Handicrafts

How to sell handicrafts on Metzee

Name the technique, name the region, name yourself. The work is the story and the story is the price.

buying

Buying handicrafts in a live auction

Ask who made it and where. Then ask whether the piece you are bidding on is the piece you get.

Pricing handicrafts for a live auction

Your hours are the floor. Do not let a race to the bottom set a price you cannot work at.

delivery

Packing and posting handicrafts

Edges, points and rims. Everything fired, carved or lacquered breaks where it sticks out.

Describing handmade work honestly

Variation is not a flaw and a chip is not variation. The description is where you separate them.

What is your handmade work worth?

Your hours are the floor. Everything above it is the technique, the region and the maker being named.

Photographing handmade work

Show the hand. Tool marks and slight asymmetry are the argument, not the flaw.

delivery

Delivering handmade work: courier, local or collection

Fired, carved and lacquered work chips at the edges. Double-boxing is the answer, and it has a cost.

buying

Questions to ask before bidding on handmade work

Who made it, is this the exact piece, and how do I look after it?

Storing and caring for handmade work

Each material fails its own way, and the finish usually goes before the object does.

Starting a handicraft collection

Buy from makers you can ask. The conversation is most of what you are learning.

Common mistakes selling handmade work

Apologising for the variation, and pricing against a factory.