I have been on this forum for a while now and have seen members wanting to sell their work by posting their website, or Etsy shop etc.

I know selling on Etsy can be tough. Naturally when there are 300,000 sellers on that site alone you can get lost real easy. I read somewhere that on Ebay, only the top 2% make any real money and I'm sure it's true on Etsy also. Etsy is fast becoming the main place to steal ideas and designs too. That's one reason people get a lot of hits but no sales.

Some of you know that I make my sole living from selling my crafts. Our business is the sole source of income in our home. And after expenses we make a nice middle class living.

I curious as to what your goals are. Do you want to make a living selling your work? Do you want to contribute a good portion to the household income? Are you doing it for just a few dollars so you can purchase more supplies? Or are you doing it for the fun of making something?

Where do you want to be in 5 years?

So like I said, what are your goals in the crafts business?

By the way, there's no wrong answer, just starting a conversation.

As we all currently know, if we ship to another state no sales taxes are paid.

People are upset that companies like Amazon and WalMart, etc also don't pay the sales taxes on online orders, so they want those evil corporations to pay up.  Congress will take up this issue in 2013.

So just a heads up. If the law is passed to allow states to collect sales taxes on purchases, we as crafters will be forced to comply. This will mean filling out sales tax forms for 50 states and remitting the money. And even if we have no sales, we will have to submit the forms with zero sales. This will be a logistical nightmare.

We can't demand the big guys pay and exempt ourselves.

What are your feelings?

Country Folk Art Show, New York State Fairgrounds Friday 5pm to 9pm, Saturday 10 am to 5 pm, Sunday 10 am to 4 pm.
www.countryfolkart. com

Hi. My name is Chris and my wife and I have been professional crafters for over 30 years. We do over 40 craft shows/fairs per year all over New England and down into the Mid Atlantic.
If I can help anyone finding shows, working the shows, etc....