Sell Crafts from Home

17 Places to Sell Your Crafts

Crafting is big business.  A recent survey by the Craft & Hobby Association found that 62.5 million Americans participated in at least one craft activity during the previous year!

So, what if you’re ready to take your crafting from casual hobby to legitimate money-making opportunity?

Fortunately, you can find success as a crafter a number of different ways. Here’s a list of 17 places you can turn to when you’re ready to become a handmade entrepreneur. From marketplaces to online shops and even craft fairs, you can get started today making money doing something you love!

Sell Crafts Online

Crafters and artisans are finding greater success now more than ever thanks to all the online outlets for selling handmade items. No matter what your handmade products are or your personal selling style, there’s bound to be an online marketplace that’s a perfect fit for you, your crafts, and your customers.

1. Etsy

Since 2005, Etsy has been a popular marketplace for sellers offering handmade, vintage, and craft supply items for sale. It’s evolved a lot over the years, but still continues to be one of the go-to places to sell crafts online. And no wonder—when you sell on Etsy, you’ll have a potential reach of 30 million global buyers!

There are no monthly membership fees, but you will pay $0.20 for each item you list and 3.5% fee when an item sells.  A lot of success stories come out of Etsy (like this woman who makes nearly 1 million dollars each year!). So, it goes without saying, there is the potential to turn your handmade items into a very profitable home-based business.

2. Handmade at Amazon

You know something is big when Amazon tries to get its slice of the pie! The Amazon Handmade platform may just be the next big thing when it comes to selling handmade crafts online (there certainly is a lot of buzz about it, anyway!). They are currently accepting invite applications from sellers who want to sell their one-of-a-kind products on the world’s largest online retailer.

If your application is approved and you’re sent an invite, you will get to create an Artisan Profile and set up your products. There’s a lot to consider here like if you’ll offer your products as part of Amazon’s popular Prime program and whether or not you should add UPCs or SKUs to your items. There are also different promotional options and shipping requirements for custom made and made-to-order products to keep in mind. But the $39.99 monthly sellers’ fee is currently being waived through August 1, 2016 for handmade sellers, so now is the perfect time to give it a try to see if Handmade at Amazon is a good fit for you!

3.  Handmadeology

Part blog, part handcrafters’ bible, Handmadeology helps teach artists how to be successful selling their items online. They also have the Handmadeology Market which is a place to sell handmade, vintage items, and crafting supplies.

4.  Made it Myself (MiM)

At Made it Myself, sellers have the ability to sell items for a set price or negotiate with buyers. Items are free to list. You only pay a 3% commission fee when an item sells.

5.  Zibbet

Zibbet is a one-of-a-kind marketplace. When you sell on Zibbet you’ll be joining sellers from around the world. With no insertion or selling fees, sellers instead choose monthly subscriptions (there is a FREE option!).

6. Handmade Artists

Handmade Artists was born out of a forum group that saw a need for a safe and secure place for handmade artists to sell their work. To join as a seller, you pay a monthly $5.00 fee (or $50 for a year). That’s it. Safe and simple.

7. Aftcra

Aftcra is billed as “the place to buy and sell unique handmade goods crafted by American hands.” It’s free to set up an Aftcra shop and sell your handmade items. You only pay a 7% fee when your items sell!

8. Supermarket

Supermarket is the place for independent designers to sell online. When you sell your designs on Supermarket you get a super supportive team that helps you market your products online. You pay a flat 15% fee when things sell.

9. Hyena Cart

As a handmade marketplace with an eco-friendly twist, this is a great place for sellers who have products that are environmentally friendly and child safe. You can share a store with other sellers or set up your own shop!

10. iCraft Gifts

This is a global marketplace and gift shop featuring knit items, home decor, and jewelry items! You will have to pay a one-time setup fee of $25.00 and also choose a monthly selling subscription to sell on iCraft Gifts.

11. Artfire

Artfire is a marketplace of millions (yes, millions) of handmade and craft items. This is a flexible way for first-time sellers to get started. You can choose a commision-based plan or a monthly subscription.

