# Things to make and sell?



## 40232 (Jan 10, 2013)

konikirule said:


> So I've been saving up money to show this year, and one thing I would love to do is make things and sell them! I love making things and am pretty handy but I'm stumped on what to make. I mean, something that people would buy and doesn't cost too much to make. I was thinking saddle pads, but I doubt the time and money put into it be anywhere near what it sells for because now you could go pick up a nice one for $20. There's also the knit ear dust things(sorry I forget what there called) because I'm decent with crocheting and my moms amazing at it so she could always help me, but I don't know if that will sell well at all. Any ideas? I have access to lots of supplies, and I can always get my mom to teach me how to sew intricate things etc, but please pitch in your thought! Thanks!!



Dickies! (i don't know the proper name) They are those little half shirt things for huntseat. My grandma makes them in tons of different colors and they can sell from $15-25


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## konikirule (Jun 26, 2013)

Woah I've actually never heard of those before hahaa, but I asked around the barn and nobody here atleast seems interested, but thanks for the idea!!


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## Jessabel (Mar 19, 2009)

This isn't horse related, but how about scarves? I've have pretty good luck selling them, but you have to get the yarn at a decent price or you won't make any money. 

Horse people might be interested in those neck warmer thingies - I love wearing them in the barn because they don't get in the way like scarves do. 










They're easy to make, too.


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## Saskia (Aug 26, 2009)

I think you'll find a certain difficulty with making and selling things. In an industrialised market such as ours, things can be produced at a fraction of the price that we can produce them ourselves. 

Things like saddle pads you could barely sell for the cost of materials bought from stores, much less labour costs. 

However there is the other side of the market where people are willing to spend more to get items of a higher or "special" quality. For example things that are made "locally" some people are often willing to spend more on. Local doesn't always mean just labour, they'd probably want locally sourced materials as well, which will drive up the price a lot. 

Or things are hand made to specifications. I know in Australia there is a small business that ties rope halters to measurements. They use excellent quality rope and while a little pricier than the saddle shops their product is far better. They have a range of colours, widths, measurements diagrams and a range of products. 

Also, a lot of people like quality, hand made leather ware such as bridles, breast plates etc. 

I have seen saddle pads and such, again they have some special about them. Customisable, completely natural, mostly local materials. 

On the note of scarves, at a field day I met this man who makes and sells beautiful full wool scarves. They actually have a range of coloured sheep and they shear them keeping all the wool colours separate. Clean it, spin and then he takes the wool and uses a loom to weave patterns into scarves using the natural colours. Really lovely scarves, sells them around the world for probably about $100 a scarf. But when you think about it, at least 10 hours weaving, plus keeping the sheep etc, totally not making much of a profit.


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## DancingArabian (Jul 15, 2011)

Jessabel said:


> This isn't horse related, but how about scarves? I've have pretty good luck selling them, but you have to get the yarn at a decent price or you won't make any money.
> 
> Horse people might be interested in those neck warmer thingies - I love wearing them in the barn because they don't get in the way like scarves do.
> 
> ...


Those are super cute!!! Do you have a pattern you can share?
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## SlideStop (Dec 28, 2011)

Stall signs are nice too!
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Cielo Notturno (Sep 12, 2013)

Hi, on another board (in my language and for my country, so different potential buyers) I see that a lot of people actually want custom saddlepads, even better if you can "write" (<--put the right verb here) some simple things on it, like the horse's name. It is true that you can find many different saddlepads around, but can you have saddlepad, blanket, ear-thing, leg wrappings _all_ matching and of your favorite color combo?

Other custom things that people love are:

Blankets 
Those ear-things (especially if you highly customize them and make them to match the custom saddle pad)
Rope halters, rope bosals, and all things that you can make with rope
Name-plates for the horse's box 
Little cute stuff, like keyrings
Show halters and collars for Arabians
Customized bags: you have to be very crafty for those, but you can meet infinite needing of bags for saddlepads, saddlepads and boots, saddlepads and grooming kit... maybe start with something that You want and see how to make it better

Blankets and pillows for dogs: some people adore to have the dog's stuff matching the horse's

You have to do a good work and offer different stuff from what's already on the market.

