Do you want to start a business selling crotchet items but you want to go niche? If YES, here are 10 best ways on how to make money fast selling crochet items.
Crochet making is usually a fun and enjoyable hobby that a lot of people engage in, but it is still possible to be able to make good money from this craft. And with the right amount of dedication to the craft, you can be able to make a decent living from it.
Starting a crochet business is not in any way capital intensive. Depending on how you want to make the money, you might already have everything you need to get started. Here are some ways you can make money from selling crotchet items.
10 Best Ways on How to Make Money Selling Crotchet Items
1. Sell your finished crochet items: irrespective of whether you make scarves, blankets or hats, there is money to be made by selling crochet items. This is a great option also because you can work on items to sell part time, full time, or just every once in a while. There are a lot of people you can sell your crochet items to and there are a lot of places you can sell your crochet items (both online and offline).
Some places you may sell your finished crochet items include; Local craft fairs, Farmer’s markets, Consigned through retail boutiques & local businesses, Create a shop on Etsy, Through a business page on Facebook (share with your friends!), Collaborate with local businesses to host a crochet pop-up shop among many other ways.
There is a market for everything you can think of from baby things to coffee cozies and much more. Even if you are still a novice in crocheting and can only make hats and scarves, you can still make them in different colors and list them on Esty.
With Esty you can are guaranteed of instant payment for your products. If you’re selling made-to-order items on Etsy, the cash is in hand before any time is spent crocheting. You don’t need to have previous experience in order to sell what you make.
2. Teaching others how to crochet: there is money to be made in not only selling crochets but in also teaching other people how to make the crochets themselves. Some things to consider are the ages you’d like to teach, your curriculum, your prices and where you will teach. Some of your options are to teach:
- At Home: teaching people how to make crochet from the comfort of your home is a great work from home job and is also good for stay at home moms or the elderly who can’t travel. Some other things that should be considered when teaching people this skill from home include: neighborhood, insurance liability, home security, parking and handicap accessibility.
- At the Library: a lot of local libraries have spaces that can be used as classes. In some cases, these classes must be open to the public and must also be free of charge. Be that as it may, the library provides a great place for gaining trust in the community, building your teaching skills and becoming comfortable with your curriculum and students. The time you spend here may open doors to other opportunities so it is a path worth exploring.
- At a Local Shop: if you have a favorite store where you purchase your yarn from, (irrespective of if it’s a small local shop or a large franchise) you can make use of them to teach people this skill. Most at times, they will help you to advertise your classes and even provide you a space where you can teach your students. You have to bear in mind that though smaller crochet shop may be less stringent in their requirements, most large chain stores will require you to have a form of relevant certification.
- On Your own YouTube Channel: If you are tech savvy, then you can make use of YouTube to teach people how to make crochets. If you are consistent with your posts and your content is relevant and interesting, you can go ahead to monetize it and make some money from your videos.
- Online Classes: there are several online platforms that you can make use of to teach people this skill by making a video course and then uploading it to the platform. Examples of these online platforms include Udemy, Craftsy, CreativeLive, SkillShare et al.
- Write Crochet Books: Another awesome way to teach crochet is to write crochet books. You could do photo tutorials that show step-by-step how a stitch or technique is crocheted. Your best publishing options are online in digital form. But if you have the funds to go with hard copy you might do good with that as well.
3. Blogging: a blog is an individual website that is updated on a regular basis. If you love to write and you also love to share new and exciting things about crochet making to the public, then blogging may just be for you. There are different ways by which a blog can be monetized so you should not stick to just one.
You can make money through blogging by putting up adverts on your blog, selling your own courses and books, affiliate marketing and of course Google AdSense. The more traffic you have, the more money you’ll make. Even if you post to your blog every day but only have ten people looking at it, you won’t make much money.
Blogging has been known to make some tenacious and hardworking people millionaires. It takes a lot of work, but with great content and consistent writing and reader engagement, you can build a blog that provides income through product sales, course sales, advertising income and affiliate links.
4. Pattern Testing: a lot of quality designer usually need pattern testers. Some of them may offer the pattern or the pattern plus supplies as payment for testing, however there is such a thing as a professional pattern tester whom designers pay to have their patterns tested.
This is awesome if you love to just sit back and crochet and not have to worry about the design or anything. All you do is keep your eyes open for problem areas and report them back to the designer.
The pay can actually be quite lucrative if you can get in with someone who pays well. You can check out the Crochet Guild of America and apply to become a contract crocheter and pattern tester. This is great for those who are detail oriented, patient and have good communication skills.
5. Design and sell your own patterns: this idea is best suited for people who are creative in nature. Instead of going the traditional route of making use of already existing patterns, you can create your own pattern from your mind. Here are a couple of ways by which you can sell your patterns;
- Sell the pdf pattern file on Etsy
- Sell the pdf pattern file on Ravelry
- Sell the pdf pattern file on Patternfish
- Submit your pattern to a crochet magazine – most pay designers for featured patterns
- Sell your patterns at craft fairs – many who attend these fairs are crafters too
- Sell your patterns at yarn stores
No matter where you sell your patterns, there is great reward in knowing that there are people out there replicating something you brought into existence by yourself.
6. Free Patterns and Sell Advertisements: another creative idea for making money from crochets is by offering your crochets up for free and then make your money by selling advertising space. Google Adsense, Chitika, Info Links and many other advertising companies have advertisers willing to buy your space. It should be noted that it takes a long time to get enough traffic to make this type of advertising worth your while.
7. Crafts Shows: Craft shows are yet another option that you use to make money from crochets. If this is what you’re planning on doing, then you will need to crochet up a nice inventory as you don’t want to run out of items. That means you will have a small start-up cost.
8. Design for Magazines: this involves designing crochets for magazines. Magazines are a great way to get your name out there as most of them usually have wide circulation.
9. Crochet shop: this idea is a lot more cost intensive than other ideas on this list. It will require you to have start-up funds that will enable you to set things up. This is also very risky as you could end up losing it all if your business doesn’t pick up.
Establishing an online presence, doing craft shows and then opening up a brick and mortar shop might be the best way to go. That way, you can use the other two to kind of hold yourself up when things don’t do so well in your shop.
You can sell a lot of things in your shop such as yarn, pattern books, crochet hooks and other crochet supplies. You can also sell your finished items as well as allow other crocheters to bring in their items and you would then keep a small percentage of the profit.
The good thing about owning your own brick and mortar shop is that you can purchase your yarn at wholesale prices and as such, you can enjoy cheaper prices.
10. Crochet Pattern Directory: this involves collecting crochet links and linking up with them from your directory. You then make your money by selling advertisements and driving traffic.
In conclusion, even though you may find it easy to make your first buck from crochet, it does take a long time to make consistent income from crocheting. Just like every other business, it takes hard work, persistence and dedication in order to make it work. But if you stick with it, the hard work will pay off.
If you think that starting a crochet business is saturated with everyone doing the same thing, you have to think again. There are so many ways to make money with crochet that you can choose the one that is just right for you, your lifestyle and your financial goals.