Making Money

[lisab30]

Is there any easy crafts I can learn and make. I would like to try selling them when I get good enough.
I've sold a couple of things on ebay (not craft related) now I've got the selling bug and always looking out for things to sell for a profit.
what do you sell online?

Well not really. Things that sell are usually made very well by people who've practised for years to perfect their skills. If it were easy, then everyone would be doing it.

I sell fabric and haberdashery which always does well.
If you want to make something, look for trends and catch on to them. I've seen all kinds of things from crocheted willy warmers to knitted bikinis sell well.

Knitted nativity sets sell really well at Xmas (Oct onwards) I can't knit but I did buy one! They sell for quite a lot but don't know how much they would cost to make or how long. Sounds weird but they are really cute.

Cards?

Just had a look, those knitted nativity sets are cute, some better quality than others, high prices too. Like you said robin it would all depend on how long they took to make.

One of the listings for a knitted nativity sets has actually stated it works out to £1 an hour.

I sell crocheted nativity sets. It's a 12 piece set and each one takes me between 6-8 hours to make. By the time I sell it and cover the cost of my materials I barely make 50p an hour. So its really not worth my time to be honest! I've done it in the past though as I've enjoyed making them. Maybe I'm not charging enough though? I don't know.

There's a nice one on Ebay at the moment for £75.

I thought by charging £50 I was charging too much...at least that's what friends and family have said.

Did you sell many?

Not really. I thought they were good but maybe they are just crap

But the point I was trying to make is that people really aren't willing to pay at least NMW for your time with regards to knitting and crocheting. Lots of crafters are making mermaid tail blankets and the wool costs at least £15-£20 but there's many websites that sell machine knitted ones for about £15 so it's hard to compete! I don't think knitting or crocheting for profit is really worth it to be honest.

The only other thing I can think of op is looking for bargins at car boot sales and similar and selling them on?

I had a lot of interest on my fb page regarding my nativity set and many said they wanted to order one, but as soon as I said the price they said "Oh I'll get back to you" and never did. Same with family and friends - asking me at Christmas time to make them one for next year, when I would check with them later on down the line if they still wanted one and confirmed the price "Oh I'm not sure anymore", despite previously saying how brilliant they were etc.

That's the trouble, people want something for nothing, there's usually a similar cheaper version for sale, it's such a shame.
I would pay a premium for something to be genuinely handcrafted if I really wanted it or just would rather not bother. The value of the product is the thought of it actually being handcrafted, some people just don't appreciate it unfortunately. Best of luck with your crafting.

I wish more people thought like you, but as you say, people want something for nothing!

Try selling hand made crafted items on Etsy - fees are lower than ebay - not as much traffic as ebay but people more willing to pay higher prices.

robin I've just had a look at Etsy after your mention, never seen it before. What a wonderful site, I'm looking at some of the beautiful quilts :)

I got into selling stuff on ebay, them Amazon and it started taking up too much time. If you take it seriously then I suggest that you use software to sync stock levels and do the order processing. I use despatch.cloud which really saves time.