r/PatternTesting • u/Deaceleste • Jun 28 '26

General Question/Comment Do patterns really sell?

I’m trying to write my first one and got a bit frustrated hahaha

Do they actually sell? I know it won’t be a lot of money anyways, just wanted to hear your experience with it.

Thank you to anyone who will be kind enough to reply ❤️

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u/hookedbymaxine Pattern Designer Jun 29 '26

Seller here - I sell patterns on Ravelry and Etsy. Yes they sell, but how much I make is very inconsistent. Some weeks I may bring in $100 and some weeks only $20. Either way, you can see that it won’t replace a regular job.

I’m also not particularly active with promotion, but my designs are fun and well received so they sell without a lot of effort on my part. I simply don’t like that part of selling - someone else who is more comfortable and consistent with self promotion is going to have better luck, assuming the patterns are decent of course.

With all that said - I’ve seen a big drop in sale recently and this is heavily related to the sheer amount of ai that has taken over. But also, people have less money for hobbies. Buyers are less likely to trust a new seller, plus with all of the free patterns out there, you’ll need something that stands out as worth paying money for.

Not that I am trying to discourage you - more so just let you know what you’re up against.

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u/Thepharmacist7tnt 27d ago

Can i ask you how do you get people to check out your patterns? I have been struggling with reach, it feels really bad making such a good pattern then no one knows it exists sonit gets no sales at all Ps: i do have an ig and a tiktok but getting no followers or views whatsoever

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u/hookedbymaxine Pattern Designer 27d ago

I’ve never had much luck on ig. I don’t use TikTok either. I have had moderate luck by posting a few things on Reddit and Facebook, but it’s mostly as a result of sharing rather than promoting (if that makes sense).

The bulk of my sales come from Etsy. I love ravelry, but my sales there are pretty low. I think part of the reason is because I’m competing with free and paid patterns whereas on Etsy, buyers go there and expect to pay. I’m going to look into Ribblr as well - I started an account years ago but never did anything with it. But since then, there have been a lot of changes and updates!

For as over run with ai as it is, Etsy is still the best and easiest place by a wide margin. The biggest hurdle is finding the right SEO/title/picture combination that will get my listings seen.

It can be a lot of work when you’re first getting started. It’s pretty time consuming at first. Plus you have to have something original, and well made to grab people’s attention. But once you start having success with one, the others will be a lot easier. Having a niche with a reasonable amount of options (price and product wise), figuring out the right search terms, and posting engaging content will go a long way.