There’s so much information on how and where to sell your homemade items so, I’ll jump right in. Where you'll get the highest prices would be to catch street fairs, county fairs, craft fairs and flee markets. Sign up to be a vendor. Make sure you have business cards to give out. This way, if someone doesn’t have the money or they want to purchase something else that day, they can call later and see if you still have the item or if you’re willing to recreate it for them.

There are a variety of online auctions to check out as well. Keep in mind that some auctions require the seller to live in a particular country; while other auctions have no restrictions on where you dwell. You need to make certain of the requirements before you list any items to sell. Consider the listing prices of each item from each auction. Some auctions allow you to have your items listed in a gallery right up near the top of the searches. Others do not. Some have allowances of only so many pictures (taken from different angles) while others do not. Some allow your listing only for a few days (unless you’re willing to pay additional fees), and others allow a much longer listing time. Each of the combining possibilities of what each auction offers makes it very competitive when you are choosing which one to use. Or, you may choose to use more than one and see which works best for you.

I use one particular site to sell my patterns and have NEVER been unhappy with their services. They are quick to take care of matters and if someone clicks to purchase a pattern (all of mine are sent through email after I receive their payment), then they decide to default on the deal, my chosen site has always been quick to refund me the money I spent on listing that item, or allows me to re-list it for free. I’ve found that I can't go wrong with that kind of service. And, although the most popular auction is an online auction, you never know how you might do and it can get pretty costly just to list one single item and you have to pay whether it sells or not (and it can be fairly costly depending on what “extra’s” you’ve purchased to help put your item ‘out in front’. On the positive side...with the #1 auction, you'll never know when something will bring a ridiculously high price. Remember every item is worth as little or as much as somebody is willing to pay for it. Another plus, with this auction, is that you can have the starting bid to be at any price you choose and you are the one who sets your shipping costs and have or don't have the shipped items covered by insurance (or you can allow the buyer to make that decision).

Also, when you're listing with an online auction, make sure to use every word that you can in the description of your item. FOR EXAMPLE: Homemade baby bonnet with pearl beaded onto white thread shuttle/needle tatted 1/2 inch wide lace. By listing as many descriptive words as you can, this allows you a better chance when somebody goes to their favorite search engine to look for something. Another prime example of this is when someone does a search for…oh let’s just say they’re searching for pears to make a necklace. By going to their chosen search engine and typing in PEARL’S, the first item on the results will most likely be the description of a pearl, how they’re grown and probably where they can be found. Next is usually places where they can be purchased. And, one of the top results is usually the online auction sites. There’s a good chance that your baby bonnet will be listed there because you’ve put the word PEARL in your description. Right away, the searching person thinks, “A baby bonnet with pears? I’ve got to see this.” They click on this and see your beautifully created item and think, “Wow, my boss’ wife is about to have a baby. This just might win me some pats on the back if I purchase this for his baby.” You’ve just made a sale and all because you used the word PEAL in your listing title.

Next week I’ll share some more ways and places on how to sell your items without even leaving the house.