Prices: To lower or not to lower?

[Former_Member]

So I've been making these vinyl record bowls for a while and I'm getting fast enough I can afford to lower the price about $5. Which is something i'd be more than willing to do. I want my stuff to be affordable to anyone who wants my stuff.

However, I've been catching up on the etsy success talks and I've been hearing a lot of stuff about how lowering your prices makes your items seem cheap and that raising your price could actually get you more customers, etc. One guest they had on there even said she ignore the items priced at about $10, assuming the more expensive ones are of better quality.

I certainly need the money, being a college student and all. But I need sells to get any money. If I don't lower my prices I think I will definitely go through with giving customers coupons for all kinds of things (returning, buying multiple items, etc)

Another thing I guess I should mention is that I don't plan to do these forever unless they are popular enough but I do plan to get into more artistic items.

So then. What do you guys think? Should I lower them or not?

Thank you :]

[ShiShiSupplies]

Hello Melena...

You have some interesting piece but I will tell you my honest idea. They all look the same to me .. Interesting but not exciting. If you want to make money out of here.. you need a huuuuuugeeee patience.. I tell you.. but you need to sell more exciting, appealing products with good quality pictures . Whatever you sell, I suggest you sell internationally. You narrow your chances by selling only to USA.

You need to be in forums... like other ppl's products.. shops..etc.. Active active active.. :)))

Good luck

[ShiShiSupplies]

And I do not recommend lowering your prices. They seem OK.. Do not comprimise from your prices unless they are too expensive..

[Former_Member]

I would definitely price those at about $20 to $25. So raise them, not lower.

[Former_Member]

Dear Melena,

I think that your prices are good! Please don't lower them. Your photos are good, too!

Would you like a general critique on how you can get more sales? :)

Hugs,
Celeste (Crickets)

[Former_Member]

I would actually raise your prices! I typically see bowls and platters made from records going for about $25! http://www.uncommongoods.com/product/record-bowls

You also need to redo some of your photos - get some more interesting angles, from different distances, etc. Right now all your items basically blend together, which doesn't lead to people clicking through multiple places within your shop.

[Former_Member]

I think at the stage where you don't yet have any sales, it is definitely worth experimenting with your prices - after all, just because you lower them doesn't mean you can't raise them again later -it's not a permanent decision.

The one thing I would say is don't assume that if you lower your prices to $5 and then people buy them that nobody is willing to buy them for $15 - its just that when you have no sales and no feedback yet, people are unwilling to take a chance and buy.

Also I have a comment about your shop which I hope you don't mind me saying - I'm put off by the donation to charity aspect - if you want to donate to charity when you make a sale by all means go ahead, I just don't think I'd bother putting it in the listing. Having info about it in the title and listing is confusing to customers, and the stuff to do with you proving that you've made the donation would make me fear a lengthy exchange with the seller! I'm not against donating to charity by any means, I'm just not sure if it a successful sales strategy for you!

[Former_Member]

Hi,

I certainly wouldn't lower your prices. You have to think how much you would like to be paid per hour and how long these take to make (i have no clue as to the process but they don't look super easy to make) as well as the price of the second hand / vintage vinyl and the etsy fees involved.

Your prices are on par with most other sellers on here that produce similar items but that does not mean that you can't price your higher. What was it they said on one of the Etsy Labs.... What is the preceived value of an item, it is difficult for the creator to know the preceived value because to them it was easy to make but to someone else (like me) it will have a higher preceived value due to the fact that i know i couldn't make it.

I also agree about what has been said about the charity donation. I do not believe that this adds interest to your shop and if you want to donate profits to charity you can do so without people knowing or, once a person has bought and you send them the shipping notification you can mention it then.

[Former_Member]

I will definitely be redoing some of my photos.
do you guys think the close ups (like the first two listed are more along the lines of what I need as the cover photo?

