesn't apply to all crafts by any means, but I do think it's another factor. I'd rather have a go myself than pays loads, if I'm brutally honest.

YANBU

My friend knits some amazing things but they can take many tens of hours and few people are prepared to pay an amount that would make it a worthwhile endeavour for her.

Agree I crochet lots blankets as gifts but family sometimes not aware they think wool is cheap! Even cheap acrylic yarn is about £30 for double blanket then about 50h do mim wage is now £7.50 ......£375 labour total cost £410!

If I was a plumber or electrisn or decorator and worked for you for that long you think it was bargin. People don't count it as work as still v much woman's /craft work so little value. Even though you may have and keep the blanket for years so had "value".

I make decoration type things for my own pleasure, mostly for our own use but I give some as gifts and some have been sold by MN's own Woolly Hugs.

A few people have told me I should sell them, but to be honest I'm not convinced it would be worth it. I make everything by hand and it takes time, which I doubt people would want to pay for.

I made a set of bunting at Christmas, for my own use. I'd seen a similar style in a magazine selling for £75.00 and thought I could make my own for less. It cost me about £20 for the materials and I don't know how many hours of my time.

The bunting I saw was just felt shapes on large felt triangles, five in all, I decided to embellish mine with buttons and bells as well, and had different patterns and shapes that meant something to us as well as being Christmasy, and made seven large triangles.

By the time I'd finished making it, £75.00 was looking really reasonable for the one in the magazine, and to sell mine to reflect the time I'd spent on it, plus the extra materials, at a guess I think I'd have been looking for £100 at least.

And I doubt any of the people advising me to sell it or dropping hints about making them one as well from my left overs would have paid that.

I fell into selling 'crafts', but I am slowly moving over to design instead. I made a few word arts and framed them as gifts (because we were skint) and those that received them asked for some for friends, and so on, and I ended up with a facebook page etc. Just set up accounts on Etsy and Folksy, and listing on ebay - its all free to set up so why not? I am doing quite well selling just designs on Fiverr, working with a publisher in the states at the moment who's buying word arts for $30 a time. They are intricate designs (engines made from words!) but I do them watching tv, or with the dc running around and send them by email so no costs at all. Much easier than framing and having to actually talk to people :D

I used to make a living with a small craft business however it was only a meagre one and I could have earned much more had I stayed in my previous (crappy) job. I know a few crafters who have made it pay but all have worked very long hours for their small ish salary. All, including myself had a partner with a decent, reliable income or were doing it in addition to working in some other way. I only know of one who became really quite successful and could comfortably support herself an her dd with her business.

I found craft fairs useful when I started out as they are a cheap way to test products and profitable in the 8 weeks running up to Christmas. Craft fairs changed in the 6 years I did them. When I started I found that to get a stall you had to have a quality, handmade product designed and made by you. There were limits on certain stall types, so only 3 jewellery, 1 soap stall etc at a fair and no charity stalls. By the time I finished they were practically pointless to most craters trying to make a living. Entry requirements were simply having £40 and something to sell. Fairs included imported crap, endless generic soap stalls and too many cupcakes. There were inevitably several charity stalls where we'll meaning olds ladies would sell hand knitted baby jumper for an absolute pittance.

My friend makes jewellery and sells on etsy and makes a lot of money. She now employs two people. Sometimes she has upwards of 200 orders a day.
She is the exception rather than the rule though.

I don't think there are the profit margins in craft to make a genuine living out of something and you will always be limited by your own limitations, i.e. you can only make one thing at once so the business will never substantially grow.

I think the key is in what you produce, if anyone could do it, you just won't get the true value when you sell. If people can look at something and think, oh I can do that myself then they won't buy. Typically they never get around to making it either.
You need a vaguely unique product that's instantly identifiable as one of your creations.
I am a lampwork bead artist and sell exclusively through etsy and Facebook selling groups. It's difficult and skilled enough that few people think they could do it, and my prices are a realistic reflection of costs and time spent on each piece. You have to stay on top of it all the time, keeping in touch with your potential customer base but it is doable.

You think people wouldn't pay £20 for a beautiful handmade cushion? You'd pay £45 for one on John Lewis! I think your problem is not valuing your products high enough and not realising there is a target for them.

It's very hard to make much of a profit really. I sell handmade children's clothing and it's hard to set your prices high enough to make it worth your while, without it being too high that people won't buy anything. It takes AGES to make stuff for not much return. Also the thing that seems to take up the most time is things like editing and posting photos on various social media accounts to market yourself, managing your Etsy shop, replying to messages etc.

There are exceptions heron my friend was an artist and she would spend perhaps 10 hours doing a design but then had prints and cards made and mounted , cards at about £2.50 each and prints at about £40 each so she could make decent money off those 10 hours.

I'm just trying to work out what succulents friend makes that an individual can handmake more than 60 of a day!