How to Increase Profit With Crafts

As with any business, in order to profit with crafts you need to keep your expenses low and your income high.

Here a few ways you can increase your profit margin:

1. Increase sales

   Obviously, the more you sell the more money you'll make. Take a look here for tips on how to increase sales at your parties. But there's more to it than that...

2. More high profit sales

   It's not just how much you sell but what you sell that affects your profit with crafts. Some of your items probably have a higher profit margin than others, so try to focus customers on these by making them the most prominent part of your display. If you're selling wearable crafts, such as jewellery or clothing, wear your most striking and expensive piece!

3. Increase prices

   This needs to be done carefully if you've already established yourself (which is why you should really try to get your pricing right in the first place), but it is definitely possible and can make a real difference to your profits.
   
   

   Take note of which is your most popular item, and try raising the price a little - if you still sell just as many, raise it a little further. Do this with just one or two items at a time. If you sell a few less pieces, but still earn the same amount of money, you're already increasing profits!

   To further increase your profit with crafts, consider packaging them in such a way that they can command higher prices. Displaying them in special boxes can make them look more expensive without adding significantly to your costs.

   I've found this to be especially true of jewellery - people seem to be happy to pay quite a lot more for items that are packaged in elegant boxes (which don't cost me very much in comparison).

   For more ideas and in depth information about raising your prices, I recommend you read the ebook 46 Ways to Raise Prices... Without Losing Sales!

4. Reduce costs

   This is a great way to increase profit with crafts without having to experiment with your prices or even generate more sales.

   • Try as much as possible to buy in bulk to take advantage of wholesale or discounted prices, though only if you know you're going to use the materials! Some suppliers also give free shipping over certain amounts.
   • Shop around at different suppliers to get the best price on your materials.
   • Try to buy as much as possible from one or two suppliers, rather than using different suppliers for all your different materials - this will keep your shipping (or petrol) costs down.

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5. Streamline production

   As a crafter, your sales (and therefore your profits) are limited by how many items you can make, so try to streamline your work process to be as efficient as possible.

   • Work on the same or similar items at one sitting, so that you waste less time finding and getting out different supplies and tools.
   • Using a 'production line' system is much more efficient than working on one item at a time, particularly if your craft involves waiting periods (e.g. for glue to dry). Break the crafting process up into small chunks, then repeat each activity for several items before moving on to the next part of the process.

     Bear in mind though that you probably won't want to do the same task for too long before moving on to the next step, in order to avoid boredom and repetitive strain injuries.

   • If possible, have a dedicated workspace with all your supplies and tools at hand, to minimise wasting time on packing or unpacking each time you work.

To profit with crafts, you'll need to experiment a little - decide which of these areas is most likely to help you, and hopefully you'll soon see a difference in your accounting records!

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