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Are Custom Products Worth It in Your Craft Business?

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Today’s post is to get you thinking about the products you offer in your Silhouette or Cricut small business – and the time it takes you to process each order. I’m asking you to think about whether or not custom made or personalized products are worth your time in your business. For the purpose of this post, custom products are defined as orders where the customer chooses what goes on the product and you create one, unique product. (Example: 1 personalized tumbler cup or 1 personalized tee shirt.)

To start, let’s take a look at the process of creating a custom or personalized product.

Process for Custom Products

  1. Make a sample of the product (which you may or may not be able to sell) or create a mockup of the product.
  2. List the product online.
  3. Get an order from a customer.
  4. Make a mockup of the product.
  5. Wait for customer approval.
  6. Get customer approval or make changes as desired by the customer, possibly wait for customer approval again.
  7. Create the product and mail it to the customer.

And don’t forget about the customers that don’t specify their customization and you have to chase them down to get their order; or even the customer who incorrectly enters their desired customization and blames you for the error. In the event that the customer returns the item, it is unlikely that you’ll be able to resell it to another customer.

Now, let’s take a look at the process for selling a ready to ship product.

Process for Selling a Ready to Ship Product

  1. Create the product.
  2. Photograph and list the product for sale.
  3. Get an order from a customer.
  4. Package and ship the order.

Are Custom or Personalized Orders Worth It?

I can’t argue that the customization and personalization niche is huge (think large brands like Things Remembered or Personalization Mall). However, for one woman (or one man!) operations, this niche may not be as profitable unless you can sell at a high price point and large profit margin or you can sell hundreds of products. If you are a one person business, it can be more profitable to work assembly line style and create many ready made products at a time. If you browse Etsy, you may notice that many of the largest online shops do not only sell custom made or personalized products.

Unfortunately, I can’t decide if custom orders are right for your business – but I hope I got you thinking. Does your business sell only custom orders, only ready made products, or a mix of both? Let me know in the comments, and read on for an alternative approach to selling on Etsy.

 

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Are Personalized or Custom Products Worth It in Your Silhouette Portrait or Cameo and Cricut Explore or Maker Craft Business? By cuttingforbusiness.com.

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Hellen Madongorere

Friday 26th of February 2021

Thanks for the information in this blog. It has helped me to realize I should actually definitely invest more in ready made products while I wait for custom ones. I used to just wait for the custom made only and the process you described is exactly what I would experience haha, it can be frustrating.

Christine, Cutting for Business

Friday 24th of June 2022

Glad I could help you.

Julie Quattrucci

Tuesday 4th of June 2019

Good question! Being different is important but knowing your numbers is critical. My question is in Silhouette, how do I take a picture of a finished product, isolate it and put it into the mock up? This is different than taking the file and adding it to an existing product like a t-shirt or mug. Thanks!

Christine, Cutting for Business

Wednesday 3rd of July 2019

You'd save it as a PNG file with a transparent background using Business Edition. Otherwise, you can take a screenshot of the design and use a background eraser to remove the background.

Tami Howse

Tuesday 19th of July 2016

I charge an hourly fee for custom designs above the cost of my product, which is stated in my policies. The customers that want "something for nothing" fade away, but those who understand the process and value custom work hang on and buy. I'm ok with that, and my customers that end up buying are quite satisfied.

Christine

Tuesday 19th of July 2016

That's great Tami!

Michelle Resto

Thursday 14th of January 2016

Most of the items i make are custom orders; however, i have tons of ideas that i would love to create but i would like to have some ways to create mocks for them instead of having to make so many items and let them sit there. Any bundle of mock ups graphics you can recommend to do this? Thanks in advance.

Christine

Thursday 14th of January 2016

Hey Michelle! Do you know that you can make your own mockups? (https://cuttingforbusiness.com/?s=mockups for two different posts) But, have you search for styled photos on Creative Market or Etsy? There are lots available. Off the top of my head, I don't know of any styled photo or mockup bundles currently on sale. (See styled photos on Creative Market: https://creativemarket.com/search?q=styled+photo). Christine

Shantel Collins

Wednesday 13th of January 2016

This is so on point. I was just talking about this last week when I decided to add vinyl products to my shop. It's so costly to offer custom items when you're a one woman operation. To me its more profitable to come up with designs that are unique to your shop. I would say that personalized items might be best for a big job like say a book club or a wedding party or a repeat custom who brings you a steady flow of business. I told myself that this year its about working smarter not harder. Great post!

Christine

Wednesday 13th of January 2016

Awesome comment Shantel! I love that you are planning to work smarter, not harder! That's something that every small business owner should strive for, as they already wear so many different "hats". Thanks for stopping in! Christine