How to help teen daughter sell her crafts?

[Anonymous]

Let it be a lesson that just because you can do something doesn't mean you can make money doing it.

[Anonymous]

I feel like their is a college hook here. Creating and donating maybe....

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP: she makes mostly shawls. lace with beads is the current favorite, but she also does cabled stuff. She's made a few sweaters. Haven't heard of next-door, I'll check it out!!!

She needs to think about this. How many people are looking for shawls? Who is her target audience? Old ladies? How does she find old ladies? Nursing homes? Maybe the daughters of old ladies would buy shawls for their old lady mothers. Where to find the daughters?

She should see if she can make baby sweaters. People love hand-knitted stuff for babies.

this is the operative word.

She iis 17. Mom needs to not momager this process, she will throw away a perfectly good growing opportunity.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I feel like their is a college hook here. Creating and donating maybe....

You're gross. And pathetic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP: she makes mostly shawls. lace with beads is the current favorite, but she also does cabled stuff. She's made a few sweaters. Haven't heard of next-door, I'll check it out!!!

She needs to think about this. How many people are looking for shawls? Who is her target audience? Old ladies? How does she find old ladies? Nursing homes? Maybe the daughters of old ladies would buy shawls for their old lady mothers. Where to find the daughters?

She should see if she can make baby sweaters. People love hand-knitted stuff for babies.

I did have that thought - shawls are going to attract a pretty limited customer base. Something like baby sweaters is a great idea - we got one as a gift.

[Anonymous]

Maybe a local craft/gift or knitting store would display some to sell on consignment? Or a small clothing/fashion/accessory shop?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Let it be a lesson that just because you can do something doesn't mean you can make money doing it.

+1

Not to be debbie downer nor trivialize your daughter's talent, but there are a TON of people out there (my neighbor, for example,...and her entire knitting club) that have the exact same talent as your DD (and arguably more talented) who sell/donate/gift their items.

There might not be much of a demand for it especially since there are so many other people are doing the same thing ( and only better.).

[Anonymous]

Is she on ravelry? I think the money is in creating patterns.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I feel like their is a college hook here. Creating and donating maybe....

Yes - she can start a knitting club at a local nursing home/assisted living. Or just donate a few shawls to the nursing home; elderly women are often cold.

[Anonymous]

Most artist/designer don't start out making commissioned pieces. People come to them once they have a following because they want the quality and cache but they want an exclusive piece.

She needs to get her name out there by selling her product and proving value. Once she has she can start letting people know she does custom pieces and sell them at premium price. It sound to me like she would rather sell once piece at $500 that 100 pieces at $50.

She needs to learn to hustle if she want to make this a thing.

Also she should come up with a logo and have some tags made that she can attach to the piece. Either something that creates a brand ID and is visible, a tag on the inside so people can refer her to others or remember where it came from.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Any ideas? Anyone with crafty kids? How do your kids sell their stuff?

I think at 17 she's competing with crafty adults, not crafty kids.

[Anonymous]

You know why it's hard? Because people don't buy this stuff.

[Anonymous]

Textile Museum gift shop? I've seen some beautiful one-of-a-kind pieces in there. Not sure who their vendors are.

[Anonymous]

Agree with PPs that she needs to figure out where the market is for higher-end unique gifts. Baby items is a fantastic suggestion. People are often willing to spend a bit more for a really special custom piece as a baby gift.
I've done art and crafts. The time spent on each piece can be enormous. She needs to find out what the people who can afford to spend enough to reimburse her time are looking for.

What about wall art? People will spend more for that than an item of clothing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Most artist/designer don't start out making commissioned pieces. People come to them once they have a following because they want the quality and cache but they want an exclusive piece.

She needs to get her name out there by selling her product and proving value. Once she has she can start letting people know she does custom pieces and sell them at premium price. It sound to me like she would rather sell once piece at $500 that 100 pieces at $50.

She needs to learn to hustle if she want to make this a thing.

Also she should come up with a logo and have some tags made that she can attach to the piece. Either something that creates a brand ID and is visible, a tag on the inside so people can refer her to others or remember where it came from.

I posted the above. Have her binge watch The Profit this weekend. She can learn a lot of business basics, margin, finding COGS, market/marketing etc.