20 More Resources To Sell Your Handmade Crafts

The maker movement started to gain major awareness a few years ago, but it is a “movement” that has been going on for a long time. Most cultures have innovation and creativity in their DNA and making something by hand is part of how you solve a physical problem or need.

It’s been a while since I previously compiled a list of 29 places to sell your handmade creations. As the saying goes, time flies, and I decided it was time to revisit the topic by providing another 20 sites and resources for selling craft and homemade items.

A quick note: There are many general eCommerce platforms to help artists, crafters and makers, but the goal of this post is to share marketplaces and solutions that focus on this niche.  More clearly, I’m not profiling all of the eCommerce leaders like BigCommerce, Shopify, and others. (I’ve done that with 68 eCommerce and shopping carts for small business along with 19 new eCommerce additions. )

Meylah allows indie artisans to create a “social storefront.” More interesting is how they have built it with a community focus. Individual neighborhoods or marketplaces can build an online community with individual merchants in it. For example, the Sammamish Chamber of Commerce built one and it highlights the community first, then you can “walk” into an individual store or offer.

Another example of this community first approach can be found in almost every U.S. State. You can search for “handmade marketplace [michigan]” — obviously insert your state. You’ll get a great list and that’s how I found Handmade Detroit, which offers a Google Map that shows craft stores, resources and more for DIY types. West Virginia has The West Virginia Handmade Marketplace.

Foodies and farmers will want to do the same type of search “farmers markets [insert state].” Nearly every state has something to help you find farmers markets, food festivals and healthy food providers. Using Michigan as an example again: Michigan Farmers Market Association. Frequent contributor to Small Business Trends, Robert Brady, points out there are some specialty providers like the Grass Fed Beef Directory for consumers looking for organic or healthier meats. But you can also list your farm.

Sourcing Handmade is a boutique consulting firm that specializes in helping artisans get their products into retail stores. And the reverse, to help retail shops find great new products that will become strong sellers.

Crafters Town lets you build your own store, but also curates shops into collections and storefronts so that consumers can easily browse.

ToSouk is similar to Crafters Town but adds the vintage and collectables …read more

Source: Small Business Trends

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