Selling your arts and crafts online can be an excellent way to make extra money and start your own small business without having to put up a large amount of money. If you decided to begin at flea markets or craft shows your start up amount of cash would be rather high and you would need a large quantity of product just to get started without knowing if your product would even sell. By beginning online you can make even just one item and see if it sells before making twenty more.
The place you choose to sell online can also make or break your ability to sell your arts and crafts online. You may find that one site makes you a regular income while you cannot make one sale on another. If you do not make a sale on one site then try one or two other places before you give up!
A little research before you begin selling your arts and crafts online can also save you time and money in the long run. Different sites have different fees as well as often having a different customer base. Also, shop each site that you are interested in using. Make sure that you enjoy using the site and that you can navigate it easily. You do not want to sell your product on a site that you find unattractive or difficult to use.
Etsy.com and Ebay.com are, perhaps, the most well known sites for selling products. You may think that you would go with Ebay because everyone knows about Ebay and you may be right. You would get a large amount of people scanning the handmade arts and crafts section but your product may get drowned out by the many other people also selling their arts and crafts. Etsy is also very large and it is easy for your product to be missed in the quantity of products but, unlike Ebay, Etsy has a customer base made up of people shopping for unique and handmade gifts.
Both Ebay and Etsy also charge an insertion fee and a sale fee. Ebay charges more than Etsy but you will be getting more people browsing Ebay. It is important to realize that your product may sell very well on these large sites but if they don’t it does not mean there are not other sites available.
Ebay is a very easy site to use and though Etsy is just as easy to navigate it is also a much more attractive site. Etsy makes you want to enter and window shop even when you do not have a specific gift or item in mind.
Craftmall.com and Boundlessgallery.com are two other sites that allow you to sell your product and with a completely different fee structure than Ebay or Etsy that you may be more comfortable with. Craft Mall has a monthly fee while Boundless Gallery has a yearly fee. These sites may also have more targeted customers as the Craft Mall is mostly products you would find at a craft fair and Boundless Gallery is more art than craft.
Boundless Gallery is a very fun site that is easy to use while the Craft Mall is probably the most unattractive, though it does remind you of a craft fair.
Another option for you may be to sell your product on your own website or blog. Not only can you design it how you want but you get to keep all the cash instead of putting out for fees (though the fees may be offset by the cost of hosting a website). If you already have somewhat of a client base set up then this may be the best option for you while if you are just starting out it may be best to use another site due to the amounts of traffic a larger site will receive.
As you can see there are many options available to those wishing to sell arts and crafts online. With some research, trial and error, and patience, you can start your own arts and crafts business.
