Selling Sewing and Quilting Supplies – Introduction

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Welcome to Day 4 of How to Earn $ From Sewing and Quilting! Today is an introduction on selling sewing and quilting supplies.

 

Selling sewing and quilting supplies is a quick and easy way to start earning money in this industry. It is so easy, in fact, that you don’t even need to know how to sew or quilt! In my home town in Australia, a lady started a quilt shop… and she didn’t sew or quilt. She just loved fabric! She went on to build a very successful business in her retail shop and online.

Now I don’t really recommend selling supplies for a hobby you don’t do yourself! To me, it makes sense that if you love a hobby, then go ahead and sell supplies for it. For example, after I had been scrapbooking for a while, I became a Creative Memories consultant – mostly so I could get the supplies at cost price, but also because I loved the product, and loved teaching others.

Most of you reading this series love sewing, patchwork and quilting. So for you it would make sense that if you wanted to start earning money from the hobby that you love, selling supplies is a great place to start.

While selling supplies can be a quick and easy way to start, it can also require the most investment, so that is something you need to take into account when starting up.

Most businesses have start-up costs. For each of the arms of a sewing and quilting business I’ll be telling you what your main costs are.

Here is a simple infographic that gives a bit of a comparison:

 

 

For selling supplies, it is pretty clear… the more money you have to invest, the more stock you have to sell, the more profit you make, the more you have to re-invest… etc, etc, etc!

So if you inherited a million dollars from a long lost relative, then you can set yourself up with an awesome shop! Lucky you!

Reality is that you need to have saved up some money, or borrowed for your start up. How much you have saved or borrowed will determine how big or small you start with.

Do you have to be aiming to have a full blown shop? No, not at all! Remember, this is only one “arm”…. I have a friend who teaches dressmaking, and she has the basic supplies her students need – thread, notions, etc. She earns a bit of money from the sales and her students can keep working on their project uninterrupted during class. It’s a win, win situation for everyone.

If your goal is to have a “real” shop, then start small. I remember when Gail’s Patchwork Emporium was just a room in Gail’s house! She started small, and it grew into a business that has busloads of visitors from around the country.

Over the next 5 days I’ll be talking more about where to buy supplies, what kind to buy, where to sell them, and lots more!

Come back tomorrow for Selling Sewing and Quilting Supplies – Pick a Niche ~ Fabric!

PS Please remember I am answering your comments in the comment section below and not via email like I usually do. Sorry for the hassle, but I am hoping this month we can share ideas!

PPS The main page of this series is here along with links to each post for this series.

PPPS You can download the FREE EBOOK of last year’s series, 31 Days of Quilting UFOs HERE!