DIY culture and creative hobbies have been booming for the past 5 years. With the pandemic hitting a crucial moment, and more people trying to reinvent themselves while taking their time, this fueled a dynamic market for arts and crafts.
Where do you enter here?
Hobby store owners or resellers in the arts and crafts category can benefit from craft supplies liquidation. You can access a lot of inventory and resell it for over 40% of what it cost you in most cases.
Savvy hobby store owners understand this and have been capitalizing on craft supplies liquidation and hobby supplies wholesale closeout deals for over two years now. However, the market in 2025 is better than ever.
With more opportunities, lots, and options, it is easier for new resellers to join and make their own revenue.
At Coastal Surplus Solutions, we want to help you work on the process and have the best options as an art materials surplus buyer.
Whether you are stocking your shelves or seeking new inventory for craft enthusiasts, understanding the market is key. This includes the popular categories, seasonal trends, and the responsibilities involved in handling this business.
We help you go over the essentials and work on the crucial aspects of your business or future one.
Popular Categories: Painting Surplus, Fabric, Beading, and Scrapbooking
While stores are always a mix of high- and low-value items, you want to stick to the high-value or popular options more than the second.
The most in-demand surplus items always sell quickly and for better prices. While you can use them to bundle with low-selling options, the idea is to have an inventory that meets two goals:
- Moves quickly to avoid stagnant capital.
- Offers variety, but without going too niche in the entire market or industry.
A few options we have seem always remain popular among buyers include:
- Painting supplies. This category alone has way too many options. Watercolor sets, acrylics, oil paints, brushes, sketch pads, and much more. Surplus lots often feature bulk options and all-in-on art kits. They are perfect for balancing beginners and experienced artists’ items.
- Fabric and sewing like yarns, needles, and embroidery kits. All of them cater to DIY fashion projects.
- Beading and jewelry making. This includes metals, findings, wire, kits, and beads overall.
- Scrapbooking and paper crafts are affordable in most cases, leading buyers to invest in them more than anything else. This includes items like stickers, adhesives, specialty papers, and cardstock.
Following DIY crafting blog, these categories offer high turnover. With more people looking for items to start their projects, they have all a broad appeal. They are frequently featured in wholesale and liquidation assortments.
Seasonal Trends: Holiday Crafts, Back-to-School Projects
Timing inventory is what truly keeps you from stagnating your own capital. This is crucial for maximizing sales and making sure you have control over how your business and items are moving.
But which are the best moments?
- Holiday crafts always come at Christmas, Halloween, Easter, and similar seasonal events. They drive in demand themed kits and specific decorations and ornaments. You can make a list of what people are getting and work right now in the process.
- Back-to-School: Late summer and early fall always come with the best times to include art materials and kits for students. This will drive the demand and bring more customers knocking on your items.
- Summer camps and workshops are also great places for bulk craft kits and easy-to-use materials. They are popular among camp members and you can profit a lot from the sales.
Take the time to align your stock with these trends and seasons. They help you get ready to peak and get the most out of your investment.
Quality Assessment: Dried Paints, Expired Adhesives, and Condition Issues
Anything in poor condition needs to be identified and removed. Of course, this takes proper time, but it is part of managing quality control when sourcing from craft supplies liquidation.
Your role is going over the dates, checking the condition as a whole, and seeing if you can list them. if not, move on and remove the items from the listing.
But what are you exactly checking for?
- Check for dried or expired products. This can include paints, glues, and markets.
- Packaging integrity and ensuring that kits and sets are complete and properly sealed or, at least, partially sealed that can be fixed.
- Condition grading. Depending on how your items look and area, you want to assess them accordingly. grade them, and make sure to split each good in different sections for buyers to know what they are buying.
Following Potato Art Studios research, reputable surplus sellers always offer better packaging. This makes them look and be more reliable, and brings clients in due to the product condition and how they are offered.
Target Markets: Hobby Stores, Schools, Craft Enthusiasts
The best buyers for arts and crafts surplus come from many sources. However, you can prioritize three in specific:
- Hobby and craft stores that are always going for bulk assortments and closeout deals. This helps them maintain shelves full and find competitive prices as well.
- Schools and community centers always need supplies. This is a good way to move your craft store liquidation inventory to maximize throughout the year.
- Craft enthusiasts and DIYers are always there, but they rely more on online platforms. This means you will have to go over listings and different options to maximize your revenue.
Expanding reach is always crucial, so take the time to work around all the options and see how it performs. Once a channel is identified, you can make decisions from there.
Coastal Surplus Solutions helps you work on your hobby supplies wholesale closeout by connecting with the goods.
We know how to source and what it takes to have your items.
Feel free to contact us and have our professional support.
