How to Make Less but Sell More at your Next Craft Show

Running a handmade business can become exhausting. Because you must make each product you sell, you really are earning all your money, as opposed to making money.

What’s the difference?

Earning Money

When you put in time and you get paid for that time. If you spend an hour making a handbag, you get paid for that hour once you sell it. In order to continue selling handbags, you must continue to put the same amount of time in for each bag.

And it’s not just the hours spent making product. There’s packaging, photographing, listing online, setting up at a craft show, selling at a craft show, etc. Not to mention, many creators aren’t charging enough for their products, which means they’re not even getting paid for all of their time.

 

Making Money

When you put your time in to create one product (or service) and you’re able to make money off that product over and over, without much additional effort. It’s the concept of making money while you sleep.

I also like to think of earning money vs. making money in terms of profits. Earned money is money you’re paid back for your time and expenses. Making money is money you get on top of that.

Let’s say $50 covers ALL your time and ALL expenses for a product and you’ve priced the item at $100. The first $50 you’ve earned. The second $50 is profit and puts you in the making money zone.

Here are ways you can “make” more money:

 

#1 – Increase profits

There are several ways you can boost the profits on each item you sell, as explained below.

A) Stop selling one of a kind (OOAK)

When I started making handbags to sell at craft fairs, everything was one of a kind. No two bags were alike. Great for showing off my creativity, but bad for making a profit.

I had to come up with the design, draft a pattern, choose materials, purchase the hardware, take my time putting it together (since I was figuring out the steps as I went) and keep my fingers crossed that it turned out well enough to sell. Many new designs didn’t make the cut, which meant I didn’t get paid for any of my time. I didn’t earn or make any money.

And then I had to take a picture of every single bag, as well as measure the dimensions, look up fabric contents and write a description.

It took the same amount of effort to sell each bag.

Once I found my niche, I narrowed my selection down to:

• one successful handbag offered in a few sizes and fabric options (e.g. a weekend bag)
• a couple of profitable staples (e.g. totes)
• a few add-on items (e.g. coin purses & smaller organizing bags)

>> I knew exactly which supplies to buy, the steps to follow and could churn out product much faster.

>> I also only needed to photograph, write a description and list a product once, but could sell it over and over, since I made multiples of each bag.

Instead of getting creative with every single product you make, get creative and dream up ideas a few times a year by creating product collections.

 

B) Track all expenses

There are additional hours you must put into a startup that you don’t see back in dollars right away, but if you’re running a business and are out of the startup phase, you need to be getting paid back for all your time and expenses.

Start by tracking your hours, right down to the minutes. If you spend 5 minutes on your lunch break running to the post office to ship a package, track those 5 minutes.

At the end of a month, add up that time and multiply it by the hourly wage you want to pay yourself.

That’s how much money you should be getting paid for your time, through the sale of your products.

The cost of your tools, price tags, office space and supplies needs to be covered too.

>> This article will help you understand how to cover your business’s overhead expenses

If you’re simply basing the price of your product on how much the materials cost and how much time it takes you to make it, you’re essentially paying for the other costs of doing business, out of your own pocket.

 

C) Speed up production

Decreasing the amount of OOAK products you make and focusing more on the best sellers you can create over and over, will drastically lessen the amount of time you spend creating, marketing and selling each product. That’s going to increase the profits on each item.

You can also work on creating more of an assembly line.

Although you’re still the worker at each station, when you break your manufacturing down into steps and complete one step for multiple products at a time, you become more focused, more efficient and can complete the step faster.

Consider if there are any steps you can automate or hire out.

 

D) Lower costs

Constantly look for ways to buy your supplies for less or cut costs in your business. Stock up on materials when your supplier runs big promotions, or use your business license to apply for a wholesale account at a supplier and get every purchase at a discount and buy in bulk whenever you can.

Consider if you need that fancy studio space or if you can work out of your basement and write off a portion of your mortgage, property taxes, heat, hydro, etc.

