Earlier today I was lurking around the most excellent Etsy Forums, when I stumbled upon this thread, it made me feel kinda sad for the posters. I know how hard it can be to get your Craft Business of the ground (I’ve been there!). That thread inspired me to write today’s post which is about various ways to sell your craft in addition to Etsy (or wherever else you sell). This is because (as Wendy says in her brilliant post) “it’s always good to keep your eggs in several baskets.”
So, why if you are already selling in Etsy or Ebay (check out Megan’s blog for some very sound advice on Ebay selling) would you ALSO want to sell elsewhere? The answer is because it’s fabulous marketing. Most of you will already be aware that making gorgeous craft is only half the story in craft business, the other just as important half is marketing yourself and your craft. Selling your craft in more than one shop means that you, your craft, and your blog (hopefully you do have one), is being seen by more potential customers. Well run shopping mall sites rank high in the search engines which means that your crafty goodness is going to get viewed by more folks. You may in the future decide that you don’t want to run more than one shop at a time, but why not try running more than one shop for now, just to get your name out there?
In each shop that you run, be a smarty pants and include these links in your seller profile:
- your email address (for custom orders),
- your other shops,
- your blog
Check out some of these other craft shopping mall sites (there are quite a few others too; do a google):
Other ways to sell your craft products:
-
Your own website - I think this is the best option for professionalism and exclusivity (whereas on shopping mall sites you are competing with lots of other sellers). This is the option I decided upon when I first set up my business. I scrimped and saved enough money to pay for professional design and some programming. The only thing is with your own website you REALLY gotta work at marketing yourself.
- Party selling - I have few regular readers of my other blog who sell their bags through parties and it really works for them. Party selling is a brilliant option if you have access to lots of work colleagues, you are part of a sports team/institute/group/you attend church/ any sizeable group or network that you or your friends are involved with. Get the guys and gals round, bring some wine, some nice nibbles and host a party where people can see the artist and see and feel your crafty goods.
- Sell from your own blog - tell your readers about the crafting process, share your disasters (for a giggle) and share your successes (with a tutorial perhaps). Then why not sell the craft item that you have been blogging about. Wouldn’t it be helpful to your readers to be able to buy the craft item that you have been blogging about straight from your blog? This way the immediacy and the excitement about your craft item is far less likely to be lost and your craft item will not be competing with others on a shopping mall site (if that’s where you also sell). Try it for FREE for 3 months.
- Craft Markets - this is what I used to do and it’s where my crafting journey began. Christmas was by far my busiest time. I think markets are a great place to meet other crafters, learn about customer behaviour, and learn about craft business in general. If you haven’t done a craft market or fair before it’s pretty hard work, but it can be very rewarding and great fun. How about sharing a table (and the costs) with a friend if you haven’t done it before?
Fairs are a great way to meet other crafters!
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How do you sell your craft items? Do you have more than one shop? 
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My first craft fair two weeks ago coincided with the day of my first etsy sale. I really enjoyed the fair because you have the immediate feedback from customers and fellow crafters and are forced to put yourself out there and tell people about your wares.
I brought my friend and choir director along and we cross-promoted the upcoming choir concert and my products. Afterwards, she said that she found it easier to advertise my products while I had no problem telling random strangers to come to our fabulous concert. So yes, share a stand for the company and the mutual support.
In the course of the fair experience, I found that the more you speak to other people about your work out loud (as opposed to writing a blog) the more confident you become in thinking of yourself as a professional crafter, artiste, [fill in your title]. I know that’s one of those self-evident, “duh” things to say, but really, when someone compliments you on the earrings you just made, thank them and tell them you made them yourself and here is your business card.
My last point in my ramble: set tiny little goals. Before the fair, my husband asked me what would happen if nobody bought anything. I replied that in that case I had finished making all my Christmas gifts and could relax for the rest of the season. In the end, I made enough money to cover the cost of the stand and buy myself a very nice scarf from the cute fair trade vendor across the field. I was also invited to participate in a different fair I had never heard of before in May. My next fair will be December 1st; hopefully I won’t spend all my profits at my fellow crafter’s stand.
P.S. Did I mention that Lisa is my crafting hero and none of this would be possible without her
I have to say that I really strongly prefer to buy craft items from Etsy. If I see a link to a crafter and they don’t either have 1) an Etsy shop or 2) a really well designed, professional looking website, I’m unlikely to look much further at their work. To me, there’s a lot of great stuff out there, so I weed out businesses just based on ease of shopping for me. I like paying with PayPal, and I like that in Etsy, I can mark items that I like to return to for gift ideas or when I have a bit more money to spend.
Great Information! Thankss.
At the moment I have had more luck with etsy,(not by much though) but would prefer to sell @ craft fairs, however I am unable to sell at many due to the fact that the ones in my area are way over priced for a table and there are not many indy ones.
Strangely, being on Etsy led me to doing craft markets. I met other local Etsy folks and got involved in the shows they are doing. I have 2 more before Christmas and I LOVE doing them.
I am also on Smashing Darling which is a very new fashion-related site. I am not sure it gets a lot of traffic yet, but it looks great.