Making Money Selling Hand Made Resin Crafts
Welcome to the next instalment of ‘Meet The Money Maker’, my series of interviews with business owners and side hustlers. It’s so interesting and inspiring to see how people have been able to add to their income, or even replace it entirely, with such varied and unique money making ideas.
Today I’m thrilled to be sharing an interview with the lovely Suzie from Enchanted Resin, who built up her own resin business from scratch and now successfully sells beautiful resin keepsakes both on Etsy and via her own website, EnchantedResin.com.
Keep reading to find out how she got started and turned her hobby into a successful business.
Tell us a little bit about yourself
“I’m Suzie, I’m 31, I have four small humans, a dog, a cat and two bunnies. I love collecting quotes, reading, buying stationery and wearing oversized sweatshirts.
I’m currently studying for my MA in Crime and Justice. I’m a vegan and a feminist and I usually have pink hair!”
What’s your money maker and what does it involve?
“I run a small business called Enchanted Resin. Primarily I dry people’s precious flowers (wedding and memorial) and set them within resin to create keepsakes. I sell via my own website and via Etsy and have a large-ish Insta following, mostly of people who like to see my pieces come out of their moulds!
My job involves many many different things, not just making! I am my own accountant, I run my social media, do all my admin and then pack and post the orders too.”
How long have you been selling resin art & why did you start?
“I started the business in January 2018 but my interest in resin began before then after seeing some resin jewellery on Pinterest and thinking ‘I want to make that’. I am totally self taught, I ordered myself some basic bits and then started experimenting.
I then realised that if I didn’t sell some of my stuff I’d be over run with it and so I began to sell the jewellery whilst still working on the flower preservation side of it. With four small people having something I can do from home is really important to me. It makes life a lot easier practically too.”
How much money is it possible to make selling resin crafts?
“At the start it took a while to make any money, pocket money at best. Gradually as I’ve expanded it has become a full time job and full wage replacement.”
resin letters with dried flowers
What’s your favourite thing about it?
“I love the beautiful flowers I get to work with and the messages I get from customers after they’ve got their pieces. It can be quite emotional as their memories are attached to these flowers – especially with memorial pieces, the stories and the people I ‘meet’ are humbling.”
What’s been the biggest challenge?
“SPACE! and time. But mostly space. As the business as grown it has encroached more and more into the main living areas of the (already full) house. I have gift boxes stacked in the dining room. Parcels piled up, the utility room is totally taken over by the business and now the garage too a little!”
Is there any advice you’d give to someone wanting to try starting a resin art business?
“DO IT! Find something you like making, find a niche, a way of doing it that’s a bit different and then use social media, learn how to use Etsy (I began on Etsy alone) and just give it a go! Start small and magical things can happen!”
How to start a resin business
Here are some quick steps on how to make with with epoxy resin by starting your own home business. The same tips are generally true for setting up other types of craft business too. So if resin’s not your thing, you could set up a store selling the crafts you love to make, whether that’s crochet, book art, upcycling, knitting, painting or any other handmade crafts you can think of!
- Choose your product/niche
First you need to decide what you’re going to sell and who your target audience is. For Suzie above, she targets the wedding niche, and has a unique selling point in that she takes and personally preserves people’s own flowers.
Have a look at what’s currently selling and see if there’s a gap you think you can fill, or an area where you can bring something unique. Be original.
You might decide you’re going to sell resin jewellery, resin coasters, perhaps upcycle furniture or create resin keyrings. You may want to try a few things to see what you enjoy or what people are looking to buy.
It’s best to try and find your niche rather than try to be all things to all people. - Get your supplies
You’ll need to invest in some supplies so you can get crafting and creating your inventory.
What you’ll be making will vary what you need but here’s a general idea of what you may need to buy.
– Epoxy resin
– Hardener
– Resin dye
– Measuring cups
– Mixing cups
– Stirring sticks
– Safety equipment – mask, gloves, glasses
– Moulds - Start creating/practicing
Next you need to create some products, so you have some available to showcase your skills to take orders, or to be able to sell stock.
Make sure to practice to hone your skills and make sure you’re able to create high quality resin art. - Learn how to take good photographs
Good photography of your products can make all the difference when it comes to making online sales. This doesn’t mean you need to go out and buy a fancy expensive camera – most smartphones have decent cameras these days – but learning how to use good lighting and angles will really help.
A quick internet search will throw up some tutorials to teach you how to take good photos. - Set up your store
Next it’s time to set up your store! You may want to sell in person at craft fairs and so on, but it’s also a great idea to have an online presence as this will give you access to a much wider customer base.
You can of course set up your own website, but a good way to get started is to create an Etsy Store. This gives you the opportunity to get your product seen by hundreds of customers already looking to buy handmade products. - Use Social Media
Setting up social media accounts is vital to growing your brand and reaching more potential customers. For a visual product like resin art, Instagram is a great place to showcase your work and grow a following.
As well as adding photographs of your products, people love to get an insight into how things are made and how you work, so it’s worth adding some videos of work in progress, and gives more of a personality to your brand.
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