I'm having one of those moments again

[momijizukamori]

...The moments where I seriously consider trying to make money doing indie yarn dyeing because I really love doing it, and at this point I have amassed enough dyestuff that the start-up cost would mostly be the wool.

But I know Etsy is a platform that fails more than it succeeds, and I'm not sure the world has room for more indie dyers, particularly because ahahaha how do I market myself. But - I think I wouldn't be looking at it with the immediate goal of it being a full-time job/career. Just something to make some money on the side to fund my own crafting *g* Prices would probably be somewhere in the $15-$25 range, looking at bulk supplier prices (the variation mostly depends on fiber-content)

Thoughts?

Comments

[amberleewriter]

Don't know your area but we have someone who started selling at local craft shows and farmer markets and then ended up opening a yarn/spinning shop once they had enough followers. They also sell things online.

You might need to have multiple streams like that - do you have a local farmer's market you could sell at and hand out business cards with your Etsy store listed? We also had someone do the same with cupcakes and pies at local markets -- selling samples, taking orders, had a web presence then finally got a shop.

In summer in particular we have 1 day a week markets. My town has one on Wednesday from 4-7. One town over has a morning on on Saturdays from 7am until 11. There's another the next town south on Tuesdays from 2-6. If you set up your store and have stock and cards, this might be a way to get things going. Also, do you have a local spinning group or yarn supply place? If you have stock they might buy to sell to people or be interested in stocking some of your work.

Good luck!

[momijizukamori]

That's... a good thought. I'm not sure my city has little markets because my city has NOTHING but there's probably stuff within a short drive. And we have a local yarn store that's independently owned/run.

I suppose if everything flops, I can probably sell stuff at-cost to friends, though the initial start-up costs to get a few different colorways is scary, haha.

[akatonbo]

There's a market on Saturdays at the art museum that just started up a couple of weeks ago, one on Chandler opposite the stadium on Fridays and... I think Mondays?... that we've bought veggies and bread at but it also has at least one craft booth, and a market on Saturdays at Green St that's also open in the winter. Plus various assorted craft fairs and stuff. My dad keeps looking into them for his nature photography business (he sells cards and prints on Etsy already) and I keep hoping he'll sign up for one so I can tag along with a giant rack of earrings, because I have a LOT of earrings I could be selling, but he usually decides it's not worth the price of a table.

[momijizukamori]

Ha, I should've thought to ask you! I'll have to look into those (though I should probably look into things like 'a name' and possibly 'a logo' first)

[synecdochic]

many indie dyers i know of, i know through the Phat Fiber box -- if you do a bit of self-marketing through the Ravelry group and religiously contribute to the box (which is a business expense that's deductable), you may see some results.

[momijizukamori]

Oooh, good to know. I think most of the ones I know are either popular on Rav, or were stocked locally (I always try to find local yarn on trips)