Welcome back to my “what a crochet designer makes in a month” series. If you are new to the blog, each month of 2024 I am giving you a general breakdown of my financials as a small, independent crochet designer and maker as I think transparency in our craft is valuable. So, if you are curious about what it’s like for many independent crochet designers, read on!
Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. This means if you click on a link and make a purchase from that website, I may receive a commission at no additional cost to you. For more information, see my Disclosures page.
October Overview
Overall, October wasn’t too bad. In fact, it was my second best October of the 4 years I’ve been designing and my best month of 2024. I had overhauled my SEO (search engine optimization) on Etsy at the end of August and while it can take 30-90 days to index (I’m currently around the 60 day mark), I don’t think it did much. While I have had an uptick in views and sales, more than 50% of that is from my Coffeehouse Santa Hat pattern and that is one listing I didn’t change. So the increase in sales/views is likely just from the time of year, as people start thinking about Christmas.
But, this month I also had a few new adventures – I did my first market (check back next week to read how it went!) and I participated in my first blog hop. The quick version of my first market is that it was well run and easy to set-up/tear down, but people were there for the events, not the vendors and no one did well. BUT, I didn’t lose money, so #smallwin.
The blog hop was its own adventure because my webhost has gotten glitchy. I think (hope) I have figured out how to fix it, but despite the fact I updated an existing post with the blog hop info, including how to download the Rustic Summer Cowl on my featured day, my blog decided to not actually update the post and graphics until…..2+ weeks later. Luckily, over 600 of you still figured out how to get the pattern, which makes me happy. I hope you all enjoy it! (Missed out on the free PDF? Make sure to join my newsletter list so you’ll always know about future pattern releases and blog hops!)
Now, onto the details you really want to know about – the money!
1. Etsy
Christmas is on the horizon and crafters are getting ready for it! The Coffeehouse Santa Hat pattern has been my most viewed, favorited, and purchased pattern on Etsy this month. This pattern is definitely going to be my highest selling pattern this year. I love the pattern, so it makes me happy that you all do too!
Total sales: 23
Gross income: $120.55
Minus Etsy processing, listing, and transaction fees: $22.76
Net profit: $97.79
2. Ravelry
Ravelry was much more varied in which patterns sold, but beanies made up the bulk of sales.
Total sales: 14
Gross income: $68.42
Minus PayPal processing fees: $8.34
Minus Ravelry fee + remitted taxes: $2.94
Net profit: $57.14
3. In Person Sales
I did my first in-person market this month (come back next week to see how I did!), but I can’t say I actually made anything. We determined in order to cover the booth fee plus cost of goods (i.e. break even), I needed to sell approximately $150 worth of merchandise. I sold…$155 (and $5 was for a pumpkin that was basically sold at cost, so no profit). At least I didn’t lose money!
Gross Sales: $155
Net Profit: $0
4. Affiliate Marketing/Blogging
Affiliate Revenue: I am an affiliate for WeCrochet/Knit Picks and Lion Brand. A few clicks for small amounts of commission, but not enough for a payout this month.
Ad Revenue: Ad revenue is still pennies a day, even with a spike in visits from the blog hop I was part of this month, and I won’t get a payout until I reach $50 (which will be a while), so it won’t be listed in the total until then. I have a hunch my ad platform is actually the cause of my webhosting glitch, so there may be some changes with this if I can’t work it out.
Affiliate + Blog Profit: $0
5. Expenses
Since I am getting into vending and market events, I needed to invest in a few things like business cards, a banner, a table (which are surprisingly expensive, but I snagged a good deal), table cloths, etc. I did pretty well with using things I had around the house for most of my display items, saving some money there.
I also placed a small WeCrochet order to test out a couple of their yarns I hadn’t tried before. They were on sale and I have some ideas for new designs.
- Market Items: $269.98
- Yarn: $41.56
Total Expenses for October: $311.54
What a Crochet Designer Makes (Totals):
Total Brought In for October: $154.93
Total Profit for 2024 (Income minus expenses): -$2018.97
The good news is pattern sales are definitely on the uptick this fall as I brought in more income through patterns this month than I did in the last two combined! (Plus, I am now only 15 sales away from reaching 1,000 total pattern sales since I started designing!) But, with additional market expenses, I’m still very much in the red. I had another market last week (check out next month’s post to see how I did) and I have another 1-2 in December that will hopefully help offset some of these expenses. But will I break even this year? Make sure to stick around to find out!
Happy stitching!
Want to check out prior months?
January 2024
February 2024
March 2024
April 2024
May 2024
June & July 2024
August & September 2024
