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An Amazon Economy

Writer's picture: Rebecca (a yarn enthusiast)Rebecca (a yarn enthusiast)

My sister and I have been wanting to do a small, local craft show event "for old times sake", and we finally did it this past weekend. Mostly we had sewn items that included reusable holiday gift bags, wine bags, reusable coffee cup sleeves (think Starbucks without the cardboard) and tissue holders. I also had a few items that I had crocheted a while back and that have been popular when received as gifts: cord keepers and lip balm holders. We more than covered our table fee, but I have some things to say about craft shows in general - especially craft shows in the 21st century.

My first observation is that some craft vendors seem to exaggerate their sales success. We chatted with a few of the folks around us, and since there were 2 of us, and not a lot of traffic at any one time, we were able to observe the ebb and flow of business at the tables close by. One couple, who sold cross-stitched and crocheted items, told us that they were doing really well and much better than the last time they did this show. We were kind of surprised, since we had not seen many visits to their table and only about 3 purchases made of single items. I believe this habit is due to a combination of things, including an attempt to think positively about the show as well as their efforts. Our observations were echoed by other crafters, who were more direct. People were not selling much, and they were disappointed.


Toward the end of the day when the flow of people had all but subsided, I wanted to chat with some fellow fiber artists so I wandered across the gymnasium to a table that was all crochet animals (amigurumi). I knew that the woman had sold at least one octopus as I saw a young man (a kid) whose mother had purchased one for him, and could tell he loved it, so I opened with that, and an acknowledgement that I too am a crocheter. Her adult daughter was with her, and when I asked how she priced her items, her daughter snorted.


For some context, her tennis ball-sized octopi were priced at $5 and the larger ones - about the size of a football - were priced at $15. The woman told me she "just kinda guessed at what people would spend" for each item. I told her I thought she was not charging enough for the work she put into her very nice items, and her daughter agreed. We chatted a bit more, wished each other well, and I went on with my "research".


When I was making my lip balm holders for a craft show excursion a few years ago, I timed myself in making one of them, starting the timer when I sat down and made the first stitch and not stopping the timer until I had a finished (sellable) product. I was able to make 3 or 4 of the lip balm holders in an hour and the cost of the yarn and the other supplies (lanyard clip) were minimal (cents) increasing only if I added a small charm/decoration.


This meant that for me the primary consideration would be the time investment. Since I could make between 3 and 4 of them an hour, I decided to sell them at $3/each which translated into a gross hourly rate of $3 x 3.5 lip balm holders = $10.50/hour GROSS wage (before any supply costs were subtracted).


This isn't a great hourly wage, but I thought that if it was something that sold well, I could practically make them in my sleep - AND, I enjoyed it - why not?!


I only sold about 10 of them at that show, so I had an excess inventory that I had stored away for a couple years until this recent show. Since these were add-ons for our inventory at this event, I decided to make them $2/each and assumed that this price point would help them sell. Keep in mind that at a selling price of $2/each, I would be making a GROSS wage of $7/hour, which is even less than the state minimum wage. We ended up selling 2 and I gave 3 of them away to little kids that didn't have any cash and wanted one.


From my observations, experience and calculations - many people are pricing crocheted/knitted items in such a way that they are barely exchanging money to cover their supplies. They are not "making money" in any sense of the word. When we add a low-transaction event to a seller who is not charging enough for their items, what we have is an event that was VERY successful for the sponsors, who charged $50 a table (they earned several thousand dollars from the space rentals that day) and a lot of dejected crafters who went home with LESS money than they had in their accounts before they prepped for the show.


A (somewhat) amusing, but enlightening incident made my sister and I shake our heads. We made tissue pack holders as part of our inventory, and priced those at $3/each.


Around halfway through the show, an older woman stopped by our table, picked up one of our tissue holders and pronounced that "Someone upstairs is selling these for 50-cents each!".


My eyes grew wide and I said that the time I spent making them was worth more than 50-cents.


It turned out she was the one selling them for 50-cents (no one was buying those either), but the exchange helped to underscore my suspicion that too many crafters are willing to spend their time to essentially give away their products.


I need to acknowledge that I likely have a lower tolerance for underpaid work than others. I am lucky to have a very good job, and opportunities for side hustles that are also well-compensated. Still, no one should work for nothing.


Both my sister and I encountered people who reported they were having a "TERRIFIC" day but who were selling things for well-below what we know it cost them in materials, let alone time.


Our assumption is also that a number of folks consider it a "good day" if they make multiple sales (and again, we didn't see this happening on a regular basis that day).