 

#2 – Offer products not made by you

The items you do create will still make up the bulk of your product offerings. However, you increase the money made vs. earned by adding a few items that improve the shopper’s buying experience, don’t require much more effort from you, and give you a nice profit.

In order for this idea to work you must:

• Be able to buy the items wholesale or for a very low price that allows you to put a healthy markup on them, increasing your profits.
• Make the item a small part of your selection, especially if you’re selling at a craft show. You can’t show up to a craft show with a bunch of mass-produced items. Your handmade items should be the focal point, while the items not made by you are a small add-on.
• Find an item that works with your handmade products; if you make jewelry, don’t start reselling mass-produced burp cloths at your table. There must be a connection between all the products you offer.

For example, a jewelry maker may sell jewelry bags, jewelry cleaning cloths, jewelry travel cases, or jewelry boxes.

 

#3 – Become an affiliate

This idea is similar to #2, but instead of purchasing products at wholesale prices, you work with other business owners in your community.

Is there another handmade vendor whose products complement yours and who would be willing to pay you a commission if you sell their work? You could place a few of their products on your craft show table (or even add a page to your website to display them).

You could have a consignment agreement with the other vendor, meaning you don’t pay them upfront for their products. If their items sell, you pay them the agreed percentage and keep a percentage of the sale for yourself. If the items don’t sell, you give them back to the vendor after the event or a set period of time. Less risk than purchasing an item you’re not sure will sell.

If you’re offering someone else’s work at a craft show, be sure you run it by the organizer. It most likely won’t be an issue if you’re sticking to just a few items while your handmade products remain the focal point, but it’s always best to check first.

This idea will work best if their products work well with yours. You can use similar ideas found under complete, compliment and care but look for a handmade vendor instead of a wholesaler.

 

#4 – Offer a digital/printed product

This option involves you putting in time and money initially, but allows you to sell a product over and over, without putting in the same amount of effort over and over.

It won’t work for every handmade business, but below are a few ideas.

For example:

• A knitter may have created a pattern for one of their hats and be offering it as a printed pattern or a digital download.
• An artist may digitize their work and sell PDFs that customers can download and print on their own. Or, they could have their work printed onto other items to sell, such as calendars, t-shirts, mugs, magnets, etc.
• A variety of businesses could offer a PDF that explains the steps to make their product (how many times have you heard at a craft show “I could make that”? Now you have a response…”If you’d like to make it instead of buy it, I do have the instructions and pattern for sale”.)

 

#5 – Share your expertise

If you’ve been making your products long enough or have prior training, you may be considered an expert at what you do. There are likely people who would love to learn how to make what you make and be willing to pay for your teachings.

 

A) Teach a class

If you price the class based on how much it costs to provide materials and your time to teach one student, any additional students you sign up for the class is money made instead of earned, minus the cost of materials for each student.

Advertise and sell spots for a class at a craft show. Lots of crafty people shop at craft shows and may be interested in learning how to make an item instead of purchasing it.

 

B) Write a book or offer a course

If speaking in front of a classroom isn’t for you, writing a book may be a better option if your writing skills are up to par. You can have your how-to book printed to sell print copies at the craft show or offer a digital option and sell it online as an ebook.

If you don’t love writing, perhaps creating an online course is an option for you. Videos are a great way to teach people about a subject and are less nerve-racking than teaching a classroom of people, since you don’t have to be in front of a live audience, and you can edit your presentation. Market your online course at a craft show and provide marketing material that directs shoppers to your website, where they can sign up.

 

C) DIY kits

Instead of investing your time to make each product, you can bundle together the materials required, print a set of detailed instructions and sell them together in a cute DIY kit.

I’m sure you’ve had questions from craft show shoppers asking how you make an item (or overheard comments like: “I could make that”). Now you have a product to sell to the crafty shoppers who could make your products but likely won’t take the time to do it on their own.