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Cutting for Business readers: What do Dollar Shave Club, Beer of the Month Club, Nature Box, and Smart Art Box have in common? They are all successful businesses that operate on a subscription based model. In this model of business a customer signs up to receive a different product each month for a defined length of time. Over the last few years, subscription service based companies have been popping up everywhere and they are currently one of the hottest trends in retail. Why am I telling you this? I feel that offering a subscription based service is a great way to produce extra income in your Silhouette or Cricut business. Depending on how you set up the billing in your subscription based business, this model can also guarantee you a set amount of money each month in your business.
Monthly Subscription Ideas for Your Silhouette or Cricut Business
Card/Stationary of the Month Club – Customers receive a different handmade card, or stationary pack each month.
Monogram of the Month Club – Customers receive a different product each month with their monogram on it. This could be a tumbler one month, a shirt one month, an umbrella one month, and so on.
Front Door Decor of the Month Club – Customers receive a different front door decoration each month. Plan to make a variety of products that are themed to the season or upcoming holiday.
Wooden Sign of the Month Club – Customers receive a different wooden sign each month. Consider having customers sign up for a certain sign size, and offer several options, for the duration of their subscription plan. This is another idea that lends itself well to the seasons or holidays.
Tumbler/Wine Glass/Drinkware of the Month Club – Customers receive a different tumbler/wine glass/or drinkware item each month. Again, theming the items to the current season or holiday would be easy in this case.
I could literally go on and on with this list because there are so many products that could work with a subscription based business. Now, how do you implement a subscription based service in your Silhouette or Cricut based business?
How to Sell Handmade Products by Subscription
- If you sell in a marketplace (like Etsy.com) create several listings with membership durations in your shop. Customers prepay for a certain amount of months in your club. You send them their first product immediately and have a set mailing date for the remaining months (example: the 1st or the 15th). Specifically, you could offer a 3 month, 6 month, 9 month, or 12 month membership for your club.
- If you sell your products through your website or anywhere else and accept Paypal, you could create listings like I described above, or you can have Paypal automatically bill your customer each month. Many customers actually prefer this, because they don’t have to pay a large amount upfront. Paypal has information online on how to set this up so I won’t go over the specifics, but you can visit this link for more information.
Alright readers, tell me which product that you make with your Silhouette or Cricut that you plan to offer in a subscription based business. I can’t wait to hear!
Since 2015, Christine Schinagl has been helping crafters start and run craft businesses through her blog, Cutting for Business. As a Silhouette and Cricut crafter herself, she has a unique take on what works and what doesn’t work in the craft business world. She also enjoys teaching other crafters how to create digital SVG designs, available through the Design with Me series.