Selling Labor-Intensive Products
Selling Needlework and Other
Labor-Intensive Products –
Maybe There’s a Better Way to Go
Of all the labor-intensive handcrafts, needlework is the one most difficult to sell at a profit. Needleworkers and others who work with threads and fiber don’t like to give their labor away, but they often have little choice if they want to sell what they’ve made. In discussing this problem with a professional weaver back in the early 1970s, she shared her philosophy about the “love of doing.”
“We don’t get paid for love,” she said. “If we sell, we just charge what the market will bear and throw profit to the wind.”
HER WORDS CAME BACK TOME a few years later when I found myself offering one of my Taaniko wall hangings to a friend for the ridiculous sum of $25. Ridiculous because I’d spent at least a hundred hours on its design and creation and, when I compared my labor on this project to the $6/hour I was then getting as a freelance secretary, I reasoned for a moment that my piece was therefore worth at least $600. Ha! Can you imagine anyone paying that much then or now for a weaving by an unknown artist?
Yet, when I sold that piece for $25 I actually felt as if I’d made a profit. Not a financial profit, of course, but a real profit nonetheless. After all, I’d already had the “love of doing” the piece, and now I had the added satisfaction of knowing that a friend was going to enjoy owning something I’d made. Plus I had $25 cash in hand (a $15 “profit” after I’d subtracted my materials cost) and I promptly spent it on needlework supplies and a set of art pens I’d been wanting.
Consider Alternative Options
Today, whenever someone who is involved in a labor-intensive craft complains about their inability to make a profit from the sale of their work, I often ask them if they are creating what they want to make, or what people want to buy. There’s a big difference between the two, and this is a marketing topic discussed at length in most of my books.
If this is your problem, perhaps you would be better off, financially speaking, if you were to explore some of the other ways creative people can make money from craft and needlework skills and know-how. For example, what do you know that someone else doesn’t know? Can you teach it, lecture about it, demonstrate it at shows, or put it in writing? If so, you have a marketable product indeed.
Can you offer a special service that’s hard to find? Then tell people about it. Have you ever created an original project and thought others might like to try it, too? Maybe you can sell the idea as a how-to article or even put it into a kit you can manufacture yourself.
Can you design original patterns and charts for needleworkers? Try selling them to shops or magazines, or publish a book of your own designs to sell by mail, at fairs, or on your own Web site. Or consider selling your patterns and designs as electronic downloads that buyers can easily print themselves.
Certainly there are better ways to make money from needlework skills and know-how than selling hundreds of hours of your labor at giveaway prices. Projects that take this kind of time should only be made for yourself or a loved one with no thought about the time invested in it. Here, your profit will always be the “love of doing” plus the joy you will experience if you decide to give your precious creation to someone you love. More than likely, they will treasure your gift for years to come.
In fact, the last time I visited the friend who had purchased my Taaniko weaving (pictured below), it brought tears to my eyes to see that she still had it prominently displayed as a work of art in her home. Always remember this: Whether you sell your stitchery and other creations for a good financial profit, or simply give them away, they have special value to the person who owns them.
Many crafters have told me how hard it is to part with a really special piece of work. “It’s like I’m giving away a tiny piece of myself in the process,” they say. But what’s wrong with that? As the years pass, little pieces of yourself will be living on in countless homes and may even end up outliving you! When you consider how many of yesterday’s handcrafts are now on display in antique shops and museums, it doesn’t take a great leap of faith to imagine that this could also happen to some of your special creations. Think about that the next time you put countless hours of work into a piece of “unprofitable” stitchery or craftwork.
FOR MORE INFORMATION on other ways to profit from creative talents and know-how, see Barbara’s books, Creative Cash and Handmade for Profit.
If you used to sell certain labor-intensive products and then found a better way to make money from your special skills and know-how, please share your story with me for publication in my Reader Mail department. - Barbara
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Comments
Great article, Barbara. Every time I watch Antiques Roadshow and see a wonderful creation of old, I think “I want to make something as lovely that stands the test of time and is worth something in memory and as a collectible.” This to me is true art, and worthy use of time. I think love is a very key factor.
Sue D
Hi Barbara,
I found your article most informative. I have been crafting for years(knitting, embroidery, rug hooking, etc.) and never knew how much to charge for things I’ve made. As you said in your article, it seemed that either no one would buy my products or I didn’t make any money. I never thought about selling the product “indirectly” by selling through other media. You’ve given me something to think about. Thanks very much.
Louise Saulnier
Moncton, NB Canada
Hi Barbara,
I have almost everyone of your books and was considering selling them, but just can’t seem to let them go. I have you to thank for my “success” as a crochet pattern designer. Although I have yet to make my “millions”, I have a steady income each month from the sale of my patterns on Etsy.
I am now considering making up kits and selling the patterns to yarn shops, and recently opened your books to refresh myself on what you had said about those methods.
Decided to look you up on the web, and voila! Here you are. Looking into how to actually do the packaging by finding other examples.
I stopped selling the custom items because of wrist problems about 2 years ago. Even with my limited “marketing” efforts, I still do well and people seem to love my patterns, so I know if I put a bit more effort into it, I could do better.
I’m even planning on writing a book, since crochet is so popular right now – hopefully I won’t miss the wave.
Thank you so much for your continued advice – through your books and now here on the internet.
Akrista
Great advice, as usual! This post reminded me of all of the hours my gram used to spend making her beautiful quilts. When she passed away, all eight grandchildren were fortunate enough to receive one of these treasures. While some would certainly suggest storing this heirloom away, I use that quilt (like others she made for me), as often as I can. There’s something uniquely comforting about having that quilt draped over me, and it’s the closest thing to a hug from my gram now that she is gone.
Because of the love that I know goes into handmade quilts, I have “collected” quite a few over the years. Some are from other family members, and others are from estate sales and antique stores. It’s fun to try and imagine the stories behind them. Thanks for reminding me of those fond memories with this post.