Are the prices too high?

[Former_Member]

Dear all,

I'm relatively new on the market and since this is something I do on the side my shop is small and with not a lot of items. Still I do need some advise on the prices..
Do you think that my cards are overpriced?

I've read a lot on the site about it but still i can't seem to find the right price for my items.. what do you think?

Thanks a lot in advance!
Maria

[Former_Member]

I have been struggling with prices myself. It is a hard thing to judge as the creator. I have asked friends about my prices when I first started selling in real life. I was told several times that I was selling myself short.
What I have learned by the general "rules" is to find out what it costs to make an item and multiply it by 3. I have also heard that one must pay themselves hourly as well. Now if I did that, I would be charging upwards of 36-40 bucks per clutch. and I get many of my items on sale!!! I would never sell anything!

Because I actually use clutches, I think "What would I pay if I was buying these from someone who made them?" - I would pay a bit more if someone personally made a clutch as opposed to buying them in the store ie walmart-becasue I know it won't be quality. In purchasing from an etsy shop, craft fair etc-I know I am supporting a creative individual and am happy to do so.

Also, in pricing, you must think who your target audience is. Obviously you sell specialty greeting and special occasion cards. Someone will spring for a few extra bucks on something handmade like that and bragging rights to tell the recipient how/where they found the card that was made just for them.

So ask yourself this:
how are you calculating your price?
what kind of time are you spending on creating each item? not just producing the item, but the thought that goes into picking colors, themes, supplies, etc. What is your time worth?

If the roles were switched, what would YOU pay for something like that? and why?

Who are you marketing these to?


Have you thought of doing a variety pack? I know my mom and sister LOVE to send cards and buy boxes of them with multiple occasions. During the year there are clusters of special occasions, mothers day, fathers day and graduation day for example. Maybe a variety pack for that cluster, OR a "pick any 4 cards" at a certain price.

[Former_Member]

Ps.. This is a great card!
http://www.etsy.com/listing/122004971/you-are-sew-special-anniversary?ref=v1_other_1

[Former_Member]

Hello Rebecca,

Thank you so much for the lengthy repsonse! I've tried to think of most of the questions you wrote above. I love buying cards myself, so I'm trying to think as a buyer as well and for some of my cards I think I would pay more but then again it's me.

I do have plenty of ideas on expanding my items but i have a full time job so at the moment that's very hard for me to do. But the variety pack is something I haven't thought of to be honest! So cheers for the good advice!!

For the moment i've calculated my income and expenses and i'm 700 euros short BUT I think i'm investing on something here so I don't think about it as much. It's good that I have a full time job to support what I do, cause for me it's only the beginning :)

[Former_Member]

No, I don't think they are too high... just right. I think the problem is that people don't want to pay for the hand crafted side of things as budgets are tight... but you've made 9 sales, which isn't too bad for having just started, right? Can you peep in my shop and tell me what you think? I'm in the same boat!

[Former_Member]

Thank you also for liking my work :)

[Former_Member]

Thanks Maria, you're a superstar for liking my work too :)

[Former_Member]

Hi Holly,

Thank you also for your comment. Indeed budgets are tight these days!
I checked your shop and I think I'm the worst person to advise as I don't buy any jewellery myself. So i have no idea what the prices are. But I have to say that your work is really good! What i would say is that the combination of the jewellery with the cord is not ideal to me.

For example, this one: https://www.etsy.com/listing/112572464/textured-silver-tribal-pendant

is amazing! I love this piece. But i think the leather cord whould put me off. So maybe it's not the price that you need to change. Maybe twick things a bit. Like uplifting the images or your brand?

I do think of those things myself a lot. Is my brand good enough ..well mine is still developing. But I'm working on it. Also my images. Do they represent the items correctly. Do people see clearly what i'm displaying?

I don't think i replied well to your request but I writing a few ideas down for further consideration.

I was also told ones that it takes time to get yourself on the map of etsy sellers. Ads do help i was told. So maybe that's also an idea... i think i'll consider that ones i have more items to sell.

[Former_Member]

Ladies,

Thank you so much for starting this thread! I'm also new to Etsy, and the issue of pricing my items is kind of baffling me.

I make stuffed toys completely by hand (I don't even own a sewing machine), so it takes a while for me to finish them. Also, I've heard from people that my toys are very well made (and that they don't smell like a Chinese warehouse!), so it would be silly to price them too cheap. But at the same time, I don't want to put high prices on them and never sell them...

Here's a sample of my work:

https://www.etsy.com/listing/122019895/sophie-the-piggy-rockford-red-heel

I know some people would be happy to pay extra for quality and exclusivity, but how do we chase them down?

[Former_Member]

Thanks Maria, that's excellent feedback that I can really use :) I'll replace that pendant with sterling chain and work on my label and pics :)

Alina, I keep hearing the formula of time + materials + profit (maybe 35-50%) for wholesale prices and then double it for retail. I keep things at wholesale at the moment because until I get a gallery, I don't want people to have to pay retails prices. But for handmade toys, I'm sure some people would pay the worth... it's all the cheap stuff that the masses will go for; so getting your work out the the right people is going to be key. I think I'm in the same boat (gulp)

Trade reviews are great and so are lifestyle magazines. You just need one 'right person' to advocate your work then, BAM! sales galore. Still chasing that star...

[Former_Member]

I have been reading ALOT about ads. there is a ton of feedback in the forums. generally i heard they do not help. However, I have heard that Facebook ads have been the key. I was reading one thread, and the young lady had done a FB ad and her likes skyrocketed. well, thats good and all, but will it lead to sales? Probably nothing immediately, but it will open the door to leading people into your etsy shop. If you have a FB page-it might be something to consider to at least increase traffic leading to EVENTUAL sales. Keeping up your FB page is important, and it would be a good idea to update it often promoting sales of any kind or featuring new items an gaining valuable feedback. Promotion is so important but is difficult to do here. You must think beyond etsy in as to not get lot in the masses. Face to face craft sales is the single biggest and easiest way (for me) to spread the word. People like putting a face and importanly a personality to the products they will potentially buy. I know thsi is terribly off subject, but I did notice there was some concerns regarding promotions etc. I am new to the site bu have been crafting and selling for some time.

[Former_Member]

Maria Mylona from DoodlePaperCrafts says
Dear all,

I'm relatively new on the market and since this is something I do on the side my shop is small and with not a lot of items. Still I do need some advise on the prices..
Do you think that my cards are overpriced?

I've read a lot on the site about it but still i can't seem to find the right price for my items.. what do you think?

Thanks a lot in advance!
Maria
----------
your prices seem fine, a little low even, but you need more items. many more.

i think for your kind of shop you should have 60 or more.

[Former_Member]

@KoutureCrochetfromKoutureCrochet:

Thank you for your feedback! Indeed I should have more. It happens that i get orders outside etsy and some people i can't seem to convence them to go via etsy. So I make more than it shows here. That's also the reason I created a FB page, to show the cards I make to order outside etsy.BUTyou are right. I try to make as many as I can on my free time, which is limited :(

[Former_Member]

@Rebecca Sutton:

Indeed it is puzzling whether the ads work or not. I have a colleague and his wife is on etsy. She is using ads and she is selling a lot! I suppose it's also the right combination or work and ads. You might have a product that people don't want to buy and advertising won't make much difference. I think one should think well before buying ads in here.