Working with wood is both soothing and productive. But the real thrill comes when you know how to sell your woodworking projects online. If you’ve been making some gorgeous plywood projects one after the other, it’s probably time to make a little business out of your work.
You might be enthusiastic about using a circular saw for turning wood into a masterpiece. The next step is to sell your woodworking projects by using the internet as a medium. That’s because there are various sites and relevant platforms available. Collecting a few positive reviews and consistent images of your projects might help you along the way.
You must also know that launching and succeeding at an online business requires quite a bit of know-how. Here are a few tips that should get you started.
How to Sell your Woodworking Projects Online: Your Options for Now
When you go online to sell your woodworking projects, keep in mind that several platforms can help you market your business online. Some platforms might be better suited to your offerings than others. So, take a look and narrow down the best ones to focus on.
Amazon
If you’re wondering how to sell your woodworking projects online, putting them on Amazon is a great start. Amazon launched Amazon Handmade in the latter half of 2015. The name is pretty self-explanatory, and you can easily find it by clicking on the Departments tab on the Amazon main page. The Amazon Handmade section was released as a competitor to Etsy. But there’s no rule saying that you can’t showcase your woodworking wonders on both platforms.
You need an account before displaying any products on the Amazon platform; this will also ensure that your offerings are up to the mark. The best thing about this method is that you have the giant, Amazon, as your shipping partner! Any seller can just ship their offerings to an Amazon facility and make them qualifiable for Amazon Prime shipping. You’ll have to pay a slightly higher rate to get this service, though. But remember that customers are paying more from Prime as well.
There is a cost for this program. Sellers will also be paying commissions from their sales. In return, you’ll have a reach with Amazon to over 95 million American customers.
Etsy
Etsy has become the main choice for hobbyists who want to sell their work. Here, people can get quality crafts from the material they want and at a fairly reasonable price. If you’re targeting an audience who wants unique, handcrafted items, this is the platform to post on.
This site is continuing to grow even though it’s more than a decade old. Besides, Etsy is pretty good at following current trends and upgrading the platform right alongside them. That’s why new users are also Etsy buyers or sellers. Just one example is their mobile app; they’ve got a smoothly-running application used by 66 percent of their users and viewers.
All this doesn’t necessarily mean that Etsy is the best choice when deciding how to sell your woodworking projects online. While the site is user-friendly and the numbers are promising, all this popularity also means a lot more competition. Plus, once you put your items out there, other Etsy users won’t have any qualms about trying to copy them. If these copycats think that the product will be popular, they might even try to steal your potential customers by offering a slightly lower price no matter what the quality of their work is.
Some experienced users suggest that you should list the names of as many items as you can. This will pull in all kinds of traffic to make your products the star of the show.
Etsy is linked with other popular social media platforms like Facebook and Pinterest. Users who have both can put their listings on these sites without any additional cost. There is a cost of posting on Etsy for each listing. And part of that comprises the shipping costs and retail price. You should also be prepared to pay the processing fees.
While the younger generations might not be whole-heartedly interested in Facebook, it’s still a major social media giant. There are a few billion active users on this platform every month, making it a pretty lucrative site to market your woodworking project.
In recent years, we also got the advantage of Facebook Marketplace, which allows you to post your wares within your area. Since their Facebook profiles identify the sellers, it increases the chances of security and reliability.
You can also buy ads for promoting listings if you want to expand your woodworking business in more locations. The best part of all this is that it’s the familiar Facebook interface we’re all used to. For no additional cost, you can post the details of several woodworking items at once.
On the downside, there’s a limited audience here. That’s because you’d be missing out on most of Generation Z and the younger half of the millennial generation with this platform. There’s also some serious competition while the transaction isn’t as smooth as adding things to your cart online. Both parties have to meet up for finalizing the deal to take place. That might be inconvenient for some.
Your website
Among the best options for how to sell your woodworking projects online is launching your website. At the very least, you should have a Facebook page with all your wares displayed. That way, you’ll always have something for potential customers to browse and go back to. Having an address or link when you’re meeting up with people or holding a craft show is an excellent way to boost business.
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The advantages of having a website are endless. You can attract audiences from all over the world. Plus, it’s a lot cheaper than renting a physical venue. The website will also allow customers to connect with your business and place orders even when they’re not using any social media platform.
