Even though each item you sell is unique and one-of-a-kind, the last thing you want to do is to sell a bit of this and a bit of that and a bit of everything in your shop— your shop still needs to be cohesive!

For example, even if you ONLY sell jewelry, selling one-of-a-kind is not a free pass to have a bunch of different jewelry styles because you like to experiment with different techniques and materials and regularly change your aesthetic.

It still needs to have a theme and a brand, and everything needs to work together – there needs to be a designer aesthetic in the shop that is easily recognizable. 

You can have cohesive lines of jewelry yet each piece can be very different and unique – because even though they are unique they are still all jewelry of a similar style. 

So if you sell one-of-a-kind, you need to make sure you have a cohesive product offering and a really strong brand behind it – where even if all one-of-a-kind, all your products can easily be recognized as made by “you” and part of your brand.

4. Creating collections can increase sales

Next, let’s talk about using collections and how it can be an effective way to market one-of-a-kind products and increase sales of your handmade products.

Many people think that if you sell one-of-a-kind items – you can’t work in “collections” because each item is its own unique style and that product collections only work for handmade products that are reproducible. But nothing is further from the truth! 

You can still have collections when you have one-of-a-kind items (in fact, you should!!), and I think that too many people forget about that. You can release your products one at a time or as a collection, but either way collections can be a great marketing tool.

For example, you could create a springtime collection centered around florals. Each piece is completely unique and one-of-a-kind, but you could for example have a similar pattern or a recurring design element that is present in each piece. Or you could be using only two kinds of stones for this collection and even if each individual stone is completely unique, because you’re only using turquoise and onyx for example, each piece feels like it belongs to the same overarching collection. 

So each item is going to be one-of-a-kind – they only exist once and will only be purchased once – but they also work together as a collection so the customer may want to consider buying multiple items within the collection. 

For example, within a collection you can have a bracelet that’s one-of-a-kind with a ring that’s one-of-a-kind with a necklace that’s one-of-a-kind . . . so that you can upsell people to different complementary products options.

You could also upsell people to a more of a statement necklace within the collection that’s maybe bigger than the other ones— so that there are different price points within your collections as well, even if you sell one-of-a-kind. 

5. One-of-a-kind marketing will look different 

Next I want to talk about marketing.

When it comes to marketing, it’s going to look a little different for one-of-a-kind than it might for reproducible or digital items.

It is definitely still possible to use search engine platforms like Etsy or Pinterest, you just need to tweak your strategy to make it work.

What I’ve seen work the most from people who are really successful doing one-of-a-kind is generating a following for your brand and your shop essentially, so that you can use the platform to tease whatever new collection or one-of-a-kind item that’s coming up and really build some excitement before the launch.

I’ve seen this done very successfully, where people actually sell out really quickly after their launch because customers are waiting for it – and are really excited – and they know that this is one-of-a-kind and is going to go fast. 

So successful marketing in this situation will come back to your brand being cohesive and your style and your aesthetic being very clearly defined so that people know what to expect— even if every time each item is unique and different. 

6. Consider adding a reproducible collection AND offering one-of-a-kind items

The final thing I encourage people to consider is the possibility of adding a reproducible collection to their product line while also offering one-of-a-kind items.

If you are looking at all the above considerations and realizing it might be hard to reach your revenue goal, consider adding a main reproducible product line. 

So you will have a consistent line of products that are reproducible – they’re always the same, you stock them and if someone buys one, someone can still buy another one the next day. And you have that as the scalable part of your business. 

And then have fun with one-of-a-kind items and one-of-a-kind collections on the side of that to let your creativity flow!

This can be a great compromise that gives you the best of both worlds.

Next Step? Pricing Your One-of-a-Kind Items

So I hope this article has clarified a little bit what I think about selling one-of-a-kind. You can absolutely make it work, it just depends what your definition of success is for your business – like how much money you want to make, how much time you have to create products, all of those details.

I don’t want you to be discouraged thinking that you can’t sell one-of-a-kind successfully because you can. Selling one-of-a-kind is much like any other business decision you make, you have to think it through to see if it aligns with your business and personal goals.

I would love to know, actually, if you have some further question about how to make one-of-a-kind sales work, or a specific question about marketing or pricing or anything like that, that have to do with one-of-a-kind— if you do please drop a line in the comments below because I’d be happy to do more articles about specifically selling one-of-a-kind items if you guys want me to. 

Something that’s very important when selling one-of-a-kind is PRICING and more specifically understanding what PERCEIVED VALUE is and how to use it, so make sure to read my article about how to price handmade products next to learn more as that’s exactly what I walk you through in it.

Thanks for reading, and until next time, aurevoir!