larry winget's* book

a few months ago i wrote, crafts as a source of income? as i toyed with the idea of selling my handmade, crocheted products in order to earn extra money to help pay off my debts.  i knew that this would be small supplemental income from a side hobby, that i would not be able to earn serious income from any sales.  well, not yet at least.

admittedly, i was a bit skeptical that anyone would actually buy my products.  similar accessories can be had for cheaper prices most often than not, easily factory-made and mass-produced.  also, while looking around the etsy site, i noticed the plethora of amazing handiwork there.  as such, i did not feel that as a relatively new crocheter, i could even compare or compete with the other sellers.

much to my delight and surprise, i made my first crochet sale last week online! my first real customer!  she was a girl in another state who bought a crocheted purple ninja amigurumi toy/doll from me!

only several hours before, a friend of mine in the east coast noticed my ninja somehow also, and requested an order of 4 ninjas of various colors!  the next day, someone bought my multi-pink bamboo-handles fringed handbag!  wow!

admittedly, i did not make very much at all in terms of profits.  at $7.77 for the ninja with shipping, i made about $3.  this is after i took out the cost of supplies.  as for the handbag, i took quite a loss.  i estimated the shipping so incorrectly — it turned out to be $6+ for shipping instead of $3.  as a result, while the customer paid about $8 total, i had to dish out an extra $3+ for shipping, and the dollar of two remaining is immediately gone because it cost me about $10 to make the bag in the first place (cost of supplies)!  it was like giving it away as a gift, really.  since the shipping miscalculation was my own fault, i did not press the buyer for the shipping difference.

i have priced the 4 ninjas to my friend in the east coast at $5 each.  i suspect offhand that shipping might be $5-$7 at most.  so $20 minus the cost of supplies at $6? leaves me around $14.  i guess that’s not too bad — i’m learning!  i will get the package weighed at the post office before billing her.

a few days ago, i sold my first pair of black armwarmers at $10 including shipping!  after shipping and supplies costs, i would say my profit is about $5.  not much at all, but it is something.

i also have another order for a ninja doll for another of my friends!

when i initially had posted the ninja and pink handbag for sale, i had them priced higher: the ninja at $3 more, and the bag at $7 more.  but they sat around in my store for about a month, before i decided i might try reducing the price.  i didn’t mind too much for the ninja, but i knew that i was losing money on the pink handbag.  why did i even bother selling that one then?  if someone else found it appealing to own, i would much rather that s/he use to to his/her heart’s content, whereas at my place it would just sit around gathering dust awaiting use.  and i was doubtful that any of my few friends who like pink would like and use it.

i should also mention the $ i lost for fees i paid to etsy and paypal.  i had to ‘upgrade’ to the paypal ‘premier’ account too, in order to accept 2 of the buyers’ debit/credit card payments.  in the past, when i used to sell things online at ebay, i would request the buyers to not use debit/credit card payments, to please make payments via paypal from their bank accounts.  but alas, it was inevitable that i would have had to ‘upgrade’.

here are the money-related details, in cents and dollars:

so far then, it appears i am in the negative (or, ‘in the red’), at a total loss of -4 (when including the costs of supplies).  with the other two ninja orders, i will be able to go into the positive numbers.

i’m learning a lot while entering the world of entrepreneurship:

• fees bite, but are somewhat inevitable
• i must sell at prices that reflect the state of the eonomy and appealing lower prices from consumers’ point of views
• selling crafts CAN be done!
• positive feedback from customers is coveted
• items may occasionally be sold at a loss
• handcrafting things for sale is a slow-going business (it takes time to make each item)

this small endeavor is preparing me for the world of freelancing my web coding skills hopefully in the near future!

the holiday season is coming up.  although i’m not personally that big into the christmas spending sprees these days, i know that there are many others that still are.  i want to ramp up my ‘production line’ so that i can have a handful of products ready for selling before december.  at this time, i only have this one red handbag available for sale.  i’m actually quite proud of this bag, what with my painstaking effort with the lining and the macrame fringes*.

due to the state of the economy, i suspect that i must price my crafts at lower than optimal prices in order to entice buyers.  perhaps someday later on, once i have a rhythm going and many more customers and feedback, i can raise the prices a bit thereby making closer to minimum wage :p

* did you know that larry winget, author of you’re broke because you want to be, used to sell macrame for extra income??  that is awesome.

how about you?  have you also been selling stuff you’ve made or built for a bit of extra income?  how have you been faring in that endeavor?  are you enjoying the journey?