Online cotton fabric and yarn shop

Home sewists, quilters, knitters, craft businesses and small clothing brands needing small quantities.

You buy in bulk and sell at a margin by the metre, bundle or cone, with discounts for larger trade orders.

• Knowing fabrics and yarn types
• Stock and order tracking
• Basic online selling and photography
• Packing and posting

• Check whether your home, lease or mortgage allows storing stock and posting parcels
• Fibre content and labelling rules may apply to textile products, check with Trading Standards
• Colours can look different on screen, so expect returns and offer swatches
• Consumer rights for online sales, including returns on uncut items, are worth checking
• Tying up money in slow-selling stock

Startup costs are typically around £1,500 to £8,000, depending on how much stock you buy, your website set-up, photography and packaging. Treat this as an estimate and keep your opening range modest at first.

Monthly revenue is typically around £500 to £4,000, depending on your range, pricing and how well you reach sewists, knitters and small makers. This is an estimate of revenue, not profit, so allow for stock and postage.

Check whether your home, lease or mortgage allows storing stock and posting parcels. Fibre content and labelling rules may apply, so check with Trading Standards, and look at consumer rights for online sales, including returns on uncut items.