How to Create Handmade Product Bundles That Sell Without Losing Profit
Learn how to put together handmade product bundles and gift sets customers actually want, price them for profit, and test them without creating an inventory headache.
Read moreHow to Charge for Shipping Handmade Products Without Losing Profit
Learn how to calculate the real cost of shipping handmade products, choose between free, flat-rate and calculated shipping, and protect your profit.
Read moreHow to Write Handmade Product Descriptions That Actually Help You Sell
A simple, practical formula for writing handmade product descriptions that answer buyer questions, highlight what makes your work different, and make online listings easier to buy from.
Read moreHow to Price Handmade Products for Wholesale Without Losing Money
Wholesale can grow a handmade business, but only if the numbers work. Learn how to calculate true costs, set wholesale and retail prices, choose order minimums, and protect your profit before approaching shops.
Read moreHow to Tell If a Craft Fair Is Worth the Booth Fee
Before you pay a vendor fee, run the numbers. Learn how to compare booth costs, break-even sales, audience fit, and realistic profit before booking a craft fair.
Read moreHow Much Inventory Should You Bring to a Craft Fair?
There is a particular kind of panic that seems to hit in the days before a craft fair. You look at the boxes of products you’ve already made and think, This cannot possibly be enough. So you make more. Then you make a few more things because you’re suddenly convinced everyone at the market will want the one product you don’t have enough of. Before long, your dining room looks like a warehouse, you’re staying up far too late finishing inventory, and you’re wondering how you’re going to fit everything in the car. The frustrating part is that you can
Read moreHow to Keep Track of Craft Business Inventory Without Losing Your Mind
If you make things to sell, you probably have at least one place where you keep track of your inventory. Maybe it’s a spreadsheet. Maybe it’s a notebook. Maybe it’s a collection of sticky notes. Or maybe your inventory system is currently: “I think I have some of those somewhere.” We’ve all been there. The problem is that inventory becomes surprisingly complicated once your hobby starts turning into a business. You aren’t just keeping track of finished products anymore. You may also have fabric, beads, paper, blanks, packaging, labels, shipping supplies, partially finished projects and materials for products you haven’t
Read moreHow to Know Which Handmade Products Are Actually Worth Selling
One of the easiest mistakes to make when starting a handmade business is assuming that a product is worth selling simply because you can make it. You might love making it. You might be very good at making it. You might even have people tell you: “You should sell these!” But none of those things necessarily mean it’s a good business product. A product has to do more than look good. Ideally, it should have enough demand to sell, enough margin to make it worthwhile, and a production process that doesn’t leave you wondering why you’re working for $3 an
Read moreHow to Manage Craft Business Inventory Without Getting Buried in Stuff
If you make things to sell, you probably have inventory. And by inventory, I don’t just mean finished products sitting on a shelf. You may have: And somewhere in the middle of all that stuff is probably a question you’ve asked yourself at least once: “Do I already have some of these?” Inventory management doesn’t sound particularly exciting. But if you’re running a handmade business, it can have a surprisingly big effect on your profits. You don’t need a giant warehouse or complicated software. You need to know what you have, what it’s worth, what is selling, and what you
Read moreHow Much Does It Really Cost to Sell on Etsy?
Selling something for $30 on Etsy doesn’t mean you made $30. That sounds obvious, but it’s surprisingly easy to look at an Etsy order, see the selling price, and mentally count the whole amount as income. Then the fees come out. And suddenly that $30 sale isn’t looking quite as profitable as you thought. If you’re trying to build a real handmade business—not just make a few sales here and there—you need to know what each sale actually leaves in your pocket. The good news is that you don’t need complicated accounting to get a useful answer. You just need
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