7 minute read

Your Guide to Selling Knit and Crochet Products Online

A stitch-by-stitch guide to successfully selling your knit and crochet goods on Etsy.

Avatar image for Audrey Manning by Audrey Manning
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It’s hard to imagine Etsy without hand-knit scarves, cowls, hats, felted nesting bowls and crocheted baby blankets. Today’s knitting and crochet sellers offer a wide range of products ranging, from simple potholders to elaborate machine-knit masterpieces.

Whether you’re a knitting rule-breaker or rule-maker, there’s a place for you on Etsy. Lora Radloff of Berlin, Germany-based knitting shop Bonnies Cinematheque avoids classical knitting, embraces spontaneity and never uses the same yarn twice. “I see it as a picture which you can paint again, but it won’t ever be exactly the same,” she says of her creations. Then, there are Etsy shop owners who knit by the book (or write it themselves), like Lisa Craig of Auckland, New Zealand-based knitting pattern shop honeycakes. With a background in textile design, Lisa began writing knitting patterns when her children were born and now sells three pattern lines (ranging from newborn to adults) as instantly downloadable PDF files.

No matter what style of knitting or crocheting you embrace, the tips below will help you distinguish your brand and build a loyal following.

The view from Lisa’s Studio in rural Auckland, New Zealand. Photos by honeycakes

Recreate an In-Person Shopping Experience

Anyone who has sold knitting or crochet at a craft fair knows how much people love to touch and try on the cozy goods. Capture your products’ in-person appeal for online customers by being specific in your listings when describing fit and feel. Include measurements, care instructions and sizing charts if applicable, keeping international shoppers and sizing systems in mind. Find tips for appealing to international shoppers here. The more info you provide, the less likely your customer is to be surprised with what they receive in the mail.

If you’ve never sold your goods in person, consider giving it a try. Selling in person can be a great way to gauge customer interest in your products. Take note of what shoppers gravitate toward, and what questions they ask. Chances are your online customers will have similar questions, so anticipate and clarify these points of potential confusion in your listings and policies.

Stand by Your Materials

Whether you work in 100 percent animal fibers or strictly in acrylic, explaining the reasoning behind your choices can help you attract customers. Just as you may choose different materials for a variety of reasons (cost, availability and alignment with brand values), there are customers out there seeking a wide range of materials. Being honest about your materials, and showing confidence in your choices, can help you attract your target customer. For example, if you make cotton scarves with allergy sufferers in mind, call attention to this selling point in your item descriptions. Every material has a strength (acrylic yarn’s machine washability, for example), so be sure to highlight it.

Flaunt What Makes You Unique

In a popular market, strong branding can set you apart. Ask yourself “what distinguishes my work from the all the other knitting/crochet out there?” Are your knits vintage-inspired? Do your crochet stoles make great wedding accessories? If you don’t know where to start, take a look back — do you have a sweet story of how you first learned to knit? Build your brand in your About page, listing descriptions and photography.

If you have a unique process, share it with your customers. Lora, for example, is proud of her experimental approach to knitting. Rather than working with patterns, she starts each design by laying several spools of yarn on a table, and playing with color combinations. She lets the yarn speak to her, and then dives in, constructing wearable knit sculptures from varying shapes and textures. By describing this process to customers on her About page, she draws shoppers into her brand story.

Lora’s bohemian sweaters, shawls and dresses are inspired by her materials, not patterns. Photo by Bonnies Cinematheque

Invest in Great Photography

With knitting and crochet, photography best practices apply. Clear, uncluttered photographs taken against a simple background will give shoppers clarity about your items. Stylized editorial photos can also work to to build and reinforce your unique visual brand. Use a live model to convey style and fit for wearable items. Explore to find the photography approach that works for you.

Lisa’s three children appear in her shop as models and her husband lends a hand taking photos. Their home on a hilltop in rural Auckland provides a serene setting for her photographs. Lora’s design methods may be improvisational, but her approach to photography is highly planned. For each photo shoot, Lora invests in a photographer, inspiring location, model, stylist and makeup artist. As a result, her photographs tell a rich visual brand story, and highlight the artistry of her items. Lora learns more each time she sets up a shoot. “It gets better with every photo session,” says Lora.

From her shop’s name to her photos, Lora infuses her shop with the drama and romance of the cinema, her second passion and source of inspiration. Photo by Bonnies Cinematheque

Plan a Full Season Ahead

Some Etsy shop owners make the mistake of waiting until the winter to list (or make) their winter items. The warm summer months might not feel like the appropriate time to pull out your bulkiest wool yarns, but thinking ahead can pay off, especially during the holidays. Remember that if you ship internationally your work has potential customers around the globe, and that seasons vary. By not limiting your offerings to your location’s current season, you can let your products work double-duty, increase your shop offerings and your chances to be found.

Engage With Your Larger Community

Take advantage of Etsy’s active and large fiber arts community. Join knitting and crochet interest Etsy Teams to connect with fellow sellers who share your passion, and to exchange expertise. Use social media to broaden your reach and engage a larger community of knitwear designers, hobbyists and shoppers. Using your favorite social media channel, you can create a dialogue around your products, seek feedback from your customers and create brand buzz.

Lisa encourages a dialogue with her customers by asking open-ended questions on social media. She posted this image on her business’s Facebook Page with the caption “My husband has returned from Canada with yarn goodies for me. Which one will I knit up first?”

Branch out With Patterns

If you’re already writing your own patterns, offering them as digital items can increase your number of listings, and help you establish yourself in the fiber arts community as an expert. Lisa has found the feedback from customers has helped her grow as a pattern writer. She often revises patterns based on Reviews, adding features like additional sizing, measurements and the option to knit certain items flat or in-the-round.

For more info on listing digital items in your shop, read this.

Patterns from honeycakes’ three product lines: Baby Cakes (newborn to one year), Little Cupcakes (two to ten years) and Honey Cakes (adult women). Photos by honeycakes

Are you a knitting or crochet seller with additional tips to add? Share below.

Avatar image for Audrey Manning Words by Audrey Manning

Audrey Manning grew up in Brooklyn, just blocks from Etsy HQ. These days she's working from PA and busy trying to keep up with her toddler.

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