The Maker Movement is a term that was coined by Dale Dougherty and places emphasis on making and tinkering in fields such as electronics and 3D printing.
At one point in time, the maker movement was a pretty niche market. While it is by no means completely mainstream now, it has grown in popularity over the years. Today, there is a much larger market for maker products than there has ever been in history. So, if you are hoping to get your electronics products out there, there are plenty of options for you.
Tips for Selling Your Homemade Electronics Creations
There are a few things to keep in mind if you’re planning to sell your homemade electronics products:
- Iterate until you have a product that can stand the test of time. When you’re building a product for the market, make sure it’s the highest quality you have to offer. Don’t sell something that’s not ready or won’t last long under serious use.
- Consult a legal expert and find out about the necessary licenses and possible liabilities you might be open to. This EMC Fastpass article and this eBay policy may prove helpful. However, talking to a lawyer is still the best course of action if you intend to take selling electronics seriously.
- Build a community around your projects. Be sure to join platforms such as Hackaday and Reddit to engage with other makers and promote your work. You could also create a personal website or social media account to post updates to the community.
- You should also consider pricing early on. Factor in all the costs involved in getting the finished product to buyers and ensure that you’ll still turn a profit at the end of the day.
If you would like to get your products out there, but the current scarcity of Raspberry Pis is a limiting factor. We’ve got you covered with our guide to the different ways you can deal with the recent Raspberry Pi shortage.
Tindie is the largest online hardware marketplace. It was founded by Emile Petrone in 2012 and was later acquired by Hackaday. You can find amazing projects on Tindie and even sell yours too.
Tindie makes it super-easy to sell your own homemade creations. There are several categories you can list your product under, such as DIY Electronics for Arduino, Raspberry Pi, and ESP32 products; 3D Printing & CNC for 3D printer parts and accessories; and IOT & Smart Home for home automation projects. There is also a Flea Market currently in the Beta stage with more random projects.
The listing process is straightforward as well. Tindie doesn’t charge any fees when you list an item, unlike other marketplaces such as eBay. However, it does charge 5% on sales, as well as a payment processing fee of 30 cents plus 3-4% of the total cost of the order (including shipping).
To sell on Tindie, you have to create an account first. You should then add more information about your store, so buyers have a better idea of who they’re dealing with. Then, you are ready to list your items and sell them!
Tindie is an ideal place for makers who already have a following and want to sell their stuff directly to customers.
Etsy is a marketplace for handmade goods and vintage items. The e-commerce website is used by over 2 million sellers and has more than 60 million items listed for sale. In spite of the fact that Etsy is not dedicated to electronics, it can be a convenient place to sell your handmade doohickeys and kits to a ready-made audience.
As a maker, you can sell your own products on Etsy by creating an account on the platform, entering the necessary details, and giving your shop a name. You can then create your listings and set up payment and billing.
Etsy charges a listing fee of $0.20 per item. Other fees include 6.5% of the total sale price of an item and a shipping fee if you purchase shipping labels through Etsy. These fees might not seem much if you have a small number of products, but they do tend to add up as your inventory grows.
Etsy offers an affordable way to set up an online shop without having to pay much upfront. For a fee, Etsy can also help you promote your products through off-site advertising.
Reddit is a content aggregation website and one of the most popular websites in the world. Apart from being a helpful place for news, discussions, and meeting other members of the community, Reddit can also serve as a platform where you sell and promote your electronics creations.
Although Reddit isn’t a marketplace in the strictest sense, you can use it to market your products. Blatantly spamming links is strongly discouraged on Reddit, but you can promote your products, as long as you do it the right way.
You should find subreddits that fit your niche, participate in discussions frequently, and occasionally talk about what you’re working on. If you can spark the interest of some users, you can build momentum from there. Subreddits that can be a good place to start include r/diyelectronics, r/marketplace, r/arduino, and r/DIY_tech.
If you have a flair for describing your projects in detail and taking interesting pictures, you may find that Reddit is a suitable fit for you. In case you are completely new to this platform, we have an in-depth guide that will help get the most out of Reddit.
eBay is probably the first website you think of when contemplating selling your products. Founded way back in 1995, the e-commerce website has become a household name in over 20 countries around the world. A lot of people might tell you that eBay is a difficult place to sell your products because of the high competition and seller saturation. eBay, however, can be a great place to find customers, especially if your kits and products stand out from the crowd.
Furthermore, eBay offers up to 50 listings for free every month, making it more affordable than Etsy for beginner sellers looking to just get started. However, it also charges a final value fee of 12-15% on each sale, which is considerably more than what Etsy charges. You also have the option to create a store to showcase all your products for a fee.
eBay might be a smart choice for you if you’re selling high-value items and targeting a broader audience than Etsy provides. Be sure to consider advertising and promotion before listing your electronics for sale on eBay.
Kickstarter is a crowdfunding platform that allows people to raise money for creative projects. It is not a selling platform, but it can help you get your products out there. In addition to raising funds for your projects, Kickstarter can help you reach your first buyers.
Kickstarter isn’t a way to make quick money, though. You have to put in a lot of work to promote your campaign and Kickstarter takes about 8% of the proceeds. It is imperative to take these fees into consideration before starting a campaign.
You shouldn’t use Kickstarter for marketing alone, but it’s definitely an option to look into if you’re interested in mass production and/or there’s already a well-established market for your product.
Sell Your Gizmos Online
In conclusion, there are a lot of great places to sell your electronics products online. As a maker, you have many options when it comes to selling what you make. This list is by no means exhaustive. There are bigger suppliers like SparkFun and Adafruit who may be willing to add your products to their catalog if you contact them. The most crucial thing is to weigh the pros and cons of each website and select the one (or ones) that fits your business model.
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