How to make money with woodworking

Interested in turning your woodworking hobby into a money-making side hustle? There's lots of ways to make money woodworking and we'll talk about them below!

When I started woodworking, it was out of necessity for my soon-to-be wife wanting some projects made for our wedding. Then we moved into our first house and we needed furniture and I didn't want to spend thousands of dollars on things that weren't exactly what we wanted.

So I got better at woodworking and it went from being a problem solving activity to a hobby I enjoyed doing. But as the years have gone on, I need less furniture in my house and I've started creating projects that are designed for selling.

There's a lot of ways to make money woodworking, whether as a full-time business, as a side hustle or a retirement activity, and some of these you might not know about.

Ways to make money woodworking

Making money from woodworking can come in a variety of different methods, from physically making items that you sell to creating woodworking plans for others to follow, or by teaching skills. Here's a look at a few ways to make money woodworking.

Make sure you check out some of the best woodworking projects to make and sell!

Sell physical products

The most obvious way to make money woodworking is by actually making woodworking projects that you sell to other people. But there's really two ways that you can do that- custom orders or mass market.

You can take custom orders from people and design/build them exactly what they want. Whether this is talking to them about what they want and designing something specific to them or having a design you've already made that they select from, custom orders are often very lucrative.

With custom orders, your customer knows that you are handcrafting a design and that you have a rate for that piece. These people usually understand that custom woodwork costs more than buying something that is ready-made and that they may have to wait a while. You can take these orders through your website, neighborhood groups, friends and family or Facebook marketplace.

Here's more on where to sell woodworking projects!

Meanwhile, you can also sell to a mass market. There's two ways to do this as well. The first is that you can build a project you're interested in creating and then post it out for people to buy. They don't get to custom design this, but it's still handmade and something you wanted to do.

The other is to create smaller items like planters, signs, and decor that you make a lot of and sell for a smaller profit, but on a wider scale. This is usually done at a craft fair, or on Facebook marketplace.

Remember to always know how to price your woodworking projects so that you make enough money to cover your costs, time and make a profit.

Sell woodworking plans

One great way to make ongoing money from your woodworking projects is to sell the woodworking plans for projects you've already created. This way, you make the physical project once (that you either keep or sell) and then you sell plans for it forever.

I create woodworking plans on this website for every project I make and list them all for sale on my shop page. They don't sell for a lot of money individually, but they sell constantly with very little work involved after I create them.

Creating woodworking plans involves creating a PDF document that has the material list, cut list and step-by-step instructions with images so that people can easily recreate your project. I create mine using a program called SketchUp and it's something you can easily learn on your own.

Sell on Etsy

Another way to make money woodworking is by selling through Etsy. Here, you can combine the last two options and sell either your physical projects or woodworking plans.

Typically, you want to stick to selling smaller items on Etsy because you have to ship items across the country. Selling larger items is logistically more difficult and more expensive. But smaller or flatter items typically do best.

You can also sell woodworking plans on Etsy in the same way you can on your own website. I list all of my woodworking plans on Etsy as well as my website because you never know where someone will find you. While you do have to pay a small fee to Etsy for the plan unlike on your own website, you are reaching a market you might not otherwise get and a slightly discounted sale is better than no sale.

Teach classes

Another way to make money woodworking is by teaching classes. This one is probably the most time consuming and logistically challenging, but it's a great option for making money locally.

To teach woodworking classes, you'll need a space large enough to host people and have space for them to work. You'll need to figure out a way to market your classes and set them up.

Charging for woodworking classes definitely ranges on what you're offering, but people are generally willing to spend more money when they are actually physically doing something. This is a great option for retired woodworkers interested in spreading their knowledge, but make sure you look into whether you need insurance in case someone gets hurt.

Install accent walls

A slightly different option to traditional woodworking is installing accent walls. There are tons of businesses that charge premium rates for installing custom accent walls in people's homes.

Installing accent walls lets you use your woodworking skills but also allows you to be creative. You can offer people your own design options or you can do something they already have in mind. But you'll still be working with wood, creating beautiful pieces and making a good amount of money for it.