According to James Dillehay, craft artist and author of the new book, "Sell Your Crafts on eBay", those craft items turn into cash from eBay's more than 104 million users.
Sales of craft items on eBay have grown almost 60% in the past year. Analysis revealed a crafts related item is sold every 9 seconds. According to Dillehay, the popularity of crafts on eBay is not surprising. Hobbyists list over 150,000 craft related items for sale on eBay at any given time. It's a social trend turned into a cottage industry.

Dillehay says the most important technique is learning how to research which words to include in your item auctions and how people search for regionally made arts, crafts, niche and seasonal items. By discovering what is in demand and how much people will pay for these goods, you will boost your profit potential. Dillehay says "To get top dollar when selling items online, you need to learn how eBay customers word their search terms and just what they are looking for. How you spell a word impacts an item's profitability. The way words are spelled make a substantial difference."

For example, the word `handmade,' spelled as one word, was part of 2,233 auction titles with an average closing price of $16.29. However, auction titles that included `hand made' as two words were found in 1,358 listings but with an average auction closing price higher, at $27.81, or $11.52 more profit per item.