Sales channels
Where you sell matters nearly as much as what you sell. The rule of thumb: start as close to your customer as you can get, neighbors before markets, markets before online, online before wholesale. Every step away from a direct relationship costs you margin and feedback at the same time, which is a bad trade in both directions.
Farmers markets
The ideal proving ground: direct feedback, repeat relationships, and buyers who showed up specifically wanting locally made goods. The costs are time, setup, the market itself, breakdown, and table fees, typically $20–80 per market. Most successful cottage producers start here, and the fixed weekly deadline does something useful to your production habits whether you want it to or not.
Online platforms
Etsy reaches a big audience that specifically seeks handmade, in exchange for listing, transaction, and payment fees, plus competing with the entire planet, plus conveying your work's quality through photos alone. Instagram and similar work better as discovery than as storefront: people find you there and buy directly. And don't sleep on local Facebook groups and neighborhood apps, lowest friction, no fees, and the buyer is already nearby.
Local co-ops and retail
Food co-ops, independent shops, and farm stands make sense once your production is consistent. Know the math going in: wholesale usually means selling at 50–60% of retail, so your pricing has to support that margin or you're paying the store to carry your work. Consignment is common for crafts, the store takes 30–40% and you're paid only on what sells. Start with stores you already shop at; the relationship does more than the pitch.
Starting closest to your customer
A six-dollar jar of jam sold at your front door earns you six dollars. The same jar on Etsy nets roughly four after fees, before you've boxed and shipped it. That math scales with everything you make. Direct first; expand outward only when you have more supply than your direct channels can absorb. That's also the moment expanding stops being a gamble.
Community Experiences
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