It can be challenging to develop a website. You can look up online to get an idea. That way, you’ll be able to learn the basics of website development and to host. However, it’s wise to outsource it from an experienced professional. You should also be prepared to pay up for a quality result.
Once you’re satisfied with the website’s theme, content, and design, it’s time to work on increasing the website’s traffic so your potential customers can visit your website and place an order. You can either consider using Google Adwords or go for SEO techniques. Whichever option you choose, be aware that both might take up a lot of money. That’s why you should conduct research, ask around, and then make a sound decision.
Don’t mistake Instagram for just a picture and video-sharing platform. It’s a social media giant. Besides, there are a few different ways to go about marketing your products. If you’re wondering how to sell your woodworking projects online, you can take some quality photos and use the Instagram filters to make them look professional.
After taking and perfecting the picture, you’ll have to write a description or caption. This text will include the size, kind of wood, and price you want for your woodworking project.
The most important part of knowing how to sell your woodworking projects online on Instagram uses the relevant hashtags. The site will start displaying tags that it assumes are relevant to your uploaded photos. Choose tags with the highest numbers you can see so that you can cash in on the popularity. Also, try posting when the traffic on the site is high. Sixty percent of Instagram users use this platform daily. The usage increases during lunch hours, after regular work, ends for the day, and just before bedtime.
The two options on Instagram come in when you’re finalizing the sales transaction. You can include a link to your website in your Instagram Bio or finalize the deal right there on Instagram itself.
There’s a bit of risk and potentially wasted effort linked to Instagram, though. You’ll have to keep posting photos to stay relevant. Plus, success isn’t really guaranteed even if you spend all your time trying to attract customers on Instagram. The trick is to use as many online platforms for advertising your woodworking projects as possible.
Word-of-mouth marketing
The word-of-mouth method is quite relevant online. That’s true, especially when you have a wide circle of relatives and loyal customers. You might get creative with this as well; making a video, uploading photos, and getting glowing reviews are just the start.
One way to begin here is to send your wooden items to some friends, family members, and some social media influencers for free. They don’t have to be large or expensive. But the pieces should show your passion and talent for the craft. All you can ask in return are some honest reviews – hopefully positive ones. The receivers of the give-away items don’t even have to write a review. You can ask them to just post a photo of the item and mention that they got it from your business.
If you want to send items to only those who would appreciate them, post some nice photos of your wares online. The people who comment or like the photo are the most likely ones.
You can also consider providing free stuff to those in areas with high traffic. Many teachers are conducting their classes online. You can provide one with a desk, a map cutout, or a beautiful decoration piece and see if any of them seem interested.
While this method does increase the potential for a lot of new sales, there’s the risk that no one will show any interest. However, you can keep trying by thinking of new online locations to display your projects. The cost of such advertising is relatively low as you’re only risking your labor and materials. Be prepared for rejection at times. But don’t let it get to you.
Craigslist
This somewhat infamous platform was also founded in the year 1995 like Etsy was. Craigslist became popular due to its local platform for buying and selling anything easily — be it goods or services. However, lately, it seems like Craigslist has lost some appeal and effectiveness.
The reasons for this are many and varied. First of all, you don’t have too much safety with this site. Secondly, if a buyer flakes out at the last minute, the transaction remains incomplete. In a way, both buyers and sellers are at risk here.
Still, if you want to know about the maximum ways on how to sell your woodworking projects online, using Craigslist is still a viable option. Several million people use this platform daily.
The site is also free to use. It doesn’t charge anything for a completed sale. You can also get access to people in your area. Plus, you can put up around a dozen photos with each listing. The user interface is also quite easy to learn, even if you’re a novice at this. If you do go for this option, make sure to take photos of your projects from several angles and make your description as detailed as possible.
The Takeaway
The first couple of months or more are usually challenging for most businesses. Since there are lots of buyers and sellers, getting a decent following will require patience, practice, and luck.
First, learn about taking a blow and carrying on when things get tough, and then go on with your product listing. For this, you need to know how important keywords are and how to use SEO practices to your best advantage.
If you manage to spread the word of your woodworking business to enough people, you’ll successfully be able to reach your target audience. However, it’s not just enough to know how to sell your woodworking projects online. A business-minded woodworker should also take the time to understand each option available and see how much work they can handle at the same time. So, start planning and posting as soon as possible!