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Are questions about selling one's crafts allowed?
Should questions about selling one's crafts be on topic?
It seems common for people in the crafts community to sell their creations online (on sites like Etsy) and offline (in fairs, festivals and similar events). Historically, making crafts for sale was obviously a major interest for craftsmen.
On the other hand, it seems clear that generic business-type question (like profitability and supply chain optimization) would distract from the main point of the Arts & Crafts site.
As an example, I occasionally create various tools and devices for personal use, and then wonder if I could somehow make more and sell it. The goal here is not to make money, because I am uninterested in marketing and cost optimization. Rather, I'll have enjoyed making the object and want an excuse to make more of it. I also want to make it available to other people who don't have the tools, skillset or work space that I do for essentially the cost of materials. This is what I mean by "selling crafts" rather than mass-producing thousands of units for sale as a company.
Whether this is allowed or not, I think https://proposals.codidact.com/posts/288459 should address it more explicitly.
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I'm inclined against the business/legal aspects of this per this answer, but if there are questions specific to the "craft" part of selling, like optimal booth/display setup for a fair or protecting displayed crafts from heat/rain/sun damage, those seem ok to me. These are questions that are more about the thing but informed by context or setting. "How do I sell X at a fair?", no; "how do I protect X when sitting out all day in high heat and humidity at a fair", yes.
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I think it should be off-topic.
Since Codidact is an international site and laws, taxes, shipping and so on are very localized, it would seem that such questions would:
- Quite easily stray far from the intended topic (artistry/craftsmanship).
- Require answers from a different kind of user base than what was intended. Namely from logistics experts rather than artists/craftsmen.
- Have little value for other readers.
It would seem that such would rather belong on a separate community focusing on e-commerce, self-branding, marketing and what not. It also sounds like something that quite likely already exists in a different format than community-driven Q&A, perhaps https://community.ebay.com/.
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