The Handmade Marketplace (Second Edition) | Kari Chapin | Reviewed by Erin
The Handmade Marketplace (2nd Edition) is an informative and inspiring book all about selling your own crafts and handmade goods. The book is well thought out with the chapters following topics in an appropriate order for those starting out on a new business venture.
Amongst the chapters is advice on topics such as branding, pricing, working with others, hiring help, dealing with customers and marketing techniques (including blogging). The book also talks about how to find inspiration for your work and how you can turn your ideas into a reality that could become your source of income. Scattered in between these sections are profiles on successful small businesses and quotes from fellow crafters sharing tips and advice based on their own experiences - The Handmade Marketplace certainly stresses the importance of community and working with others to improve your own skills.
If you are just starting your own craft business, or are considering the idea, this would be a great title to pick up for tips on how to get set up. This book is not just for beginners though - as someone who has been selling handmade online for a few years I feel that there is always more to learn and I definitely found some great tips within The Handmade Marketplace! The addition of advice from successful sellers was particularly interesting to read as they provided a real insight into the reality of selling handmade.
Information aside, the book is laid out is an easy to read format with a pleasant colour scheme and overall nice appearance perfect for a reference book.
The only real downside for me was one that unfortunately couldn’t be helped. As the author is based in the US for some topics such as self-employment and taxes she is only able to provide information relevant to that area of the world. Of course, this is totally understandable as it would be impossible to include information for every country where someone might read the book (!) but this small section of information didn’t apply to me as a UK resident so I skipped over it. Having said that this small detail shouldn’t put you off of picking up this useful title and I would still recommend this book if you sell, or want to sell, handmade wherever you are based.
This post was written by regular reviewer Erin, get to know her here
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