I was at my kitchen table last Tuesday finishing a batch of scented candles for a repeat buyer in Portland. She texted saying the lavender one gave her a headache and she wanted her money back... even though she picked the scent herself. I ended up refunding half and told her to keep the candle, but it felt wrong since I spent 4 hours on that order. Has anyone else dealt with this kind of thing where the customer changes their mind?
I started drying herbs from my garden and selling little jars at the farmers market in Burlington. After 3 weekends I cleared $140 on rosemary and thyme alone. Underbidding the store prices by a dollar per jar moved them fast. Anyone else here sell dried garden goods or just me?
I started three batches back in February just to see if anyone would actually buy them. Turns out people in my neighborhood will pay $8 for a fed starter in a mason jar. Anyone else found a weird local demand they didn't expect?
Last summer I got talked into buying a top of the line dehydrator for making jerky and dried fruit to sell at the local farmers market here in Eugene. The thing cost me $220 and I figured I would make that back quick with sales. Problem was nobody wanted to pay $8 for a small bag of dried apples when they could buy a bag at the store for $3. I ran three batches total and maybe sold 5 bags to family and friends. That machine has been sitting in my garage gathering dust for 6 months now and I feel like an idiot every time I walk past it. Has anyone else fallen for one of those "start a food business from home" videos that make it look so easy?
Back in March I opened a little Shopify store for my painted wooden signs. My Etsy fees were eating up about 30% of each sale after listing costs and advertising. After making the switch my profit on a $40 sign jumped from maybe $22 to $32. The trade off was I had to learn how to drive my own traffic on Instagram and Facebook groups. Has anyone else found the money difference worth the extra marketing work?
Last month a lady at the farmer's market in Portland handed back a bar of my lavender soap and said it looked like a tilted pancake. I thought my molds were fine but I measured and they were off by about 1/8 inch on one side. So I spent $30 on a leveling tool and adjusted my pouring technique. Now I weigh each bar to 4.2 ounces exactly and check every batch. Has anyone else had to change their process because of one honest customer?
I sell handmade keychains on the side and kept seeing other sellers use phrases like "one of a kind" for basic beadwork that clearly used the same 3 color combos. Last week a customer told me mine were worth more because I actually write down where each bead comes from and name the color mix. Anybody else figure out that being real about your process helps more than just hyping it up?
Turns out a single piece of tape from a packing slip got stuck on the roller and I had to disassemble the whole thing with a toothpick, has anyone else had a cheap printer fail at the worst possible moment?
I had this glass jar I'd been using since April for my starter, and it just gave out with a loud pop around midnight. Now I've got flour goo all over my counter and need to save what's left before baking day tomorrow. Has anyone here switched to a plastic container for their starter without ruining the rise?
I started selling cold process soap from my kitchen back in March, and for months I was barely breaking even on each bar. The big change came when I swapped my fancy ribbon wraps for simple kraft paper and twine after seeing a similar setup at a craft fair in Portland. I cut my packaging costs from $1.20 per bar down to $0.35, and my sales actually went up because people liked the natural look. Over the last 3 months, my profit margin went from 15% to 55% on the same recipe. I'm curious if anyone else has seen a big bump from simplifying their packaging instead of adding to it. Has changing something small like labels or boxes made a noticeable difference for your home business?
I always thought digital products were too passive and fake, but my friend Sarah showed me she made $340 in one week from recipe cards she designed on Canva. Has anyone else switched from physical crafts to digital and found it easier money?
I had to decide between opening an Etsy shop or building my own WordPress site for my handmade candles. I went with Etsy because it was faster and had built-in traffic. Big mistake - after 8 months and 200 sales, I've paid over $600 in listing and transaction fees. Has anyone else regretted picking a marketplace over their own store?
Had a chat last weekend with my neighbor Carol, who sells handmade soaps at the local farmers market. She thinks pricing everything under $10 is the only way to move product. I told her my crocheted blankets sit at $25 a pop and I do fine. She said I'm pricing myself out of the market, I said she's undervaluing her work. Now I'm second guessing. What do you all think? Is it better to keep prices low for volume or stick to higher margins and sell less? Has anyone found a middle ground?
She told me to stop charging by time and start charging by what the market can handle... I was selling loaves for $4 and barely breaking even. Now I charge $8 and my customers actually respect the product more-last week a lady drove 30 miles from Dover just to buy three.
I was just grabbing a book on canning and this woman was telling her friend about how she started selling extra sourdough starter on Facebook Marketplace back in January. She said she dehydrates it, packages it in little bags with instructions, and charges $8 each. She claimed she sells about 50 a month without even trying. That got me thinking about all the little everyday things we make or grow that could actually turn into cash. Has anyone here had luck selling something super simple like that?