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?

garlic and manhatten thank you. I personally don't like twee very much either and I resisted twee pictures, but I have done several just to prove I can because some people do like them, but I much prefer fantastic realism.

I agree that craft business can be difficult to make work if you don't have much understanding of business.

If you can discover a market for something first and then make those items, then it will probably work better. Look at what is selling on Etsy first. Some stores have waiting lists, so if you made similar items to these stores there is already a ready made market for you, ready and waiting to buy.

I used to sell paintings but my current craft is more of an art and commands high prices. I think it's about making something you really love to make, it shows in the quality and people pay good money for quality.

Me to I made bunting ect and just got people saying well I can get it from matlan for x amount

Didn't really appreciate it took me hours to source the fabic , sew and personlise the hunting

Some lady who wanted me to match the bunting perfectly to the curtains in her room form a blurry photo drove me to the edge and I closed my shop also Facebook limit the amount of people that can see your page unless you buy likes

Thanks all!

Ive had a really good think and nose around on Etsy and to be honest, I just don't think I want to. I can sit here coming up with a million excuses, but that's all it really boils down to

If you can discover a market for something first and then make those items,

This is where it all falls down for me. In theory, I know this, but in reality, I don't want to be sitting there day in, day out, making stuff, then it just becomes a chore, it's not a hobby I enjoy anymore and it's just my job

Part of the fun for me, is figuring out how to make something, having the idea and seeing what's in my head come to life. Thinking, 'oh, I reckon a massive clock would look fab on that wall' and then making one. I don't want to make anymore clocks, I've made one, I've figured out how to do it, I'm really pleased with my finished clock, what's next?

I'd make a rubbish businesswoman. I get bored quickly, I have dozens of half finished projects on the go that I'll get round to finishing off or officially abandoning one day, and really, that's no way to run a business.

Stuff that sells well round here is nautical/seaside/driftwood themed stuff, it's just not to my taste and I feel a bit blah about it. I don't want to spend my days applique-ing yet another light house.

I sound like I'm about to disappear up my own arse, but I've had a really good think but for me, I think it would stop being this creative outlet that I need.

I have a couple of friends who make a decent living out of crafting - and their core income isn't selling products they've made, it's selling patterns and, in one case, a range of (crochet) books which provides regular income.

It's good that you have decided you don't want to- being honest with yourself. I found making all the stuff a chore in the end, and making it to the quality needed. I was also trying to make it, build a website, photograph the stuff and try to sell it. I found out that no matter what I did,, it didn't show up on the first few pages of Amazon or Ebay, then I researched why, and realised it would be hard to sell enough to make it appear sooner on the lists.
I'm about to loose my job, so may give it another go. However, this time I will spend a month making a website,and learning about social media advertising, then another month making stuff, and photographing it. Then have another go!

Auntie. My website shows up on the first page usually, or soon after depending on how much info u put in Google. It's to do with the CEO information. Wix talks u through it.

"If you can discover a market for something first and then make those items,

This is where it all falls down for me."

I think this is a really important point. I do make money. Not a lot, but enough so dp never has to give me "personal" money, and I feel I contribute to the family coffers. But not by doing the fiddly cakes I love to make, but by the big orders . I spend my days mumsnetting and baking 200 cupcakes. Or 5 carrot cakes and 5 lemon drizzles. They are simple and practically identical and the same every week.and I make a decent profit on them. But it's as boring as a basic office or shelf stacking job. I'm not complaining because I know I am incredibly lucky to have my regular customers. But it doesn't feel as if I am being creative. When I make a wedding or a birthday cake that feels creative. But profitable? Barely!

I'm about to add cakes to my weekly round. Nothing special, just afternoon tea type cakes...ones that don't rely on sugar and salt, 2 tons of chocolate, aren't rocky road or other concrete slabs of sweet.

I will be hiking them round the tea shops next week... fingers crossed... or freezer full

I had a similar conversation whilst making a birthday cake it took me 7 hours, you can buy s store cake from £8-30, but if you make a cake you buy the ingredients say £5-10, then in the hours it takes you say 5 hours at £7 an hour that's £35 of work you can't do so total is £40-45 for a cake if you were to make it worth it you'd have to price it at more and a lot of people don't value home made stuff at that

My mum made lovely knitted Christmas stockings, but would have to sell them for about £50 each to make a profit if she counted her time. It's a shame.

