Frugal Babe

A rich life without a lot of money

  • Home
  • About me

Can I Make Money With My Crafty Cards?

August 5, 2007 By Frugal Babe

For the last few years, I’ve been making greeting cards for our family and friends.   I’ve also made sets of photo greeting cards and given them as Christmas presents, with 10 cards and envelopes tied  in a bunch with pretty string.   Time and again recipients have told me that I should sell my cards, but I’d never given it much thought.   Recently however, I started thinking more seriously about it.   I love making cards, and if I could earn us a little extra money by making more of them, it would help us meet our financial goals faster.  

Yesterday, we went to a nearby pedestrian mall, and I inquired at three crafty/arty stores about how the whole process would work.   I still have to contact the people who handle cards at each store, and submit samples, but I’m optimistic after my initial meetings.   It looks like in general the artist gets about 50% of the sale, and handmade cards sell for between $2 and $7, depending on the complexity.   I have a pretty wide range of cards, and I would probably sell the photo cards for about $2.50 ($1.25 for me), and my more ornate, stitched cards for about $4 or $5 each.   The photo cards are very quick to make, once I take a good picture.   The hand stitched cards take a lot longer to make, so I wouldn’t make as much money on a per hour basis with those.   But if I were able to have about half photo cards and half stitched/papercraft cards, I could probably end up with about $20/hour for my time.  

This is of course assuming that the people in charge like my cards, and that  customers buy them.   I looked at the cards on display in the stores yesterday, and my designs are very different – I didn’t see anything that looks like what I do.   I really like my cards, and hopefully other people will too.   The nice thing about this particular pedestrian mall is that it’s in a high-income town and there are lots of tourists, pretty much all year round.   And it seems that they are all spending money, judging from the shopping bags we always see people carrying and the prices of the stuff in the stores.

I’m going to work on this project this week.   I have to take samples to one store, and contact managers at the other two stores to see what they’d like me to do.   I’ll let you know how it goes after I get through the “interview” process.  

Filed Under: hobbies, work 10 Comments

Comments

  1. Jenn @ Frugal Upstate says

    August 6, 2007 at 6:21 am

    Have you ever considered selling them on Etsy? If you aren’t familiar with it, it is like Ebay for handcrafted stuff.

    Reply
  2. Bellen says

    August 6, 2007 at 8:05 am

    Sounds like a wonderful idea. Just be sure your cards are displayed the way you want them to be. Stuck in with other run-of-the mill cards will not highlight your cards. Can you make, find, beg or borrow a unique disply rack? You need something to really draw the eye. Also, if you don’t already, you might want to seal your cards in acetate (?) envelopes to keep them pristine.
    I, personally, look for hand-made cards – I like the products and prefer to support individuals rather than big business.

    Reply
  3. juicefairy says

    August 6, 2007 at 8:29 am

    I admire you for going out there and displaying your stuff. I hope it works out for you.

    I used to make a lot of greeting cards when I was younger and I looked into how to sell my designs. I found a book at the library on it (too bad I can’t remember the name). The book said that basically designers submit a number of card designs at one time and the greeting card company would choose from those designs. It is hard though. No one pays you for the time you put into those designs and you only make money if they are chosen. Sometimes they don’t choose any. I have often thought about submitting crafts for sale at local shops but I never have had the guts to go and talk to anyone about it. Good for you for putting yourself out there. It sounds like a fun way to make an extra buck.

    Reply
  4. Chief Family Officer says

    August 6, 2007 at 9:45 pm

    I love making greeting cards also, although mine aren’t as fancy as yours sound (yet)! Good luck – I can’t wait to hear how it goes :D

    Reply
  5. calgirlfinance says

    August 6, 2007 at 10:35 pm

    Good luck with the venture and I hope to hear updates!

    Reply
  6. Krystal says

    August 7, 2007 at 1:29 pm

    Ohhh good luck with your side job! Agreed on the Etsy.com comment … it’s a great way to get your product out there!

    Reply
  7. Mrs. Micah says

    August 7, 2007 at 8:45 pm

    That sounds great! Too often, we crafty people don’t capitalize on our skills.

    If it doesn’t work out here, keep looking!

    (p.s. I don’t know if it works for you, but I’m a quilter and often do it while watching films or tv with my family and friends, or by myself. It’s a great way to just chill with someone, unless card making is very intense for you.)

    Reply
  8. SavingDiva says

    August 8, 2007 at 8:33 am

    I agree with the Etsy comment. It’s a great place to sell handmade goods. I would recommend also trying to get them into stores, but Etsy is a nice way for you to see more of the profits. Also, Etsy allows you to communicate more with the buyers…so you can make custom items too.

    Reply
  9. FrugalBabe says

    August 8, 2007 at 9:14 am

    Thanks for all the encouragement everyone! And I’m going to look into Etsy…

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Great eBooks:

Recent Comments

  • Chris on Still Here, Still Frugal!
  • Cassie on Still Here, Still Frugal!
  • James High on $20 Window Well Makeover
  • Kay on Still Here, Still Frugal!
  • BigMama on Still Here, Still Frugal!
Shop for Fashion Dresses on DHgate

Organifi coupon

Recent Posts

  • Still Here, Still Frugal!
  • Goodbye, mortgage!
  • Achieving our goals, thanks to long-term frugality
  • Still here!
  • An update from our frugal corner of the world

Blogroll

  • Brave New Life
  • Budgets Are Sexy
  • Early Retirement Extreme
  • Green Baby Guide
  • Kristen’s Raw
  • Mr. Money Mustache
  • Nature Moms Blog
  • No Impact Man
  • Penniless Parenting
  • Personal Budgeting
  • Pleasantly Poor
  • Sense To Save
  • Simple Mom
  • Stop Buying Crap
  • Surveybag
  • The Good Human
  • The Thrifty Chicks
  • Tight Fisted Miser
  • Ultimate Money Blog


  • See Store Coupons
    • All Coupons
    • Amazon Coupons
    • Apple Coupons
    • Best Buy Coupons
    • Buy.com Coupons
    • Dell Coupons
    • HP Coupons
    • Newegg Coupons
    • Office Depot Coupons
    • Staples Coupons
    • TigerDirect Coupons
  • See Category Deals
    • All Deals
    • Laptop Deals
    • Netbook Deals
    • Cell Phone Deals
    • TV Deals
    • GPS Deals
    • Camera Deals
    • iPod Deals
    • Tablet Deals
    • eReader Deals
    • iPhone Deals
d9533814e829a2b88025d710cb92afab-332