Guest Author - Linda Spangenburg

Have you ever dreamed of selling your crochet?
Do you make quality items and would love to have a side income?

Many of us dream of the craft business but also just as many have no idea where to begin. Wouldn't it be great to make up your product, display it, sell it, package it up and ship it out all without ever leaving the house?
Believe it or not, it is possible to do just that.

It used to be you needed a good size advertising budget, a sales representative and/or an expense account to get your product out in the public. Also you had to run from craft show to craft show. Although the craft shows are still a great way to sell and advertise. But the shows are very seasonal and the great thing is you can now sell year around, online.

If you are crocheting a lot of winter items, like afghans, sweaters, mittens and hats, than your summer will be a very slow period. But when you sell online think about it, it is always winter someplace, as the world is now your marketplace.

Some ideas for crocheting would be light and lacy shawls for the ladies to wear to church. Crochet baby items are always needed for baby showers, hospital gift shops, and specialty shops. I don’t know how many times I have been asked for wide brimmed sunhats in crochet. There is also a demand for crochet pet items; they are always a good seller also.

Today with the internet there are many places that you can sell your products with reasonable fees. Look around the sites, see what they are selling, what you can do better. But remember do not under price your items as most of the customers than think your product is cheap.

You will never get rich selling your crochet items. But you can make some very nice extra money. Here are a couple of ideas and places for you to check out.

CraftMall

CraftMall is a nice site to showcase your craft items around the world. There are many categories you can choose from. The site is easy to navigate and very easy to look at. PayPal is accepted for your payments which is great because so many people are use to PayPal and comfortable in using it. You can also add your own Logo, which is a nice addition. You can find it at Craftmall.com

Etsy

Etsy is another place for selling online. It is primarily an online marketplace for selling handmade crafts. Etsy is over 9 years old and is well know among many crafters. One very nice thing about Etsy is it has places where you can open your own Etsy shop. You don't need to know any HTML to set up your site and the fees are very reasonable.

Don’t forget if you are going to have a craft business you will want to do your research. This may help you get started.