One person asked us about how we were doing and reported that they hadn't made their first sale until well after 1pm (the show opened at 10am). I want to stress that NONE of my commentary is meant as a criticism of the crafters, their items, talent or hard work. I am commenting on the sad state of the "economy of Amazon".


This "economy" has largely rendered hand made items by local artists undesirable because for the price of a single item at a local craft show - even ones that are UNDERPRICED - you can buy 10 of nearly the same item from a seller on Amazon.


Craft show shoppers have been immunized against fair pricing for locally-made handcrafts, and this has upended the craft show market. To be fair, there are higher-end shows, and JURIED shows, but even in those corners (and we know a bit about these as we practically grew up in juried shows with our parents who were artists), the pressure on pricing is having an impact.


I understand the urge to want to work for oneself when money is tight, or when extra income is needed; but I'm not sure that the craft show market is the best place to turn any more. Even Etsy, which was once hailed as the largest online craft show, has begun to price the smaller crafters out of their market with increasing fees and additional hurdles to selling.


If asked, here is my "advice" for anyone who finds themselves in this quandary and is wondering what they can do.


  1. Do some market research on your craft and similar items.

    1. Are your items - or something similar - available online?

      1. if so, what do they cost?

      2. are your items significantly different in a way that would make people want them over the online ones?

        1. if so, would they be willing to pay more for yours?


  2. Do some focus group testing!

    1. make several of your items and give them to people who will be willing to give you HONEST ADVICE! (not your best friends or people who won't be honest. I see a LOT of things at shows that could have used some honest feedback).

    2. Ask them their opinions on:

      1. the quality of the item

      2. the price you plan to charge

      3. how interested they would be in buying the item(s) if they came across it at a craft show

    3. Ask what would make them buy one like YOURS from a local crafter for your proposed price and what would make them skip that and buy the cheaper one online.


  3. Do a time study on how long it takes you to make one of each item.

    1. Make 1 item and log the time from start to finish.

    2. Calculate how many of the item you can you make in 1 hour

      1. e.g. if it takes you 15 minutes to make something, you know you can make 4 in an hour.


  4. Evaluate the cost of your SUPPLIES

    1. Multiply the supply cost for a single item by the number of items you can make in 1 hour to get an hourly supply cost for that particular item.


  5. Take the amount you will make by SELLING an hour's worth of items and subtract the cost of supplies for an hour's worth of items to get a general "net" profit on this item, for an hour of your work.

    1. Keep in mind that if you go to a show and pay for a table, that cost comes off the top of the sales you make that day.


  6. Evaluate if you are willing to work that hard to make $______ per hour.


In my example of the lip balms (above), I would only make around $10/hour if I sold them for $3/each, and then only if I was able to sell enough of them.


At at a craft show where the table rental is $50, I would need to sell items representing 5 hours worth of my work just to break even (that means go home with $0.00 profit).


If I priced the lip balm holders at $2/each, based on low sales at the $3 price point, I would need to sell more than 7 hours worth of my work to break even on the table cost (again, $0 profit). The trends I have seen in craft shows don't support this as a solid business plan.


  • Keep in mind I am not even considering my time at the craft show in my wage calculations. Time is money, and the time spent sitting at a craft show should be considered in the larger consideration.

    • This means that the break-even point is even HIGHER


The LONG and the SHORT of it is this: making money at crafting/craft shows is much harder today in the age of Amazon than it was in years past.


As someone who grew up running around at craft shows and living a middle class life from the proceeds of those craft shows, it breaks my heart to see the state of the industry today.


It's important to make solid decisions when it comes to investing our time and our money. I love crafting, crocheting, knitting and sewing - but I have done the math and know that they are best as hobbies, and not as a side hustle.


My intent in posting this is NOT to discourage people from their dreams, but to encourage a pivot toward something that returns the respect and compensation that is deserved for the time and talent.


It's time we looked at the return on investment data for crafters at smaller local markets through the lens of the Amazon Economy. It MAY even be time to "just say no" to organizations that want to use $50 craft tables and a weekend craft show to raise money for themselves. The data simply doesn't support this as a viable income option for the crafters. While the sponsors of these shows aren't bad people, they often end up as the only ones making significant money at these events.


So, crafters beware! Be smart and be willing to gather the data and honestly look at the hard truths.


We must do our homework. We deserve respect for our creativity, but need to understand that no one is going to swoop in and fix this or rescue us. We have to do the heavy lifting for ourselves on this one.


(C) 2024 Stitch 'n Dish





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