MAKE MONEY BY SELLING YOUR HAND CRAFTED ITEMS

Is it possible to make money on eBay selling your handcrafted items? The answer is: that depends.

It depends a great deal on the uniqueness of the item. That is, is it something people want and is "hard to find"?  Hard to find is difficult to define exactly. What is common in your area may not be available in another.

For example, I make miniature doll quilts but not just any doll quilts. I make cathedral doll quilts in colors that I have researched and know that doll collectors want. I make them in sizes that I know they want. They are not the easiest craft to make and not the hardest either. Some would say they are rather tedious. Luckily I find them relaxing and have always found a market for them here on eBay.

They do sell, but not for a lot. So yes, I make money on ebay by selling my hand crafted items. But this is strictly a hobby for me. If you are already selling your crafts elsewhere - at seasonal shows and fairs, you have a good idea what your items are worth.

You also know that having a magazine pick up on your items and printing instructions for them in their publication, or offering a kit from you does a lot to boost your sales volume in hand crafted items. You also might be teaching your craft to others at a college or privately at home. This all works to your benefit when dealing with the public "live". But doesn't necessarily translate over to eBay.

Or maybe your craft is just "pick up work" for you. That is how I view mine. I take a work in progress along wherever I go, if possible. Waiting at doctors' offices, when I do a booth at a fair and so on. The time goes faster doing this and of course the end result is a completed piece that I can then keep, give away or sell.

Please don't expect that your items will make you tremendously rich on eBay. They probably won't. True I have sold queen sized quilts that I have handmade on here for hundreds of dollars, but that isn't the norm.

Oft times your item goes for the first bid, so make it one that you are comfortable with or you will be disappointed in what the item goes for. Then again if you list it too high, no one will bid. There are so many others doing the same thing you see. So you have to have something extra special about your items to have them go.

This is not said to discourage you. I have made sales on eBay with some of my craft items and the items went for more than I could have ever have hoped for elsewhere. There are many crafters on eBay that are satisfied with their sales level here. And they don't just sell on eBay. They sell elsewhere too.