Is it better to list an item as Handmade or just Unbranded?

[taggau5]

Is it better to list an item as Handmade or just Unbranded? Do buyers shy away from Handmade? 

I find well-known brands do sell quicker and for a higher price....but often a handmade item is just as good (or better). I am referring to Clothing.

[kopenhagen5 · Accepted solution]

I think it would also depend on what type of item.

A wedding or evening dress may not appeal if handmade but a sweater that is hand knitted may be very appealing.

[tangledstitches]

There's a huge market for handmade so call it what it is.  As a side note, I remember reading where a seller said they sell a lot more when they say home made than hand made (in the title, etc).

Technically, all clothing would be made by hand, unless they've invented robots that can use a sewing machine (and I don't mean the people who are forced to work like robots in sweat shops).

[taggau5]

"Home made" sounds cosy, but it depends on the type of item. A home made blouse doesn't sound as good as home made jam or artwork.
Home made clothing doesn't speak "quality" to me, even though it can be better than factory made.

[tangledstitches]

It's what your potential buyers think that matters, not what you or I think. Too many people who make things denigrate themselves needlessly.

If you looked on facebook in certain groups you'd see there's a huge market for clothes made at home and the ones I've seen have been quite stunning. As for kope's comment about a home made wedding dress not sounding appealing, it used to be the case that a lot of brides didn't buy their dresses from a shop but went to a dressmaker - who usually sewed at home.

[springyzone]

It depends on the item, as others have said.

But I would not shy away from the words hand made if you're talking quality craft items.

I've seen beautiful baby quilts and such that I think people would pay  apremium for as they are hand made.

I've bought little hand knitted beanies on ebay for my grandkids as they appealed a lot more to me than the mass produced ones.

It will depend on your items & it will depend on your marketing.

You have to convey that hand made= exclusive.

I have a friend who was telling me about one of those Sunday market places. She visited one in the inner suburbs of Melbourne a couple of years back & saw a stall where the woman was selling these mobiles for young children, the sort that usually hang above a cot etc.

They were made of material and felt and were quite cute. My friend is quite talented herself at crafts & sewing & went to have a closer look. Nearly dropped on the spot when she saw the price-it was about $125.

She said there would have been no more than a few dollars of material in it.

But the stall was making sales and each sale, the item was carefully wrapped in tissue paper, placed in a fancy cardboard box with special gift tages etc. It all looked very upmarket & exclusive.

My friend later made some nursery bunting that was very attractive & hand made, had trouble selling it at $20, but it was at a completely different type of market and not displayed as preciously.

So, if you make hand made stuff, advertise it as that but take care with the photos and description so it stands out from the rest.

[digital*ghost]

I personally don't use either, and put my own brand name in the item specifics, then use 'hand crafted' as the descriptor (titles, descriptions etc). 

"Unbranded" always felt like I was undervaluing my work and the item, like it was just some generic thing that didn't take hours to make, and "home made" didn't have quite the right ring to it for me either, though I can see why it would be more appealing for certain itens (like food as suggested above), but hand crafted always seem like it better represented what I actually do, which is spend a long time doing things by hand until I have a finished product. 

My items are way better than any mass produced, generic product of the same type in terms of quality (for most things, it's not even possible to mass produce them, but I've seen some Chinese suppliers try and they are pretty sub-par), so being handmade is a plus, not a minus (if it is a minus for a buyer, they are not your target market anyway), so JMHO it's always better to treat these aspects as a massive plus when selling your items, plenty of people will agree, and anyone on the fence may simply like the confidence you have in your skills and items.