I've been doing a fair bit of woodworking recently (a couple of slingshots and spoons and a hell of a lot of wooden needles), as well as doing more nålbinding and sling-making, and I'm wanting to make more stuff because... well it's fun. I don't want to drown in wooden utensils and scarves though and I'm eventually going to run out of family members I can gift stuff too, so I would want to try selling them. I'm not expecting, or really wanting, it to become my sole source of income, but I feel like, if I'm going to do this, it would be nice to at least make it worth the effort. I've looked around and Etsy seems like the most promising but then they do take a pretty big percentage as far as I can see. I feel like with eBay, anything I make would be lost in an ocean of stuff. I have managed to sell some needles through a Facebook group but that's not really the best way as far as I can see.

I might be able to sell some things in "real life" as there are a lot of markets in and around Helsinki but online would be easier to organise.

I know some of you guys sell things now and again or it's your full-time job so what would you all suggest? Thanks!

I am on etsy,  i dont think the percentage they take is too big,  i will have to take a look and get back to you with examples from my own experience and get real numbers

online is never as good as you think it will be.

To make any money out of anything these days is hard work. And - unfortunatly - socila media seems to be where you need to do your marketing.
Craft fairs are actually a better option, as you can interact with people and explain why your stuff is what their friends and relatives really need !

Hopefully I'll be going to my first next week.

Tips I've been gleaning.

Have something nobody else has got.
DON'T sell too cheap. It's weird but people are reluctant to buy things that are too cheap. They think there's always going to be a catch.
Be prepared to deal.

I've got a whole bunch of stuff I can reasonably sell for £5.
Will I sell someone 3 for £10 - absolutely.
So charge enough that people think they've got a bargain through haggling

I've got a whole range of Rude Kitchenware I'm working on.
Thought of one last night. Wooden place mat with: 'Eat it or Starve, You Ungrateful Child !'  engraved in big letters. haven't decided whether to add a skeleton or not.
Whole bunch of other stuff, just this side of unforgiveabley tasteless. Pretty sure there's a market

I want to try it too.
It seems that etsy is the platform to start selling handmade stuff.
what seems to be good with online selling is that you don't need to be there all the time like in a market
but on the downside it seems that social media push the constant striving way of life , etsy and youtube algorithms seem to favour those who upload new products/videos consistently and very often. not necessarily good quality stuff.

I got real problem with pricing I ve only sold 2 low poundage bows 35euros each i don't regret it because i sold them to a friend.
But how do you price a handmade thing made from low cost material but took you many hours to make?
people sell fiberglass bows at 80 euros  that would take me 20-40 hours to make out of wood, charging time spent would raise the prices tremendously, so I'm a little confused with the whole pricing thing.

Thanks guys! This is all really good stuff. Maybe I should focus on local markets then. I know there are some days ("cleaning days") over here where anyone can set up a stall, or just a blanket on the ground, and sell their old stuff which I think could be pretty good. I don't exactly know how it works for the weekly markets but it's definitely something I'm going to be looking into.

Sarosh wrote on Sep 24^th, 2019 at 9:01am:


This is something I've been struggling with as well. I've seen people selling wooden "pagan idols" on Etsy for 40€ and I'm not exaggerating when I say I could make an identical one in an hour. All positive reviews as well. I recently was selling some needles on a Facebook nålbinding group for 6€ (that includes the p&p) and some users were accusing me of scamming people! I have no idea how much I should be charging for something like a spoon.

Morphy wrote on Sep 24^th, 2019 at 9:42am:


is there a reasonable price? maybe lowering the price throws reason out of the window.
I was thinking of making 100euro slings and had the same thoughts

it's funny how people (on the internet) suggest pricing jewelry.  some are like (time spent *10euros/hour + material cost)*3 do that to a bow and you are over 1k euros easily.


Kick wrote on Sep 24^th, 2019 at 10:23am:


there is also the idea that providing too low price harms those who make a living out of this.

what's p&p?

as far as slings go, uwe is probably the best sling maker in the world. He sells his at around the 60-70 euro mark.
These are 12-14 strand  braids. I have absolutely no idea how he does it.
And for the skill and time involved he's selling them, cheap.

Luis sells his balearic slings with hand stitched leather on the split for 30-40 euros.


With a bow again price realistially. A handmade wooden bow will just look suspicious at 35 euros.
Start at around 150-250.
do some decoration and double the price.  People seem to like prettty

Etsy - yeah been on there a while, not a nibble.
But then I really don't like socila media much and don't live on my cell phone or do any social media on it at all.

Curious Aardvark

are Uwe and Luis selling online ? where?

Curious Aardvark wrote on Sep 24^th, 2019 at 3:59pm:


the right thing was to be suspicious, I told the buyer "they are my first bows be very careful if they break in a year you got your money back". first time I shot them was in front of him no previous test shots to break them in and make sure they work...