Any Ribblrs here who sell physical crochet items?

Crochet 🧶
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For the ribblrs here who sell plushies, can you answer a couple questions for me? I own a shop on etsy but its not really going anywhere… :)

  1. Where do you sell? (etsy, markets, upon orders, etc.)
  2. How much have you sold off the top of your head?
  3. Do you sell amigurumi, clothes, hats?
  4. How do you price out items?
  5. What’s your bestselling item?
  6. What’s your average income each month (if comfortable sharing)
  7. Do you have socials? How many views do you typically get on a post, watch time, likes, # of followers, etc.?
  8. What do you post?
  9. What’s a good way to find audience engagement for posts?
  10. Since the economy is considerably “poor”, how do you find the right people to sell to. (I’ve had people shy away from purchases at markets because of the prices, but i think my prices are fair, and my family says i price too low.)
  11. any other tips/ things to mention?
    Ty for filling this out if u did, im trying to get more sales.
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Excellent questions :)
*I apply for farmers markets when i can during the Summer. I also find markets during busy times for example Christmas and maybe spring.
*How much I’ve sold varies depending on the market. If i make more then my table cost then i did well. normally my tables cost $55-150 keep in mind the 150 is a two day market.
my last market i brought home almost $500. Keep in mind I am in Canada.

  • I sell hats, Amigurumi, clothes and some hair accessories like hair bows. I don’t always take all this to every market. It depends solely on how much room i have in my space.
  • pricing varies it depends on how much materials cost plus my time and i would suggest looking up craft pricing calculation formulas and go with the one that suits you best.
  • last market my Darrow the highland cow (my design) sold mostly and loaf cats.
  • i am only on Facebook and Instagram personally I don’t really pay much attention to views i prefer to be in person.
  • I post photos, sometimes ill post reels of me making items, updates
    *tip for finding an audience to engage with your posts. id suggest to collab with other makers and follow people who can give tips on increasing your following.
  • Be authentic would be my suggestion with finding the right people to purchase from you.
    Over all my last suggestions would be to create a list of goals you’d like to achieve something that is attainable nothing to high. If you hit those goals early then reassess and set a new goal. I was at a market last Christmas with four other crochet tables and it appeared to me most came to my table. So for that i would suggest to create a display that makes your items pop! Use price tags instead of signs. Its your craft so pricing things is hard but once you find something that works for you id say go for it.
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  1. i mostly sell in-person in cafes or markets!
  2. i’ve sold at least 41 items (from my square dashboard, it might be a lot more than that)
  3. i sell mostly amigurumi, but i also have market bags, accessories, and clothing!
  4. i have a google spreadsheet that i made that automatically determines the price based on the difficulty and size of the pattern.
  5. so far, i’ve had a few bestsellers! loaf cats, axolotls, mushroom pops, mushroom frogs, birdy pops. so, mostly fidget toys!
  6. i don’t really have an average income from selling, as i work a full-time job and mostly sell at markets on the side. so, i sporadically sell at markets.
  7. i do! i mostly use instagram for my crochet account but don’t post regularly, so i don’t really have an average of audience engagement.
  8. i post pictures of the projects i make!
  9. i have no idea about this one, so if anyone else knows, i’d love to hear it! social media is really difficult to manage imo :sweat_smile:
  10. unfortunately, i’ve just had to accept the fact that sometimes, people will look at my stuff and say it’s too expensive and/or won’t buy it. when i first started selling, i sold giant plushies for like $5-10. i didn’t feel comfortable charging more because my work wasn’t perfect. i did finally have someone come up to me when i was vending and asked for a custom. i was going to charge like $10, but she insisted on paying like $30 and she told me that i should start valuing my handmade work more. i’ve kept this in mind since and try to price more fair!
  11. i think just reminding yourself that profit isn’t everything and that your work has value are really good things to consider! it can feel very discouraging if we feel like we’re pricing things fairly but still not making sales. but, the right person will eventually come along and be so excited to grab something! so, don’t get discouraged – it will all work out! :grin:
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Do you find selling on the square app going well? I’m in the process of setting my website up.

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i haven’t made any sales directly through my square website, but i use the square point of sale app when i sell in-person because i have a square reader. i do have a square website and pay for plus so i can have my unique URL, and i do list my patterns for sale there, but selling on your own website definitely requires a lot more advertising than something like etsy, so that’s something to keep in mind. i honestly mostly use my website as a portfolio to show people at markets so they can see what I’ve made and place custom orders! :grin:

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That’s a good idea. Thanks for your feedback. I’ve used the point of sale app for years and had their first square reader which was good.

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Tysm. Could u instruct me on how to do that spreadsheet price thing?

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Tttyyy!

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i basically did it in google sheets with the product name, dropdowns for difficulty and size, and then it auto-generates the price from an IFS(AND) formula based on the previous inputs. :grin:

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