Starting an Online Business All-in-One For Dummies®, 3rd Edition

Making Bank with Storefronts for Handcrafted and Vintage Goods

Online auctions, particularly eBay, helped validate the Internet as a lucrative vehicle for selling everything from collectable Pez candy dispensers to used cars. In addition to auction sites, a growing number of niche storefronts are gaining in popularity. One industry in particular that has found a home online is homemade crafts. Both crafting enthusiasts and their customers have found it easy to make, sell, and buy custom products via the Internet.

Crafts and hobbies were a $29 billion market in the United States in 2010 (according to the Crafts and Hobby Association), which translates to a great business opportunity using online storefronts! Several storefronts have focused their efforts on providing an online marketplace for the crafting world and have even gone as far as restricting the types of goods allowed to handmade wares. The following new and established storefronts provide a good vehicle for selling your handcrafted wares, artwork, and homemade food products:

• Etsy (www.etsy.com): This online storefront has skyrocketed onto the e-commerce scene as a viable place to sell your handcrafted wares. Allowable products include not only your homemade items but also hobby or craft supplies and vintage items. Fees are reasonable. You're charged 20 cents for each listed item, plus a final sales price, or final value fee, of 3.5 percent. Each listing can stay active for up to four months before you are charged another ...