purse making business?

Question

I make cute purses and bags. It's a fun hobby of mine, and I would really like to sell them. I've done 2 craft shows, and they have been good experiences, but not very profitable.

My bags are getting nicer and nicer with each one I make--I keep learning new little tricks. Oh, and I make up my own designs--no patterns here.

I have a neat old dress dummy, a pretty little t-stand, and a post (a 4 x 4 painted, dressed up) to display my bags. I also have a "bargain basket."

My plan is to keep hitting craft shows, but so far the ones I've done have not been very good. (Nobody's really moving a ton of stuff; not a huge number of exceptional items.)

I'd really like to do some bag parties where people can "design" a bag that I'd make for them.

I'd appreciate any constructive feedback and advice on being successful at selling bags, interesting displays, where to find really inexpensive yet hip and cool fabrics and other bag supplies, etc.

Thanks so much!!
I also posted this in "crafts."

Answer 1

Hmmm. as for where to find good fabrics it depends on where you live.

But if you are looking to promote your business better, treat it just like that. A business. Make up a flyer or some type of business card like ad. Place them up wherever you can, the grocery store, the community centre, etc. It doesn't seem like much but word of mouth is one of the best ways to advertise.

Personally I think that a bag party is good idea the only thing that I forsee beign an issue is if you have 10 people for example at your party, they are all going to expect the same delivery date for the end product. You wont be working on it in your lesiure then.


Keep at it~! Good Luck~!

Answer 2

I've dabbled in bags and there's not much interest there. Most bag devotees want a hard bag, so they gravitate towards factory made. I think if you concentrate on trendy fabrics, do lots of larger totes, and stress that they are your own designs, your sales should pick up - though you won't be able to pay your bills with it. Get yourself a nice website with paypal or some other way for impulse buyers to pay. Ebay might work very well to drive traffic to your website. I used it a lot early on, then went to the website exclusively, though I never did move many bags.

I get lots of fabric from factory mill-end stores. I find that dragonflies are still hot, as well as retro kiddie prints.
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Answer 3

I would say that if you enjoy it, stay with it. I have three friends that tried to start seperate purse amking businesses, and each gave up after less than 6 months after starting. Share your passion with potential customers and people will want to buy your product.

Answer 4

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