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Lots of good advice here! Glad you posted the question. You might also find success selling on Etsy.com
Even in hard economic times, some things stay with us... like weddings and new babies, etc. Perhaps you can focus your crafts in these areas. |
You have to be unique. Noting like seeing booth after booth of similar items The Godmother use to sell quilted reversible place mat sets. I made some scented neck wraps that you heat in microwave for aches and pains. Good luck!!
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Covers for tissue packs (include the tissues). They take no time to make, you can use scraps and I've sold them for $3 each. It adds up. Also if you can get inexpensive panels for children's or baby's quilts, do some quilting on them and in my area I've sold them for $25, the highest I price anything. But you never know. One year I sold five. The next year I sold zero.
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Originally Posted by stitchinwitch
(Post 5088862)
Do any of you crafters know of a place that sells the plastic bags in a variety of sizes for a descent price? On-line, of course? Thanks
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Originally Posted by jaciqltznok
(Post 5088211)
good tips/points by everyone..just remember now that our country and most states are broke, Uncle Sugar wants his cut and the TAX people are watching the internet like hawks...so any advertising of selling items now makes you a business and liable for sales taxes as a business. Craft shows will see lots more paper work this year as the local tax people hit them with forms for vendors. OK now makes you pay sales tax on your yard sale!
So before you head into ANY form of selling be sure you do your homework for what you are liable for in your city/state as far as taxes go! |
Originally Posted by hopetoquilt
(Post 5088128)
Hey, just a thought... instead of doing shows, see if you can build a business doing t-shirt quilts. It has sparked an interest in almost everyone I have mentioned it to. You could work up a few samples to keep with you and take pictures of each of the ones you make to create a book or webpage for people to peruse. This would eliminate the need to pay for a booth, the gas to get there and the other associated costs. You could create a blog or page on-line so people could see your work and you could calculate costs based on the # of t-shirts/fabric and batting needed and complexity of quilting required. You could work at your own pace and the work times would be so much more flexible. Once you get going, I bet your name and reputation would spread like wildfire. Just a thought.
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Great advise Lori S. I've been selling at craft shows for about 10 years. I have a mix of quilted items in the $20-$50 range then many items $12 or less (grapevine angel & stars & whatever else sounded fun to make & looked catchy). The lower price items almost always sell very well; sometimes sell out and they draw people into my booth, when, occasionally, someone buys a higher priced item.
I often have customers tell me my items are very reasonably priced, but in this economy, they're just not spending that kind of money. Around the holidays, I sell lots of grapevines pieces as the smallest ones are $10 & under - the price limit for many office or other gift exchanges. |
All covers for iPads,kindles, etc. be sure it have a pocket for cord storage. Also the iPad,kindle stand that was just on the board last week. I took one I had made to my quilt group this week and there was a lot of interest in it. One can often find upholstery samples for free.
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30+ years of shows
I have done them all. Big,small, local, mostly national shows. The idea of staying home and selling is the way you will make the most money. Yes, hotel, GASeeekkkk, boot fee and most important, bedding license. When I did shows in Ohio I had to purchase a license to sell anything with stuffing, batting , filler. I had to send in a sample to be fireproof tested, be approved, they send you a license and you have to label every item with the info the require. It wasn't fun and after I did my license I think they skyrocketed in price. A govt. person checks the booths at the Ohio shows. Think a few other states have that law, Washington and Penn. used to. Check with the govt. as they make you take your booth down if you are nasty with them or at least take out your product that has stuffing, batting etc. I think the most money would be in the Tshirt quilts right now. There is always a market for them. Any personalized product sells, people like to see their name. Good luck but do your homework. Shows are nothing like they used to be. I provided a living income for years from shows plus all the extras we bought but not in this economy. I pulled in a few yrs ago as I could see that shows were dying.
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Some great ideas here. I'm in exactly the same boat, but looking at local gift shops to place a few items instead of shows, which I did years ago. As stated above, costs often far exceed profits. Also consider Keepsake Quilting:
http://www.keepsakequilting.com/retail/consignment.aspx |
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