Christmas fairs seem like a distant dream, and I cant believe its over 360 days until the next Xmas day, luckily there are a few more days to enjoy until the festive season ends.
I was wondering what 2014 has taught you about your crafts/business, if anything and what changes you will make.
I have decided to shift my way of thinking and design/make so I can start selling my items at a vintage fair which is held throughout the year, see how that goes. If it doesnt work il stick to Xmas fairs.
I donāt really think much will be new for me except that I may not list so much on here as I normally do due to poor sales this year. I might spend more time on my website.
Hi, I will be making some changes to the type of items I knit. Lacy scarves and flower brooches will be on the way out and baby items on the way in. Iāve been teaming up with my sister for pop up shops and craft fairs this year and will continue this next year. I will also try to use my Folksy shop more next year. I retired this year and have had a very lazy year. More crafting next year! Liz.
Hi,
Over the last few months I have been jotting down any design ideas that come into my head, and I am so glad I did as there is nothing worse than the āblank canvasā situation, I have big plans for this year in my shops, my work is full time for me as being self employed there are a lot of other things that need to be in order too i.e Paperwork, tax returns etc, yes the boring side of things
I am feeling happy and very positive for the coming year, I am already putting in an order today for my materials and supplies to start the year afresh!
Wishing everyone a super New Year!
Jenny
This has been my first year of selling on Folksy and was quite happy with my sales, Iām not great at the whole promotion thing so for me a sale a week was amazing. The main thing I will change is making sure I work on promoting and making sure I keep trying new things with my jewellery making.
Iāve also never sold at a fair so that may be something else I try to tackle in 2015.
Heres hoping you all have a super succesfull new year and you all achieve your new goals.
I am planning to completely clear my stock. I have had sales and shifted quite a bit, but in January, I think I will reduce my prices to silly levels just to get rid of stuff as I still have so much here to shift.
Having re started in the summer after 14 years we found craft fairs to be very poor these days, unless we are doing the wrong ones! ( Think its trial and error, and finding the organisers who generally care about peoples crafts and advertise the events, not these dodgy people who are just out to make the table money!) Going to give the online Shop a go on Folksyā¦Already on Etsy and found it hit and missā¦ But then been told Folksy isnāt great either!! But I think Folksy is the way forwardā¦ Want to make some new designs like Astrological Candles with a Birth Stone inside. Loads of ideas ā¦needs to win the lotto!! HAPPY NEW YEAR ALL !!
I started listing small papercuts (ACEO and miniature) in October on Folksy and havenāt sold anything yet, though I have been told it can take months before a first order comes in?? Anyway, in the New Year Iām hoping to make some larger, maybe A5 and A4, papercuts as I noticed when I did put one larger picture in my shop, it did seem to attract more attention than the small ones (though I do enjoy making the miniature sizes). I think Iāll give my Folksy shop a year and then review what I am doing.
This year I have decided to clear all my stock and just make clothing to order- hence for a short time much of my stock is reduced to just Ā£5 per item. As I have not made one sale since January 2014, I have realised that making clothing to sell on here is never going to work as items would never be the size or colour to suit anyone even if I was putting in the promotion to get people looking at my store!
I know that I cannot compete with ready to wear and I would not want to. I would like to be able to create an item that someone wants that they cannot find on the high street - and it may not be as expensive as you think. I am happy to provide āno obligationā quotes so please contact me if there is something you would like to discuss.
I have quite a bit of stock of fabric, so I was thinking of posting an item with a āfabric of the monthā which could be made into an item of the customerās own choice - do you think that may appeal?
Previously I have had the same stock at the same price in my different online shops, so I could do a genuine like-for-like comparison. A definite pattern seems to be emerging, with lower priced items selling on here to UK buyers only, while a much larger range including many higher priced items sell elsewhere to customers worldwide.
For 2015 Iām looking to split my stock to reflect this difference. Of course this means Iāll have to make a lot more to keep the shops looking nice, but then thatās the best part of the business anyway.
