Where is the American Dream of making a living with handcrafted?

[liz stevens]

Where is the American Dream of still being able to make a living with handcrafted Products?

It seems the American dream of making a quality handcrafted product and then being able to sell it is not as easy today, even with the Internet. No matter what the home based business person can dream up, it likely can already be found on the shelf of a discount store, much cheaper than what can be made by them one at a time. Most of the time products will be duplicated in plastic, made of wood fibers, or sewn on a computerized machine. Nothing like the hand rubbed hardwoods used in the real hand crafted items, or the pain staken hours of the needle and thread in quilt work patterns. The hours it takes to make some of these products can never be recouped in the prices these discount stores are selling them for. Trying to find a market place in difficult economic times is even becoming harder. Even many of the Amish have seeked other revenue streams, working in local factories. With these factories now cutting back, the economy is now hitting these communities hard as well.

We believe the art of making these future cherished items is very important to keep in our American heritage alive. I would like to hear of success stories on who is doing well in this economy with handcrafted products in a home business to share ideas with others. We are totally dedicated to the cottage based industry. We provide a new market place for the cottage based business owners. We charge no fees to set up or carry quality items in our on line store. Please join us in keeping this industry alive.

Liz

 

[danielle82]

I would like to hear some "success stories" as well!

 

[savingdogs]

I was hoping to start making handcrafted soaps, and I think a few people on this forum do this and are successful although I don't know if they use it as a means of support. My intent with making soap was to help offset the price of our dairy products, not to make money, and to have something to barter.

I think in this economy, if you wanted to make handcrafted items the best idea would be to diversify and make something versatile and essential and some things that are just beautiful or useful, etc., so that you don't put yourself in a niche that dries up or is too small. I wish I was talented like Wifezilla at artwork, that is an example of something versatile.

 

[freemotion]

I just started making goat's milk soap to sell this year and it is starting to take off....out of control, it seems, only because I was unprepared for the demand. I am FAR from making a living at it but the potential is there....if I wanted it, which I don't. I am a big believer in not having all my eggs in one basket....I like my income to come from several sources, so if one dries up for whatever reason, we are not devastated. That philosophy has served me well over the years.

However....the profit margin is fairly high with soap, for a handcrafted item. I only sell wholesale and have no overhead for craft fairs or farmer's markets. I don't wrap my bars, color or scent them. I don't use purchased molds and purposely make the bars look rough with a veg peeler.

Because of selling wholesale only, I don't have the problem of stock that didn't sell. We use the corner bars ourselves, but I can see that we will eventually have too many, and I know there will be no problem selling those as well. I have another wholesale buyer who has been bugging me and I'm scrambling to make up a bunch of batches so I can sell to her market, too, in a month when everything is cured.

Most of the problem with handcrafted items is that most people don't recognize quality when they see it, nor do they value it. Then there are those handcrafters, even in this country, willing to work for a buck an hour or less. Interestingly, soap sells at a much higher price than you can get in the grocery store with a coupon, yet people who try it come back for more and tell their friends because it doesn't dry out their skin like the petroleum-based products, like Ivory, do.

 

[valmom]

I was also going to say that people have been spoiled with the cheap price of imported "stuff" and wouldn't recognize (or pay for!) quality even if they could afford it. Most hand-crafted things take much longer to make than the price could possibly reflect. $1 an hour plus cover your supplies- and that would probably put most hand-crafted things out of the Wal-Mart price range.