Find the best places where you can sell your craft items either locally or online!

You’ve spent time and energy putting your hand crafted item together and you have proudly put your name on it. So what comes next? If you’re looking for the right venue to sell your crafts then you will soon find out that there are a wide range of choices for you, right at your finger tips. But first, scroll down to see if selling your craft items are better suited in your local market area or online.

Sell Craft Items Locally. Depending on the size of town and community that you live in, you might want to go along with ‘keeping it local’. From local craft fairs to bazaars, you really can connect with your customers through this more personable medium. You can also offer a few of your crafts for local benefits to raise awareness of your business. Selling your craft items person to person is something that takes a little bit of finesse, but the rewards can be great.

If you rather stay more anonymous and have a little bit of computer knowledge than you should consider opening an on-line store or better yet, sell via both venues.

Sell Craft Items On-line. With so many options that are available right now plus the new ones that seem to pop up all the time you can find your online selling options a little overwhelming. We will hit the more popular and most visited online craft stores in our article. If you do decide to give one a try, you will at least be reaching out to a larger audience, rather than a site that is so new it has little to no traffic.

4 Online Stores To Sell Your Crafts

Etsy

This craft selling juggernaut called Etsy started back in April of 2006. If timing is everything than this company definitely landed on the sweet spot. Just as it was starting to become popular the recession hit and a new wave of craft selling enthusiasts found their way into the market This was all good considering most people were just trying to make ends meet with this side income. Then in 2013 Etsy opened it’s audience to include manufacturing partners.

The end result was crafters competing with companies that could mass produce. Some people say that Etsy has gotten too big but when your trying to reach a larger audience its hard to deny the traffic that they generate.

Amazon Handmade

Our good friend Jessie from Bottles Be Glowing just started her own Handmade store. Amazon was founded in July of 1994 and stands as the largest Internet-based retailer in the world. What started out as a on-line book store has now evolved into selling almost anything. Creating a store front to sell your hand made items will definitely put you in good company in terms of traffic and sales.

Here is some more info from the Handmade at Amazon site: “Welcome to the Handmade at Amazon storefront where you’ll find unique, handcrafted products from Artisans around the world. Our Artisans take pride in creating quality products you can trust with many of the items you see on Handmade at Amazon offering personalization with your own unique text or specifications for a true, one-of-a-kind product made just for you and with no need to send separate messages to the Artisan to specify options.”

Handmade items make great gifts for any occasion including Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Engagements, Weddings, Birthdays, Anniversaries or just because. Amazon Prime shipping with FREE Two-Day Shipping on a selection of your products makes it easy for your customers to start enjoying your handmade goods sooner.

Folksy

Started in 2008, Folsky is similar to Etsy, but on a smaller scale. It has more than 15,000 British designers and makers selling their wares on the website, and around 250,000 visitors each month. Sellers can opt for a “basic” account which is “pay-as-you-go”, with fees of 15p plus VAT per listing and 6pc plus VAT commission for each sale.

Sophie Christie, a finance writer for the ‘The Telegraph’ also states, the “Folksy Plus” account is for sellers who list frequently or stock a large number of items, and costs £45 a year.

Alibaba

Alibaba is an online business-to-business marketplace with 50 million users in over 240 countries. The site allows importers and exporters from all over the world to trade and sell products using company profiles and product listings as well as integrated business management software.

It’s easy to sell with Alibaba, simply create an account and start listing your hand made craft items for sale. Select the payment and shipping terms that best suit your needs. Just like most other online stores you will be required to pay a certain amount of money as commission for each sale made on Alibaba.

There are plenty of choices for you to sell your hand made crafts. If the thought of paying a commission doesn’t bode well with you there is always the option to start your own web-site or online store front. The downside to this, of course, is the burden of creating customer traffic. It falls back to you and the old adage ‘if you build it they will come’ does not hold true.

Where do you buy and sell your crafts, online or in person? Please share your preferences with us below.