Remember, as a private you'll never beat the industrial low-price, so you have to win with quality and unique design. And, aside from the first things (that you usually need as good examples of what you can do) you can just craft something when there is a buyer


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## DancingArabian (Jul 15, 2011)

Some things to remember is that its easy to make stuff. The hard part is making it WELL so that people want to form their money over for it. Anything you can make, someone else can make. Your challenge is to make it not worth their time to try!
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Luce73 (Dec 7, 2012)

Not in the high profit range, but cheap materials and fun to make: bracelets, dreamcatchers, leather necklaxes etc? You could make them customizable as well. 

Bracelets and other jewelry using horsehair also seem to be selling well, especially if you make it with hair from the buyers horse. 

Small stuffed animals with pretty colors and patterns are another option. Once you've made the pattern its easy to make several animals using different fabrics.


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## flytobecat (Mar 28, 2010)

I would also suggest stall signs. You can pick up a wood burner cheap and any old scrap of wood will work.
Also horse hair charms or pendants are nice.


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## konikirule (Jun 26, 2013)

Thanks for the ideas guys, keep 'em coming! I was thinking polo wraps too, but lookinig up the price of material and velcro, they would not pay off! The horse hair bracelets sound like a great idea, but the problem would be getting the horse hair from the person. I would have to get a PO box, which would take away alot of the money I make. Any ideas? Also what do yah guys think about custom crops? Would you buy those?


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## Jessabel (Mar 19, 2009)

DancingArabian said:


> Those are super cute!!! Do you have a pattern you can share?
> _Posted via Mobile Device_


I don't usually use patterns, but Youtube has tons of great tutorials. If you search "how to crochet neck warmer" you'll get a bunch of different styles to choose from, and some of them include written patterns.

What I usually do is just crochet a rectangle in whatever stitch you want and sew the ends with a tapestry needle. There's probably a better way to do it if you don't want a seam, though. 

Sorry I couldn't be more helpful. xP


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## Jessabel (Mar 19, 2009)

Saskia brought up an excellent point. The trick is to make your product better than the mass produced stuff. I have yet to see a factory-made scarf that's half as nice as a handcrafted crocheted, knitted, or woven one. :wink:


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## faiza425 (Dec 21, 2012)

Market your items as 'handmade' 'customizable' 'hand selected materials' - that's what will set you apart from mass-producing companies and allow you to raise the price a bit. Little things will make a difference between a customer going to you or Dover - you may both make saddle pads, but how many patterns/colors do they come in? Do you monogram? Can you take custom orders? There has to be something that you do that can't be reproduced by a company.
Once you have something that you know you can sell, I would suggest an Etsy account. Big market there. I don't have one, but a few people I know have had sucess with them. There are a couple small fees though, I'd look into it a bit more before trying it.
Other members have made good suggestions for things to sell. SuitAbility.com has a bunch of patterns for blankets, pads, breeches, etc. (I'm know a lot of people who want breeches with a cool pattern/color, but they're hard to find at a reasonable price!)

Do you draw/paint/sculpt? A lot of people are looking for people to recreate an image of a beloved horse. 
You could make custom browbands with beads or ribbon. Also, a lot of people are looking for rhythm beads - and they're selling for ridiculous prices on Etsy. 
I saw on Pinterest you can dye old nylon halters - good if you have a bunch of old, 
dirty halters just lying around. 
Do you work with wood? You could build custom grooming boxes. 
If you're just looking to make money in general, you could sell your time/skills. You could braid manes and tails for shows, etc.
Best of luck!


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## Stichy (Jan 25, 2013)

I make dog beds, or stuffed animals out of old gloves 
I'll try and find the tutorial on dog beds, all it takes is an old (longsleeved)shirt, a pillow, and some stuffing!


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