12. DaWanda

DaWanda is a unique mix of gifts, vintage items, and handmade products. This is a great place to reach international customers as DaWanda has English, German, French, Spanish, Italian, and Dutch sites.

13. Trendii

Recently launched, Trendii encourages sellers to share their unique stories with buyers (people are 22 times more likely to make a purchase when they know the backstory!). Collect your content and build your story from scratch in order to reach new buyers.[divider]

Set up Your Own Shop to Sell Crafts Online

If selling on a marketplace isn’t exactly your thing, you may prefer the sell-it-yourself method. Going straight to the Ecommerce route can be a longer road to success, but when you get there, you’ll find you have complete control over your shop and the way you sell.

So, if you’re new to selling crafts online or are a veteran of the many marketplaces and are ready for a change, it might be time to set up your own shop. Thankfully, there are platforms that make it super easy to sell crafts from home!

14. Shopify

If you’re ready to sell your handmade creations online, Shopify has got you covered. They provide everything you need to get your own shop up and running like professional templates, support, user-friendly interface, and business tools to track your success.

Plus, Shopify makes it easy to sell crafts on Facebook and use social media to promote your items and make sales with programs like:

• Pinterest Buyable Pins
• Twitter Buy Now
• Facebook Shops

You can try Shopify for free for 14 days. In that time, you can find out which services are a good fit for you and learn how they help you make secure sales, keep track of inventory, and reach new buyers.

15. Self-Hosted Site

Thanks to WordPress, just about anyone can get a shop up and going in just a couple of hours with powerful tools like Woocommerce. Of course, you’ll have to pick out a domain name, secure hosting, and select a theme. But once you do, you’ll find that for less than a couple hundred dollars you can have a fully functional online store up and running (something you could never do with a brick and mortar store!).

If you’d like to be involved as less as possible when it comes to setting up shop, no problem! You can hire super skilled talent for amazing prices at Fiverr and sit back and craft while they get to work setting up your new site! [divider]

Consider the Crafting Circuit

Whether you choose to sell on a marketplace or take the sell-it-yourself route (or both!), it’s a good idea to think about heading out to craft shows and fairs from time to time. Craft shows are an effective way to build up a network of like-minded individuals and meet some amazing artists along the way. Plus, the people you meet can open up new doors for your crafting business like the opportunity to sell your items in retail establishments.

16. Renegade Craft Fair

Since 2003, Renegade Craft Fair brings together the best and brightest from the “Maker” community. This isn’t your typical craft show but rather a place to celebrate all things DIY and the people who lovingly design and handmake items for sale.

With yearly weekend-long events in 8 cities, it’s worth the time to travel to a Renegade Craft Fair if one isn’t near you. Their mission is to showcase the very best in the handmade craft world and create a sense of community within the industry. If that wasn’t cool enough, you actually can sell your items to a crowd of people who are specifically there to take in all the handmade-wonderfulness.

17. Maker Faire

Last, but certainly not least, is Maker Faire. These are family-friendly events celebrating all the Makers out there and the Maker Movement. What’s the Maker Movement, you ask?

It’s a combination science fair meets craft fair and an all around amazing place for crafters, DIYers, and tech enthusiasts to come together as a united Maker Community.

There are Maker Faires and Mini Maker Faires around the world that you can participate in. If you find that there’s not one near you, why not start one? You can apply to bring a Maker Faire to your community. [divider]

Resources to Get You Started

Ready to sell crafts from home? It may seem overwhelming at first, but often times, getting started is the hardest part! To get you going, here’s a list of resources to help you sell crafts from home:

Sell Your Arts & Crafts on Artfire at Real Ways to Earn Money Online

Working at Home as a Crafter at The Work at Home Woman

Sell Your Crafts on Aftcra at The Work at Home Wife

Take an Online Crafting Course at Craftsy

Sell Online From Home at Free Work at Home Guide

Craft Business Power: 15 Days to a Profitable Online Craft Business