What are the best things to make and sell? Ie, things that make the best profit!

[fastasleep]

I'm skint my only qualification is craftyness and the sexline hasn't got back to me yet (don't go there though lol)

what can I make and sell and get a profit with? And where can I sell it to get the best profit?!

Based on recent threads, and your special interests, I'd say those fake babies are a good bet ...

craftiness is costing me a fortune.

perhaps if you are so crafty, it would be an idea to teach????
or do childrens crafty parties?
or adult crafty coffee mornings? i know id come to one of those.

REally you think I should do fake babies, could I live with myself? I'm not sure if I'd rather work the sexlines!

Crafty coffee mornings...hmm..my monsters would have to be there!

card parties.

craft fairs

to see your cards

sell i mean. or sell them on ebay- have a look at the type of thing that sells

I tried to sell necklaces on ebay, but the amount of beads and the price of the necklaces versus the price of beads just doesn't add up

If you're good with colour, and interested in knitting, I think there's some money to be made in either hand-dyed colourways, or selling kits to knit. (No money in actually knitting though, mind you.)

Maybe there are card-related things that you can sell, too? Not cards themselves, but bits to make cards, iyswim. I was boggled by the number of card-making magazines for sale, the other day.

ive just looked on ebay, and absolutely NO ONE seems to be biddding on handmade cards.
what a wasste.

Knitting is my one let-down... hate it!!

I could make card kits? Oh I don't know...argh!

There appear to be bazillions of people making their own cards, so I don't think many people would be tempted to buy them, iyswim.

Of course, if you sell cards through a shop, that's a different thing.

I just wonder if there are lots of people out there who would buy card-making kits of some sort ... I don't know enough about card-making to know what you'd want in one, though.

craft bits and pieces seem to sell on ebay for more than you pay for them! only a few pounds but still, i've sold HOTP paper books for 3 over the cost new, i got it in a set and didn't want it. If you look most american sites will ship to the uk but there prices are a lot cheaper so you could import and sell on. Worth looking at what prices things sell for.

Do you have a sissix - could you make your own die-cuts to sell

I have had a stall at a few fairs and fundays now and handmade cards never seem to sell that well. Plenty people want to make them so perhaps there is more of a maket in selling kits.

Other than that my suggestion would be to do sale or return in posher giftshops, tearooms and garden centres that don't already have handmade cards. If you can get retailers to buy a set of stock without the sale or return clause even better. If they have parted cash for stock they are more likely to make an effort to sell it rather than the sale or return stuff as they won't make a loss.

I have no idea about this but a friend made her own cards with paper she also made/dyed herself, and she put little bits from her garden, mainly decorative grasses, in it, sewed tiny beads on - gorgeous. What about making paper like that - it was v rough but lovely, took her no time to make, really, and I've never seen it in the shops. She made the paper in a size that was foldable into a card so no cutting (spoils the effect).

If I had the time I'd get into dyeing yarns, as NQC suggested - lots to learn but lovely colours and textures. I knew someone once who used to buy fleeces, card the wool, spin it, and dye it (with her own urine, amongst other things) and then sell it on.

The thing you do have to remember is your time, when calculating the costs for producing craft items most people don't factor in how long it takes to produce the items. Thats OK when its a hobby but if you are trying to earn money your time can be all to easily eaten away at.

People won't always pay more for an item just because it took longer to make. Most are quite oblivious to how much time goes into craft items.

When I started with the sweet stall I made my own cellophane cones and weighed out all the sweets and hand tied the cones with curly ribbons, I learned that even though I was up to 2am for days before a sale people will pay about the same for a square cellophane bag foled over and taped down, in fact I went on to sell pick and mix which is even less work for the same price and they tend to buy more. Now I sell prepacked fudge and tablet as there was too much wastege with the pick and mix.

I suppose it is down to how much time you want to spend doing this and for what returns, good luck whatever you do .