Disclaimer: This blog post is not meant to dissuade or discourage anyone out there who sells their crochet work or dreams of doing so. If you find your efforts are paying off, by all means, go make a killing!! 

Hi. If you’ve spoken to me within that last couple of years, you’d know I’m very adamant about not trying to sell my crochet work. I’ve tried numerous routes in my arsenal to make money from my crochet talent in my later 20’s. Most efforts ended in complete failure or close to it.

A casual vlog of my discussion why I don’t sell my art(crochet)

I tried having an Etsy shop, I sank more money into maintaining it than selling; I tried selling at a Farmer’s Market twice, one person bought from me the first time and the second two people bought;  I tried my own website on various platforms, not once has a single transaction took place; I tried eBay, same experience as Etsy; I tried having a Facebook fan page,

barely anyone interacted with it; I tried handing out business cards, never heard back from anyone who took them.

Let’s just say my decision to be resistant to selling is backed up with a lot of experience. I personally hate getting the run around from people. Talk is cheap. I hate when someone says that they will buy something just to never buy it. It’s worse when it comes to commissions. My hopes get brought up just to be crushed. So I became a “selfish hooker”(one who crochets only for herself and occasionally loved ones during the holiday season.)

But one thing I had not tried, consignment. Scratch that, I did do a consignment before I had established my work’s worth. Needless to say, I was scammed. So I won’t consider that to be a failure.

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There’s a place that I like to buy some of my skincare products. It’s a local shop near my house. I’m very much a “support local business” within reason. This is a black-owned business on top of that, so I feel a bit biased. But– I don’t believe in supporting a black-owned business simply because black people own it. If you have a good product that I want to buy, I’ll buy it. Supporting the black business is a bonus.

Anyway, minor tangent. The shop owner asked if I would crochet some pieces for his shop in February 2018.  I tend to wear my crochet stuff a lot in my free time.

At first, I was hesitant and resistant. Then a month later I decide to try it out.

 “Well, I won’t be involved in finding customers, dealing with the flakes, or the riding the roller coaster or hopes and dreams–crushed edition. I just make the stuff and if sells, cha-ching!”

Or so I thought. I was wrong. One day I was dropping off a few more crocheted pieces to the shop, Wednesday, March 21. The shop owner tells me about a lady who has the first top I made on hold. She’ll be back to purchase it on that Friday. That Friday comes and goes. The only money that I gain is a $5 bill I find in a parking lot by dumb-luck.

My thoughts so far are, consignment isn’t a stress-free way to go. It’s a stress-reduced option. I’m only giving this a trial run of 6 months.

Hope for the best, but fully expect the worst.

-MikuMarmalade

My motto when it comes to making money from my talent for crocheting.

But hey, I do hope things go well. If I 100% believed this was a waste of my time, I wouldn’t bother.

Update: April 14, 2018

One of the tops sold. It’s the same one the owner was speaking of. Although it sold a later period.