You might wonder what this post has to do with vintage, it doesn’t but in a round about way which I will presently get to. Over two months ago Karen of Scraps of Mind had a post titled Can You Make Money From Scrapbooking.
First of all- I want to apologize to Karen for taking so long to revisit this question. I was very excited to see her post as an avid digital scrapbooker myself. I felt that I had some perhaps different ideas for ladies (and gents) who wanted to make money from their favorite hobby. However- at the time eBay and my vintage business was going full steam ahead. I was very busy the end of September when her original blog post was put forth. Now that the economy has kind of put the slam on consumer confidence I have a chance to post my answer to
Can You Make Money Scrapbooking?
I actually have several ideas for making money scrapbooking. The first of which includes eBay and the second includes both eBay and VINTAGE!
The first way I know of to make money scrapbooking, came to me by way of an eBay/Moms sellers group I am involved in online. A couple of the sellers- who happened to be scrapbookers too- noted that there was a small handful of ladies on eBay that were selling pre-made scrapbook pages in auctions. This in itself was not particularly exciting to me at first. For one there are a lot of artist types selling on eBay and so this did not really register as anything extraordinary. However, some of the mom’s in the sellers group posted some examples of one woman’s closing auctions in which the scrapper or scrapbook artist was getting upwards of $300 to $400 for a two page layout. Ummm – so WOW!
I had a look at some of this woman’s layouts and I was impressed. The layouts were exceptionally well done and the bidding seemed to reward her ingenuity and extraordinarily well designed, high quality pages. Of course too- it aroused my envy and that of some of the other sellers as well. In part because the scrapbook pages were that good! I wish I could aspire to that level of creativity and as an eBay seller who wouldn’t want to make $300 or $400 for a single scrapbook layout. As of this post the seller/artist I am referring to has recently sold a two page layout for $998! Want to know the sellers eBay id- it’s craftingalong ?
If you think you have the right stuff to sell pre-made scrapbook layouts- I think that eBay is a good venue. One reason I think it is a good venue- is the competitive nature of these auctions may result in the scrapbook artist getting more then if they priced their layout with a fixed price. A traditional scrapbook layout is one of a kind, and if several bidders covet a certain layout, the monetary rewards could be really nice. Below is a widget featuring current pre-made scrapbook listing on eBay- note that this is a an affiliate link but I don’t get paid if you click and look around. So please take a look at some of the sellers on eBay who are selling pre-made scrapbook pages. Note to that some scrapbook artists do not make as much money as the above example.
Moving on with another more unusual way to make money from scrapbooking, is to sell vintage scrapbooking supplies. Vintage items are in vogue and some of the current scrapbook magazines are highlighting the use of vintage materials in traditional and digital scrapbook layouts. Often it is hard to find buttons, ephemera, vintage charms, etc at thrift stores or in rummage sales. A scrapbooker may have something they are looking for in particular for a layout like a 1940’s Christmas card and search for weeks on end locally to find just the right item to scrapbook with. On eBay scrapbookers and altered artists can find a wide array of vintage materials, including ephemera, vintage jewelry parts, charms, sewing notions, etc with just a couple of well phrased searches. Too some sellers will offer whole lots of vintage materials for scrapbookers and artists. An unique twist if you enjoy scrapbooking with vintage items is to sell excess materials on eBay. On occasion I do offer lots of vintage materials for altered art work and scrapbooking- because I can’t use everything I hoard.
I hope you have found these suggestions for making money by scrapbooking helpful- make sure to visit Karen’s site Scraps of Mind for daily scrapbooking tips for traditional, digital and hybrid scrappers. Karen has also graciously shared this link with us for her posts on antiques and collectibles and I appreciate it.
Wow. Very nice layouts indeed! And that is a much better way to make money than by trying to get published in a scrapbooking magazine (as far as I know anyhow. I don’t know how much, if anything, they pay you for layouts). I don’t really get into scrapbooking much so I’m lacking in knowledge in that area. Hey – thanks for the stumble! I really appreciate it!
WOW my mother loves to digital scrapbook. She has all the latest and greatest tools and supplies. I think I may nee to get in on the act. craftingalong has other pages up for auction for over $100.
At any rate this was a really great post as usual. I am definitely going to refer my mother here and to Scraps of Mind
Do you use the Cricket? I saw an infomercial for it and was thinking about getting it before reading your post. Now i think I will. Chaaching!
Teeni- I think you are right that it is more money then trying to get published.
Deborah- what is this Cricket thing… I looked up Cricket and got the British game?? My curiosity is peeked especially when someone says “Chaaching!” LOL
Sorry it is really called a Cricut….http://www.cricutexpress.com/store.php?cat_id=13530&view=cat
Haha! I saw one of those Cricut things at Michaels arts and crafts store and I asked someone about it because, as I said, I’m not into scrapbooking so I had no clue. I didn’t know how to pronounce it so when I asked about it I said, “So what does this “cry-cut” thing do anyway?” The woman laughed and said, “Oh, you mean the “cricket?” Well it does, blah, blah, blah…” So that is how I learned that it is pronounced “cricket” even though it is spelled Cricut.
A great post with some excellent tips Michelle. Thanks a lot.
It’s surprising how many little niches there are, especially on ebay. This woman who lives on my street makes a killing selling baby items that she buys all over the U.S. from places dealing in smoke damaged items and so forth. She told me she makes 20,000 per month. It must be true because she stays home alone, has no job and just bought a new Lexus in cash…lol!
those are some killer amount of money made. I guess it just goes to show that if you have the passion you can turn it into profits no matter what the skill. I’m dying to find soemthing like that I can make money from. Bobbys story made me drool.
I was just adding the entries for my giveaway to random.org and I forgot to let you know about the halloween cupcakes, lol… I didn’t get them listed in time cause October was so busy for me so they’re waiting around for next year. If I quite making jewelry before them I’ll have to ship them your way
Hi Teeni and Deborah- I do know what a circut is but no I don’t have one. I used to be a traditional scrapbooker but with five children scrapbooking is overwhelming. I found that I would spread all my supplies out and make a few pages and then the clean up would take a lot of time. I was always frustrated by how much it would cost to get just the right supplies. I sold all my traditional scrapbook supplies on eBay in one swoop over a year ago. Hundreds of dollars worth of stuff, stickers, papers, die cuts, paper templates- and maybe it sold for $40. I don’t miss it and never look back.
Then I bought myself a really nice Minolta color laser printer and I taught myself how to digitally scrapbook using Photoshop. I love that when I have to leave something in mid work- I don’t need to clean up- I just save and shut down the application. Too I can make or find all the elements I want online for free.
Bobby- I wish I knew more ways to find inventory for eBay. I do know some people buy out old storage units and do things like you say this lady does. eBay is not dead yet- even though they (the management) are finding ways to kill it! There are plenty of people making huge bucks on there!
Sara- I feel like such a dummy I wrote a draft for your contest on vintage jewelry pics right after your contest came out. I just didn’t put in the links to your store and I guess I forgot about it. Sometimes it gets so wild having 5 kids and trying to do other stuff. Right after Halloween I start to feel like a chicken with my head cut off. There’s the holidays, the volunteer activities, high school wrestling, middle school basketball, church plays, visits to Santa, shopping for gifts…. you get the picture. I don’t even have my thanksgiving groceries purchased yet and I have to buy pies for the school.
Really interesting post. Ebay can be great, the only trouble with selling on there sometimes is that the listing fees can be a bit high.