Blacksmithing can be an extremely rewarding hobby if you are proficient in your craft, makes really good products and position them out in the shop-fronts for buyers who might be interested in beautiful handmade products. So, you will make a living when you make blacksmith items that sell well. The industry is seeing something of a resurgence in the recent years.
From a lost ancient art, blacksmithing is becoming increasingly popular in a world where products are engineered with precision. Machine tooling, 3D printing, CNC machining and robotics are some of the cutting-edge technologies that dominates today’s manufacturing. But some are yearning for something simpler. Something borne out of creativity, passion and the handiwork of the good old smith.
You might be a great blacksmith but if you are not making things that people actually wish to buy and positioning these in the right marketplaces, you are unlikely to gain any traction in your art. First, start to forge blacksmith items that sell well. If you are already forging some really cool blacksmith’s items, here are some of the best places to sell your crafts.
Craft Markets and Fairs
Does your state or city have craft markets and fairs for blacksmiths? This is usually the perfect place to meet diverse people who might be interested in your art. They can range from other blacksmiths to buyers looking for some of the finest blacksmith’s creations. Selling your items in craft markets still proceeds pretty much in the old routine. You will need to acquire some stall, set it up and showcase your blacksmith’s items.
Etsy
Etsy is the quintessential ecommerce portal for all kinds of handmade or craft items. It is therefore the best bet if you are looking for a viable online marketplace where you can push your blacksmith’s items to potential. Etsy is a fairly high traffic portal which has lower listing and transaction fees. You are assured of not just lots of eye balls but also good margins on your blacksmith’s items. The drawback is that competition on the platform is extremely stiff. There are probably hundreds or thousands of other blacksmiths in the same niche as you who are eager to sell their craft items on Etsy.
The transaction fee on Etsy is 3.5% for every sale. Etsy has been on these streets for more than a decade and features plenty of free tools and resources that you can use to simplify and ramp up your sales. It offers multiple payment options including PayPal and Google Pay.
Amazon Handmade
Amazon is the biggest ecommerce portal. It is the perfect route to put your business on the superhighway of retail success. While most of the products on Amazon are manufactured, the platform also provides a craft marketplace known as Handmade at Amazon. This is a sub-site where you can sell your craft items in various categories. At 15%, the fees are considerably higher. However, the market exposure is invaluable. Some of the blacksmith’s items that you can sell at Handmade at Amazon including outdoor lighting fixtures, bathroom fixtures such as towel holders, wall-mounted hooks, paper towel holders, wall keyholders, wall-mounted iron hooks, bracelets, Menorahs, Damascus steel folding knives and many more.
eBay
eBay is another good place to market blacksmith items that sell well. It is a low-barrier-to-entry online auction website where you can sell virtually anything including your blacksmith’s items. Listings can be free depending on the items you plan to sell as well as the promotions. However, there is usually a small listing fee that you will need to pay to list your blacksmith’s items. Fees are also applicable depending on the final selling price.
Open a Shopify Store
Most beginner ecommerce entrepreneurs are going the Shopify route. It is easy to set up, affordable and offers you a constellation of ecommerce tools and resources that you can use to set up your blacksmith’s ecommerce shop in no time. With good marketing and optimization, this can be an important sales portal for your craft.
Instagram offers a powerful visual experience and is the perfect place to showcase and sell your hand-crafted items. If you are going to sell your blacksmith’s items via Instagram, you’ve got to invest in a good camera that will capture high-resolution photos of your metalwork.
Facebook Marketplace
Facebook is now a versatile ecommerce portal in its own right. It offers multiple tools and services that you can use to establish an online blacksmith’s store exclusively on Facebook. You can use a combination of business tools such as Facebook pages, Facebook advertising and ecommerce apps to set up a marketplace on Facebook and begin selling.
Business Website
Instead of using third-party ecommerce portals such as Shopify, you can also build your blacksmith’s ecommerce shop from scratch. The advantage with this is that it gives you more control on how to design and run your store. With consistent SEO and online marketing, you can start making direct sales on your online blacksmith’s shop.