AIBU to think there might be room for a charity shop geared to arts and craft offerings from amateurs?

[NeelyOHara1]

The shops would have to operate some quality control, obviously, but it might be a marketplace for people who just do it for a hobby and run out of space at home, 😳?

Where I live, a lot of mental health charities already do similar. Arts and crafts the service users make gets sold on open days, or in local independent cafes or hubs.

I follow a few pages on FB of people who craft but for charity. I have done it myself on occasion.

Isn't this basically what local craft fairs are all about?

We do them a lot around here but tbh most of the stuff on offer is awful, lol.

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I would prefer no quality control at all. Does anyone else remember and sorely miss regretsy?

Oops posted too early .. I think there is one of these in Tavistock

Thanks for replies. @XenoBitch that's good to hear. @mountainsunsets IME craft fairs charge quite a bit for stalls so I thought were more for professional makers?

I think that’s what Etsy.com is for 🤨

All our local ones charge about a fiver @NeelyOHara1 .

I remember Regretsy. We need a MN thread that is similar. There is usually one around christmas time for all the homemade tat that gets sold on FB.

Oh, @mountainsunsets I could probably afford to risk that but when I looked into it locally it seemed more like £40/50 .

I run a charity shop and we get all sorts of homemade crafts donated most of which doesn't sell.

I can't imagine it would sell enough to make the rent on a shop tbh.

I think the market of people who want other people's home made crap is quite small.

"I think the market of people who want other people's home made crap is quite small."

Lol, ok. I did envisage a quality control aspect though. What can people who enjoy crafting do with all their output then, not all of which is necessarily crap?

There is 'handmade' and there is 'homemade'. The latter usually looks like a kid did it.

Handmade stuff can be amazing. It is not mass produced for pennies by kids in China. That is where the difference lies.

If it's any good it will sell in a regular charity shop, as an ex charity shop manager things which sell are knitted/crochet blankets (Oxfam sells them at high prices at festivals), aran/cable knit type sweaters, patchwork quilts, textile wall hangings, but not toilet roll holders, knitted clowns or candy pink/pastel blue nylon "wool" baby clothes. It's also time quite hard to sell craft supplies but if a volunteer is dedicated and you can build up a customer following and maintain good donations then it can do well (I think that is true for quite a fw areas of items - specialise and reputation will follow). I have bought lots of tapestry pictures and cushions myself, for a never actually got round to it upholstery project but I don't pay a lot for them considering the time they have taken to do.

"Handmade stuff can be amazing. It is not mass produced for pennies by kids in China. That is where the difference lies."

Agree and as not everyone does it with an eye to making a profit but more for the enjoyment, that's the output I was envisaging for a charity shop.

I don't think it's a shop thing, but online shop or craft fair. But where the stall or etsy shop or whatever is run by the charity. You might only make a few things a year so not really possible to do it yourself, but a number of people could drop off a few days before.

There is a little shop in town that is purely crafts and things. You have to buy a pitch but they sell all kinds of things, from soap to jewellery to knitted baby clothes to cards to stained glass. All by local people, professional or amateur. A couple of MLMs in there too, unfortunately, but I don't buy those. Very simple décor, just trestle tables with cloths, a bit like a permanent craft fair! And one or two people on duty, selling for everyone. It's a great shop for a small, individual present.

I'd rather see something like a swap shop. You pay £2 (or something) to enter, and bring a weighed bag of clothes etc. You then get to leave with the same weight of swapped clothes.

"but not toilet roll holders, knitted clowns or candy pink/pastel blue nylon "wool" baby clothes."

Thanks @snowspider There are such talented knitters out there who with a gentle nudge in a different direction would be more than capable of creating beautiful things.

Regretsy was ace! Mittens the bear!