Looking on etsy to get ideas of stuff to possibly make and sell, I have to wonder how knit dishcloths can be sold for as low as $2.00. Even if you are a lightning fast knitter, that barely covers your yarn, much less your time.
The amount of items on sale at etsy is overwhelming. The etsy people really seem to have found a good niche for themselves, and for crafters. I find it funny that having spent a *lot* of time in doctors' offices lately, and seeing a lot of elderly people in said offices, that I am the only person I have seen knitting. Unless these people have troubles with their sight and/or hands. I dread that happening to me because I enjoy various crafts so much. I would like to be able to continue to do them, well, for the rest of my life, basically. Selfish of me. :)
5 comments:
Ya gotta check how many real sales some of those gals are actually making.
I've found many hand-crafts don't sell at prices that make it worth my time to make, photograph, keep track of, and ship out. :(
I know, EC. You have to find the right craft that is the current fad. Or find the right audience. Kinda like corporate-world marketing, I guess. Too bad people don't appreciate hand-crafted stuff more. Although when you come right down to it, there's not much difference between, say, a machine-knit scarf and hand-knit one. Unless you can make yours special.
Maybe that's why I'm kind of failing at Etsy - I'm just not enough of a trend-watcher or trend-setter.
One thing I've learned selling online is not to undervalue your items just because someone else is selling for less. Price your items so you will make some profit and make sure to mention the quality of your materials. Many times you will find that other sellers can price things so low because they are using inferior or used materials. If you are offering a good quality product that has a customer base, you should be able to sell it. You may not sell as much as the person with rock-bottom prices but you will make a profit and end up with repeat customers because your quality is good.
My oldest two sold dog sweaters and jackets last year. We used recycled sweaters and unused material that was purchased from garage sales. If we had used regularly priced material, the kids would have lost money.
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