Free patterns—is it worth it for sellers?

I think it’s great that there are free patterns here every now and then.
I’ll openly admit that I like to “pick up” the free ones when they interest me.
But I’ve also bought a pattern or two, so I’m not just after the free stuff. Those are for later, when I’m more skilled at crocheting, but I just didn’t want to wait—I was curious and wanted to take a look right away.
So far, though, they’re just sitting on my computer, waiting until I’m finally good enough for that kind of thing. I’m still mostly learning by watching YouTube videos. For me, learning happens mainly through listening, not through reading or watching.

Back to the topic:

I assume a lot of work goes into free patterns.
Do sellers who post a free pattern every now and then get an extra/bonus from Crazypatterns, or not really?
Do people post a free pattern just because they happen to have one lying around, or do they create them specifically to maybe get a better start as a seller here overall?

I’m just asking to better understand. I’m not a seller and probably never will be. Unless, of course, the fairy godmother who hands out talent gives me an extra-large dose of crocheting talent for Christmas, so that I can make rapid progress and create lots of patterns without making a fool of myself.
 

I hope it’s worth it. It would be a shame if free patterns weren’t offered anymore.

I completely agree with you

I’ll just speak for myself :o) Whether to offer free patterns is entirely up to each seller. Personally, I do it as a little thank-you—and also so that people can see from the free patterns how they’re structured, whether they can follow along, and if they understand the seller’s instructions...... Before anyone decides to buy a pattern from me, they can check out the free patterns to see how they’re structured.
Plus, I really enjoy giving things away every now and then :o) I often have little ideas and would love to share them as freebies. And yes, there will be more free patterns from JoSaSu—smaller versions, but still free :o)

@Josasu
That’s nicely explained. Thank you :)

The free patterns give users the chance to see for themselves the quality of the paid patterns and, in this way, get to know or test out the seller. If you’re impressed by the free pattern, you’re more likely to buy a paid one. There are probably also some greedy cheapskates (excuse me))), who only grab the free patterns, and there are just plain rude people who don’t even say “thank you” for them )).

Well,
I wouldn’t automatically label people who only get free patterns as greedy cheapskates.
Sure, there may be some among them who really don’t like spending money and would prefer to get everything online for free, even though they could afford to pay for it.
But there are also plenty of people out there who can’t afford extras, even if it’s just a crochet pattern for a few euros now and then.
But then again, there are all kinds of different people.
and from what I’ve been able to observe, here on crazypatterns it’s not only the free patterns that are selling like hotcakes, but the paid ones too. So the mix seems pretty balanced anyway. And someone who doesn’t buy a pattern today might come back next week or next year and buy one then, because the free patterns gave him/her a taste for it. And hopefully crazypatterns will still be around in 2014 or 2016. So the free patterns are also a kind of investment in the future. At least that’s how I see it.

Saying thank you is only natural, I think, although unfortunately you can often see that people don’t say it all that much. But well, that’s just how people are. You can’t change them anyway, so all you can do is try not to get too annoyed about it.

I can totally understand the argument that you first look at the free pattern and then buy a paid one.
That’s how it is for me too. I’m not a cheapskate, but I like to get an idea of something before I buy it.
With patterns, of course, it’s not quite the same issue; it’s only a few euros that are gone in the worst case if the pattern turns out not to be that nice after all. As far as I know, there’s some kind of quality guarantee here on crazypatterns, right? Or rather, the technical support makes sure that the quality stays consistently good?
with bigger purchases such as a washing machine, of course you think about it more before buying one.
That’s why I’m also reluctant to buy such things online.

But fortunately, patterns are different.
Selling them online is ideal. You do buy a pattern like that without thinking about it for ages beforehand. And of course, good pictures help a lot there too, I’d say.

Although Karonana3 isn’t entirely wrong. Over time, I’ve posted a total of four free patterns (three of them sewing patterns, one a crochet pattern) on my blog and on a DIY site. For the first one, which was pretty extensive, I still got some nice comments. For the second one, people downloaded the pattern but hardly said anything anymore. The latest pattern has now been viewed over 2,000 times (I know the exact number because I have statistics I can check) and I haven’t received a single comment or thank-you for it.
It’s a shame, because of course I’m not entitled to it. But I always really enjoyed reading something nice — that was my little reward for the effort :-) But by now, it seems that blog readers simply expect me to post something free every now and then so they can help themselves to it. For me, that means I probably won’t go to that effort for free anymore.

I think it’s a shame you didn’t get a thank-you.
I haven’t picked up any of your free patterns, but I think it’s great that you offer—or have offered—something like that.
Don’t let it get you down. There are definitely people who appreciate free patterns AND say thank you or leave nice comments.

Yes, of course there are people like that too :-) But those people have shown up on my blog too rarely . . .
For me, that has nothing to do with being discouraged, but rather with this: at some point I just draw the conclusion, which is a shame ...

Welcome, Orimono
Here on Crazypatterns, free patterns are received with great enthusiasm, even when they’re linked on Facebook.
I can understand if you don’t want to do that anymore.
How did you actually come up with your nickname?

Thanks for the welcome :-)
Quite simply, orimono means fabric in Japanese.
It suited what I do well, and I liked the sound of the word.
Since it's my shop name, I've been using it as my nickname ever since :-)