Having a crochet business means having to buy yarn, isn’t that just the best excuse to go and splurge on all the squishy goodness? – it’s so tempting to just buy whatever catches your eye and that you love the look of and can imagine what you can create with it, as after all you can label it as a business expense!

But I wouldn’t recommend this at all as you’ll end up with lots of odd balls, and you can’t run a product line with random odd balls of yarn. You should really be choosing your yarn strategically so that you don’t spend more than you need and so you can maximise the earning potential.

But which brands, what colours, which fibres? Choosing the yarns to use in your crochet business is an important decision, and here are 7 things you should think about when selecting your business yarn supply.

Is It A Quality Brand?

By quality I don’t mean expensive. I mean that it doesn’t look cheap in photos or if you are making anything that is to be worn, that it isn’t going to be scratchy on the skin. 

Cheap yarns can have colours that look cheap and garish. You don’t want that showing up in your photos. After all, your photos are what do the selling for you when you are marketing your business online.

If you are making any kind of wearable then you need to choose a yarn that is not scratchy. Imagine how disappointed your customers will be if they spend their hard earned cash on your product only to discover that it is unwearable for them. You are guaranteed to get complaints if this happens.

Test out the yarn you use before you unleash it on your customers to make sure it is up to the task. Also test out the colours so you know both what they look like in person and how they appear in your photos.

Is the yarn widely available?

This is a big consideration for both crochet pattern writers and crochet sellers.

If you are writing patterns then you want your customers to be able to purchase the yarn you are recommending no matter where in the world they live.

If you are selling what you make, then choosing a yarn that is only sold by one store or is limited edition leaves you at risk of not being able to get hols of that yarn again in the future if the shop shuts down or the limited edition is no longer being made.

Choosing a yarn that is a well established brand and is stocked by more than a few stores protects you and makes for happy customers. You want to to make sure that the brand of yarn you choose can be found easily enough that you are never reliant on a single supplier.

Wholesale Rates

Let’s face it, you’re going to be getting through a lot of yarn no matter if you’re selling what you make or designing patterns. So looking into wholesale purchases will help you cut down on costs and increase your profits.

You do need a fair amount of money to put into this first purchase, but if you are in this crochet selling game for the long run, then buying your yarn wholesale can really pay off.

Affiliate Programmes

If you are selling crochet patterns, then choosing a yarn that has an affiliate programme attached can help you make extra income from your patterns. Every time someone clicks on your affiliate link to buy the yarn you recommend, and makes a purchase, you will earn a commission. 

This commission can really add up to a substantial sum once you build your audience up, so is not something to be dismissed and should be a big consideration for you when choosing what yarn to use in your crochet business.

Save Space

Being selective in which types of yarn you keep on hand for your business will help keep your yarn from taking over your home.

It can be really tempting to stock lots of different brands in lots of different colours with many different fibre types. After all this gives your customers choices right?

But all of those choices can quickly become overwhelming for customers and they may leave your shop and fail to make a purchase due to indecision.

Having only a select few brands, colours and fibres not only stops your customers becoming overwhelmed so that they will then make a purchase, it also stops all that different yarn from taking over your space.

Colour Choices

You don’t need to offer dozens of colour choices for your products in order to bring on sales. Just 6 choices gives you variety while stopping customers being overwhelmed by choice.

Choose yarn colours that fit your brand, niche and ideal customer. You can use the same colours for all of your products, there’s no need to over complicate things.

Your yarn colours can become part of your branding and business identity.

Care Instructions

Have you thought about how easy your crochet is to care for? Your customers are likely to want an easy life when it comes to looking after the crochet they purchase from you.

You may want to consider choosing yarn that is machine washable and can be tumble dried. Make this a selling point too, easy care is a great plus point to buying from you

This point is not a must by any means, but if you do choose yarn that needs special care, then please make sure you are upfront about that in your product descriptions so your customers don’t get a nasty shock once they’ve already purchased from you – this will just put you on the road to loads of customer complaints.

There you have it, 7 points to consider when choosing the yarn you use in your crochet business. Make sure you get selective and test out the yarn before you start using it.

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