You can make money on it, but not by selling alone.,

If you have a successful blog, showcasing what you've done, you can sell patterns (sewing/knitting etc) and get advertising revenue.

But it's as boring as a basic office or shelf stacking job

That's pretty much where I am with it. I have a job, it's not the most exciting job in the world, but I start at 9am and finish at 5pm, get paid regularly, it's fairly secure, I don't have to faff about with tax returns, I get paid holiday sick pay and free tea and coffee.

Making stuff I don't really want to make doesn't really seem that much of an improvement

But it doesn't feel as if I am being creative. When I make a wedding or a birthday cake that feels creative. But profitable? Barely!

Totally agree. What I enjoy is the creative side, not particularly the sewing/knitting/painting part of it.

A couple of years ago I was obsessing over photography. I did a few portraits for friends as favours, but it wasn't the actual taking of photographs I enjoyed - I enjoyed figuring out how to shoot fire trails while getting my kids to fart about in the garden with sparklers, or standing on a hill in the middle of the night working out time lapse photos of stars, or how to get that misty effect over water.

The photography/sewing/knitting/whatever part of the process isn't the fun bit for me if that makes sense

Tinkle. If you enjoy creating photographic effects without all the technical stuff with photography (which I've given up on) try Photoshopping, it's amazing.

Tbh, it was the technical stuff I enjoyed about it

Once I'd figured it out, I lost interest.

It's a bit of a habit actually

One problem I see is that if you can have a manufactured product or a hand made product the hand made product has to be better than the manufactured product for the handmade premium to be worth the price. Hand made is not intrinsically better.

Sometimes 'artisan' just seems to mean 'not regularly shaped or well finished'.

It depends on what the product is and what the market might be.

Cushions for a couch can be found anywhere, well made (by ten year olds in Bangladesh), and with all sorts of colours and decorative features. While it may be pleasant to dream up and then make couch cushions, selling them is an uphill slog because your only market is people who are interested in arts/crafts and the arty/crafty look, and might therefore be expected to make their own cushions. Otoh, lots of people have relatives in senior living places who have Alzheimers, and they might be interested in an Alzheimers/dementia/sensory cushion for their relative if it was attractive enough and priced right, or just available locally with no postage and handling charges involved.

I had a 'craft fair' event pop up on Facebook yesterday, reasonably local so I clicked on the link to have a look at it.

They had requests for stalls from Partylite Candles, JuicePlus, someone who puts sweets in hampers, someone who was very vague about what she sold but gave the impression it was cupcakes, and an Usborne books stall. They turned down the request from a burger van but nothing I could see really seemed to be crafts, not to me anyway.

We've decided not to go. I don't want to travel and pay to park, and pay to get in, just to avoid the JuicePlus woman (my SIL also deals JP so I'm skilled at avoiding the sales pitches) and avoid the Partylite lady (friend is an ex candle pusher for PL so I know how to avoid them as well), and pay over the odds for some fudge in a basket.

Once I'd figured it out, I lost interest

This is so me! I enjoy the challenge of learning a new skill and once I have learned it I am a bit "Meh...I can do that!" and I need a new challenge. As you can imagine, I get VERY bored at work and that wouldnt change if I worked for myself because I would still be utilizing skills I already have instead of learning new ones.

Agree with most of the comments here, to actually make money at crafts, that is charging a decent rate for your labour, is next to impossible. Some do it, and they're lucky/well connected/skilled at social media/found a niche etc. Craft fairs are rubbish these days, sadly, and shouldn't even be called that (but would anyone go to a 'tat fair'?)

Ha ha tat fair is such a good description for many of these so called craft fairs these days! (And as for farmers markets where most of the stalls are resellers rather than actual farmers...)

OOh yes, don't get me started on 'farmers' markets ...

I went to a farmers market and I knew one of the stall holders, she is the wife of a local farmer and she said that people come and have a look but then complain about the prices. They want top quality locally sourced hand made food but at Aldi prices. She was thinking about not bothering anymore as the amount she made just wasnt worth it.