Do you have an entrepreneurial spirit and a creative passion? Then selling handmade goods might just be for you! But where to sell them? There are so many platforms and options, it can be overwhelming. I’ve tried 4 options: Amazon, Etsy, a custom website, and a craft show. Some are much easier, some are much more effective. Here’s what I learned.
Amazon Handmade
Amazon sounds great right? Everyone shops there so it must be a great place to sell. Now that they have a handmade sellers option maybe you’re thinking that’s the place to go big with your handmade goods? Well… maybe or maybe not. Here are a few things to think about…
- First, it is a major gigantic huge hassle to get started. Not sure why it needs to be so hard, but it is. Maybe Amazon just wants to weed people out. I don’t know but there are a ton of hoops to jump through just to start selling.
- Adding new products is also a hassle. Amazon’s photography requirements are almost impossible to meet without a pro photo shoot. And their user interface is cumbersome, especially on mobile.
- Oddly I have not had great sales on Amazon. To be fair I did not spend a ton of time trying to figure out their search engine. And since adding products is difficult I don’t have many nor do I maintain them well. But relative to my success on Etsy, Amazon has been dismal.
- Reviewers can be harsh. They seem to think they are talking to a giant corporation rather than a person who made the thing.
- Theoretically they charge a monthly fee, though they’ve waived it 3 years in a row.
- People don’t really think abut looking Amazon for lovely handmade things. They have more of a mass-produced reputation.
Rating: Neither easy nor effective! All in all, in case you can’t tell, Amazon Handmade is my least favorite option.
Etsy
Ahhh, I do love Etsy. It’s been a wonderful experience for me. Here’s why I love it.
- Signing up and setting up your shop is super simple. You can literally do it in an hour or so.
- Adding new products and managing inventory is easy, even from your phone.
- They have a massive following of people looking for handmade things.
- Reviewers realize that you are a real person and thus you occasionally make a mistake. Most know that if they contact you, you will fix it.
- It’s almost no risk since listings only cost 20 cents to post
- Its easy to share to social media and there is a big support community
- Rating: Two thumbs up, Etsy is both easy and effective!
Your own website
There’s a lot to unpack here. A custom website is something you may want but should you do it? And if so, when? Consider this…
- If you have good technical skills you can build your own website. But expect it to take a lot of time to get it right, even if you use templates.
- If you have to pay someone to build, and likely maintain your website, it can be very pricey. Think about if, and when, this is right for you based on your business.
- You will need to pay for the domain and the hosting as well as a fee per sale to accept credit cards. Still its probably much lower cost than other platforms if you build it yourself.
- Creating the website is actually the easy part. Unless you are an expert in SEO you will get no traffic to your site. Don’t know what SEO is? Well if you have to ask…
- You still have to drive traffic to your site. Etsy gets millions of visitors for you. No one but you is going to do that for your own website. Think social media marketing, influencers, advertising, and yes more SEO. If that’s not your thing maybe your own website is not for you.
- On the plus side, you can express your branding better own your own website than a sales platform, and you have a lot more flexibility in what you sell. Plus it’s just plan fun.
- Rating: Not easy to make it effective but it is super fun!
Craft Shows and Festivals
I don’t have much experience here, which is because it was not a good fit for me. I did one Craft Show so your experience will no doubt differ but here’s what I learned.
- You have to make tons of inventory in advance. If you usually make things to order this will be a time and money suck.
- You may need to spend time and money designing and setting up your booth plus signage. Note I went overboard on this!
- Many crafters do these shows more for fun and/or to make connections than to make money. The ones I spoke to were happy if their sales covered the booth fee. What??
- If you enjoy people-time this may be much more suitable for you than online sales
- It is a pretty big time commitment. From prep to setup to long days at the show. Think about how much you can expect to make per hour, net of booth fees.
- Rating: Neither easy nor effective, compared to online sales, but some people might like it anyway.
The bottom line for handmade goods
Overall, for many people Etsy or craft shows are a good place to start selling handmade goods. Craft shows are great if you crave human interaction, have lots of free weekends, and ready-made inventory. Etsy is great if you are more comfortable with technology and social media and prefer making products to order. Having your own website should be a longer-term goal if it makes financial sense for your business.
Share your own questions and experiences in the comments, we’d love to hear from you!
Sweep of Sand provides home decor with a fresh flair. Products are available on Sweepofsand.com and Society6.com/sweepofsand. NOT at craft shows and no longer on Amazon.
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surf city, nc ~ fenwick island, de ~ bethesda, md
