Comment from Homeworking.com
- We are sorry that the craft kits did not work out to be an income generating activity.
- Lou Ann still gives the benefit of the doubt to the company as to why her work continually did not pass inspection, even though she knows her work was of good quality. The truth is, most people's work do not pass inspection and never would. TV programmes have been made in the UK which have proved that it is impossible to get your work accepted by these companies.
- As Lou Ann says, if you like a kit for itself and are not intending to make money from it then they are fine. (But still watch out as some kits are over-rated and contain junk materials.)
- If you are involved in craft or assembly work, Lou Ann's first article gives some great tips for organising yourself and also stresses that it is hard work!
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"My name is Lou Ann and I would like to re-post and update my experience since the time of the last posting. [April 2001]
"You had asked me to respond within 6 months and let everyone know how it turned out and money spent compared to income and so on. I'm a little late in responding but feel I need to let everyone know exactly what happened. I have had many emails from people regarding the work from home assembly and I have tried to reply to them all with honest answers and tell exactly what my experience was and let them make their decision from there.
"At the time I wrote that article, it was early into my excursion with the home assembly. As I stated in the article, I did continue to make items and receive payment from the one company. However, the down side to that was that they never raised the maximum quota allowed and they only allowed $20 worth of product assembled per month.
"My experience in the end was this: I ordered 8 different kits ranging from $35 to $50 per kit and ranging from difficult to really simple needlework to hot glue projects and none of them passed the company's inspection except for the one.
"They failed them upon inspection every time and some even wanted money to return the failed items.
"I spent a lot of money on the kits, supplies and postage and still only was making the $20 per month from the original company I spoke of before. I tried 6 different times for a passing inspection with one company and when they failed the 6th, that was the giving up point for me. I can't say that they never intended to pass anything because I don't know. I can say that I have friends who are professional crafters and they could not understand why the items weren't passing and they suggested I start selling them at craft shows on my own which I did.......that tells me there really wasn't anything wrong with my work.
"What I told the people who wrote asking me about the work from home assembly was simply this: If you are needing an extra income, this is not the route to go. If you like crafting and are interested in ordering the kits and making the items and selling on your own, then maybe you would enjoy ordering the kits just for fun.
"One thing with the kits is once you order them, they are yours to keep and you are allowed to make and sell those items yourself. You don't have to worry about copyright protected as some of the patterns in books you might buy. A couple of the projects that people seem to like, I changed the decoration or theme and so on and am selling them on my own. If you are already a crafter and doing shows, then going that route might interest you just for some different items to make. If you happen to submit to the company for inspection and pass, all the better.
"I hope this information will be of help to a few and maybe answer some questions or help them make a decision on the subject."
Thank you to Lou Ann and we wish her all the very best.
[Please note that with all items on the Soapbox the views expressed are those of the writer and not necessarily of Homeworking.com]
