Saturday, July 4, 2009

Pricing Handmade Items

The pricing of handmade items has also been a problem for me. Most people think my items are priced too low which takes away from the quality of the item. What I consider more than anything else is the cost of the material used. I really do not consider my time, not that my time isn’t valuable, but I do most of my work when I would just be sitting and watching TV, so it keeps me occupied, because most of the time on TV it does not require your full attention. So if when you look at my items you think they may be lacking in quality because of the price, that is not the reason. Some of the items that are extremely low in price are because they are made from yarn or thread or material that was left over from a different project which has already been sold. Right now I have a lot of items that I am just using up small amounts of yarn rather than just throwing the yarn away, so the items are low priced. Examples of that are the pot holder handle covers, and the Sun Bonnet Sue magnets.
If a pattern requires a lot of work such as attaching some appliques (as in the swan and lady doilies) http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=27047690 or http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=26338912 then I do charge a little bit more. Some of my sewing items are made from material that was on sale at extremely low prices.
Visit my Etsy shop http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=6084057 and take a look at the variety of items and different types of crafts I do. After raising three children I had to develop several different skills to accommodate the clothing requirements of 2 girls (very fussy) and 1 boy.
I am new to blogging so I am not sure how it is done, but if you have ideas on setting prices let me know, I would appreciate the input.

4 comments:

  1. I agree Karen. I don't usually add all my time into a project. I too do it when the family is watching tv or on breaks at work. I feel that if I can share my work with my customers at a reasonable price, that is great with me. If it is priced too high they will pass it up especially with this economy. Great post.

    Diana

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  2. Thanks Diana, I had recently been critized because something I post was too inexpensive so I thought I would post something and hope for some comments is for or against.
    Karen

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  3. I think one reason I don't sell finished items myself is because I can't help thinking of all the time I put into an item. It makes me sad to think I am only getting pennies per hour for my work!
    But Diana is right, the way the economy is, people won't pay too much for crocheted items; they consider them a luxury.

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  4. Hey, thanks for putting my button on your blog :-D I added yours to mine.

    As for pricing my items, I rarely charge what my time is really worth...but I have gone up a tad bit. I was putting so much time into it all, and my items are pretty unique.
    I try to keep a variety of prices around, however, for everybody. Some people would rather buy cheaper, but others won't buy if it's too cheap because they're afraid the quality may not be too good.
    As far as I'm concerned, there is no wrong or right here...do what works best for you.

    My personal opinion on the matter is, handmade is valuable, and should be priced accordingly, but sometimes I don't even follow that rule, lol!

    You have beautiful items, by the way.

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I just retired from the communications department in an airport and am enjoying it.