Is there a formula for success when it comes to selling your craft online? Perhaps. You can do a variety of things to improve your store's online presence. You can also take steps to ensure that the creative business you're starting is long-term viable. We've compiled them into an action plan that you may follow one step at a time to ensure you've covered all of your bases. We've also included practical tasks for each point to help you apply the advice to your own company, as well as suggested reading to help you go deeper into each phase.
What is the Best Way to Sell Crafts Online?
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Even if you're a seasoned salesperson, you'll find a lot of the techniques and exercises in this article beneficial. So, whether you're a new seller setting up shop or an experienced maker trying to expand and increase sales, follow these 7 steps to know how to sell your crafts online.
1. Concentrate on a Single Task and Execute it Effectively
It's a widespread misconception, especially when you're first starting out, that having a large selection of products and offering a lot of options will attract more clients. The contrary is true for most designers and makers: limit your product variety and you'll have a better business.
If you strive to please everyone, your shop and your social media channels will become jumbled. Customers must be able to identify you and your products and trust that they are purchasing from someone who knows what they are doing. It's also easier to define clients, target your marketing, improve your talents, and establish a reputation as the go-to designer for the product or style when you concentrate on one item.
2. Create a Powerful Brand
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The most successful brands devote time and resources to establishing a distinct identity. Even if you're a one-person shop, having a solid brand will help you succeed to sell crafts online. Understanding who you are, why your creations are unique, and what your story is, and then projecting those core values in everything you do – from your shop name to the photos you post on Instagram, the voice you use in your item descriptions, and on social media, and how you style your product shots – is key to having a strong brand identity. It's worth noting that making niche products for a niche market makes developing a strong brand much easier.
3. Establish Your Prices Right Away
When starting to sell crafts online, pricing your work is a major concern. You must find that elusive "sweet spot" where your work sells and you earn. If you want to have a healthy business, it’s worth investing time, in the beginning, to get your price correct. Otherwise, even if you have a large number of sales, your company would fail.
Consider everything (time, materials, packaging) and whether you are selling handmade items online for bulk in the future, as this will impact the retail pricing. Don't overlook the possibility of a promotion. If your profit margins are razor-thin, you won't be able to give any discounts in the future. For example, suppose you want to offer clients special deals to promote repeat sales, discounted or free shipping, or conduct Christmas promotions. In that case, you'll need some pricing flexibility. You should also consider where you want to be in the market. Are you a high-end brand, or do you like to create things that are more accessible to the general public?
Unfortunately, there is no one-size-fits-all formula for setting a price for selling crafts online. Still, certain strategies can assist you in determining a price that allows you to continue to sell crafts online.
4. Come Up with Fantastic Titles and Descriptions
You're ready for selling your craft online and in front of customers once you know the emphasis of your business, your brand, and where you want to situate yourself in the market. You need to write clear, easy-to-read titles and descriptions that contain words someone could use to find your product on search engines like Google (these are called keywords). Because a search engine can't "see" your photographs, consider how you'd describe your goods over the phone. Include as many specifics as possible to ensure that the customer gets all of the information they require. Don't forget to use many tags in your listing to assist people in finding your product.
5. Always Take Excellent Photographs
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To sell crafts online successfully, you will need high-quality images. Shops with high-quality product images sell more. Even if your things are wonderful, they are less likely to sell if you don't have great images. Your images have the power to make the difference between a sale and a scroll. And it's not only about attracting their attention; it's also about instilling trust in you and your product.
As we discussed, good images can help you gain press and lead to more social media shares. High-quality images are great for getting your product noticed because there are so many things out there that you need as many links and shares as possible. To strengthen your brand and make your product images readily recognizable as yours, you should aim for a consistent style and look in your photos.
6. Make Use of Social Media
Once you are ready with selling handmade items online, you need to let folks know about your shop once it's up and running! Social networking is one of the best ways to sell crafts online. There are other channels to choose from, including Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest, each with its own set of advantages and disadvantages. You don't have to go over everything. To begin, pick the one that your target clients utilize the most and concentrate on it. But keep in mind that social media is just that: social. Not only should you post and run, but you should also communicate with your fans.
Social media is a fantastic tool for sellers because it is free and allows you to develop relationships with your customers. It enables you, as the creator, to cultivate a fan base of people who admire your work and want to learn more about it. However, many people fall into the trap of thinking of it as free promotion. You'll almost certainly fail if you use social media solely to sell crafts online. Being sociable is essential on social media.
Use hashtags to find people who share your interests and start conversations, participate in Instagram challenges, be fascinating, engaging, and real, and spend as much time commenting on others' posts as you do on your own.
7. Keep Your Inventory Fresh and Check Your Store Regularly
Once your shop is up and running, make sure you check in every day to ensure you haven't missed any messages or sale notifications. Those nothings are still posted that have sold at a craft fair or elsewhere.
To successfully sell crafts online, keep your store well-stocked and updated with new products regularly to keep customers coming back to see what's new. If you've had the same things in your shop for a time, they may begin to seem a little worn out, and you may notice a decline in shop views and sales as frequent consumers lose interest. Introducing new items or even photographing your best-sellers in fresh ways will provide you with new information to share and new ways to entice people to your store.
Marketplaces to Sell Crafts Online
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Here is a list of websites where you can sell crafts online.
∙ Etsy
Etsy is the most well-known online platform for artisans and crafters of all kinds to sell their handcrafted goods. Handmade and vintage items, as well as craft supplies, are available for sale. Users pay modest listing costs and a percentage of each sale made on the platform. Accounts are free, but users must pay small listing fees and a portion of each sale made on the platform. It does, however, come with a vibrant community of both sellers and buyers. There are other sections for practically any product you can imagine.
∙ ArtFire
ArtFire is another well-known independent marketplace with a vibrant community for selling arts and crafts. The website provides free, and premium seller accounts for more experienced vendors that demand more inventory space.
∙ eCrater
eCrater is a free online marketplace as well as a Web store builder. You can create your own online store for free to sell crafts online if you are a seller. You may also use eCrater to import an eBay store. You may browse and search millions of products in various categories if you are a buyer.
∙ Alibaba
Alibaba is a business-to-business (B2B) internet marketplace. Consider Alibaba if you create a product that can be used by other firms to build end products for consumers. Businesses can build profiles on the website and advertise items and materials for sale to other companies.
∙ GLC Arts and Crafts Mall
GLC Arts and Crafts Mall give artists and crafters a variety of monthly plans to sell their wares on the site. There are no commissions or setup fees with either of these plans.
Strikingly Simple Store
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Strikingly is one of the few website builders that has a free online store option. Strikingly can help you put up a Simple Store for you to sell crafts online. You have the option of using it for free, limited, or pro users, each with its own set of features for selling arts and crafts. Users with limited access can list up to five products, while free users can only list one. Pro users, on the other hand, can add up to 300 things to their shopping cart.
You can access it from anywhere and manage all of your transactions, including payments, refunds, and payouts, in one place before fulfilling and managing each order. To stand out in this fast-growing market, you'll also want to keep up with the latest eCommerce trends, such as personalization and offering a faultless checkout experience.
Conclusion
What are you waiting for now that you know how to sell your crafts online? Remember that getting your online store up and operating is the most critical stage. If you haven't already done so, look for a site that provides a free trial, so you can get started with no strings attached. Best of luck!
