Discount Craft Supplies

Finding discount craft supplies is important when you are building your craft business. You'd be wise to avoid paying retail craft store prices so you can price your work in a way that is both competitive and will allow you to make a good profit.

Two sources of discount craft supplies you may want to consider are craft wholesalers and online craft supplies.

Craft Wholesalers

Wholesale craft supply stores normally offer fantastic prices and an extensive selection that you would not normally find at most retail craft supply stores. Normally, to shop at wholesale craft supply stores you will first need to register your business (a very simple process - check with your local Chamber of Commerce for guidance on how to do this) because wholesalers will ask you to provide them with your business number when you first establish an account with them.

Craft wholesalers will usually have minimum purchase requirements; the minimum amounts will vary among wholesalers. Before you buy, check out their minimum purchase requirements to ensure that those minimums are in line with your current business needs. If their minimums are a bit too high for your needs, don't worry, there are other ways to get the discount craft supplies that you need for your business.

Consider partnering with another professional craft artist and make a group purchase if the craft wholesaler you are dealing with has minimum purchase requirements that are too high for your needs. Find another craft artist who would also like to shop with this wholesaler and make a group order, that way your combined order will reach the minimum requirement, but you will not have to purchase more supplies than you really need.

Some members of craft forums organize group purchases with other members of the forums. If you don't know another local craft artist who you can partner with on bulk purchases, you may want to search your favorite craft forum to see if anyone is organizing a group purchase, or if you're comfortable with the idea and the people on the forum, consider organizing one on your own.

To find craft wholesalers, ask for recommendations on craft forums where other professional crafters meet, or try using a search engine to search terms like:

• craft supply wholesale
• art supply wholesale

• fabric supply wholesale
• wholesale fabric
• jewelry supply wholesale

Online Craft Supplies

You can often find far better prices and selections at online retail craft supply stores than you could at your local bricks and mortar craft shop. Online stores have fewer business expenses, and they can often pass that savings along to their customers through lower prices. Carefully check the policies for online craft stores. While these stores may sell to traditional retail customers, they may also offer special wholesale pricing for customers who buy larger volumes of items.

One of the best sources for discount craft supplies I've found is eBay. eBay sellers offer a huge variety of products, and since selling on eBay is highly competitive, you often get fantastic prices.

Depending upon your needs, you may even find eBay sellers who are better sources for craft supplies than craft wholesalers. I have established wholesale accounts with a few major jewelry supply wholesale companies, and while they are great resources, and they offer some items that I have not found anywhere else, I have also found eBay sellers who sell the same items for the same price as the major jewelry supply wholesalers.

The benefits of using eBay sellers over wholesalers for your craft supplies are:

• You will not be required to make a large minimum purchase, which is helpful when you're just starting out and may not have the funds available to make a major purchase.
• You will not need to provide a business number, which, of course, is helpful if you have not yet registered your business.
• eBay sellers normally charge shipping fees that are much cheaper than the shipping fees charged by large wholesalers. Watch out, though, shipping fees vary widely on eBay, so check the terms of sale carefully.
• Lower shipping fees, combined with no minimum purchase, allow you to quickly restock supplies if you have misjudged the amount of supplies you need for a given time period and help you to avoid the need to have huge quantities of raw materials on hand.

Craft wholesalers, online craft supply stores, and eBay sellers can all be fantastic sources for discount craft supplies. It is well worth researching each of these sources to find suppliers who meet the needs of your craft business.