Celeste-
I would love a general critique from anyone willing to give one!
and thank you to everyone's responses so far

Emily
also the donation part was a big thing I've been contemplating as well... I have had some good responses to it so I think I'll keep it (unless I get more negative ones) but I'll definitely explain it a little more and take it out of the item's title.
The plan is that the customer will buy the item just like any other item. No complicated mess. I'll just ask if they want to be mentioned in the video i'll making showing me donating it. And if I receive any sort of thank you I will try and send it out to the customers whose money was used.
Honestly it is something I would do personally but the main reason Im making it part of my etsy is to have something to tie all my items together. I have a lot of things I want to do. each item will be related or themed according to whatever cause they'll go to.
but maybe I will take that out. I think I'll give it some more time though.
or maybe ask about it on another thread later today.

[SewMuchFabric2010]

Melena, I would remove the donation part as well. Additionally I would do some reading on search engine optimization. If it was up to me, I would not lower your prices. It seems like such a good idea, to lower your prices and get some sales, then to raise them again. It is not something I would do. It deters return customers and puts off people who are looking for a quality item.

I would definately look at your pics carefully though. Pics are the bane of my existance, but I do think you need more angles and I would take one pic showing what can be done with the bowls. I think they are cool, I just have a hard time picturing how I would use them.

The next time a friend or family member says "hey can I buy this bowl from you" you say - sure will you buy it on etsy? That will generate more sales under your belt and more feedback, and I really feel it's a better method than lowering your prices.

[Former_Member]

Hi Melena: I like your shop idea. I agree with the recommendations: play down the charity aspect, but keep it it's important to you. Have you tried using the band or song information in the keywords, or the type of music? The actual album may be of some significance to someone. I think the actual photos themselves are good. You can see the detail and the shape. Maybe include a photo of the center for the album information, and a few photos with the product being used: hung on a wall, filled with fruit, some yarn, a kitten if you have one around :)

Good idea, and good luck.

[Former_Member]

Also, maybe include the color of the label in the listing, and make some categories, by color, by size, by type of music...

A.

[dstefanTreasures]

Some new and more interesting pictures with different angles. Maybe room settings, or adding popcorn to one, or filling one with apples may encourage buyers to look through more items. Pictures tell the story of what you're selling.

I think your prices are good. It just takes a while to get started on Etsy and now the summer doldrums have set in. Work on all your changes and prepare for the holidays. Your items are great! Just have patience.

[Former_Member]

Hi Melena!

Just in general for critiques I would say have banner redone (I hope this doesn't sound mean, but it looks a little homegrown to me and could be updates/spiffed up) and also, very important, VARY YOUR TITLES, they all start with "Vinyl Record" and you could be starting some with "home decor" or "rocker" or "music" or "centerpiece" or "platter" or "bowl" or "fruit bowl" or "nut bowl" or "coffee table bowl" or a bazillion other keywords! :)

Here is more info about that:

I also highly recommend the SEO (Search Engine Optimization) guidance:

www.etsy.com/storque/search/tags/search-engine-optimization/

And here are more tips on relevancy (coming up high in etsy searches):

http://www.etsy.com/blog/en/2012/the-seller-handbook/#getfound

Hope that helps!
Celeste (Crickets)

[Former_Member]

I would like to see more interesting pics. I love record bowls, especially because they're so rock and roll! It might be helpful to market them by taking photos that appeal to the crowd that enjoys this type of product. I'm with everyone else on the prices...25$ seems about right. Remember there is cost in making them, listing, photographing...your sales pay for all of this time, not just making them.

[spacefem]

I actually do both... I set my prices based on the market, but if an item doesn't sell in three months it spends its last month on clearance. That way ive got lots of different price points... My store doesn't look too "cheap" but I've got something to offer bargain-hunters as well.

As an etsy buyer (and I buy a LOT) I definitely look for good deals. Some of my favorite outfits came from thrift stores, not the mall... you don't always get better quality at the mall, you just have to pay for all the fancy fountains and displays. Well sometimes I don't feel for paying for all that. Same on etsy. I don't always feel like paying extra for the most poetic description, photo taken with a $3000 camera, seller's ad budget. I bargain hunt.

[ArtifactsEtCetera]

I also vote that you raise your prices to $20-$25.

As for your photos... I think it would be super cool if you edited them on www.picmonkey.com to have a vintage feel... they have a bunch of easy to use filters that will do just that! I'd leave at least one "normal" so that customers can see accurate colors, but changing at least your first photo to have more character would get you into more treasuries and attrat the retro-loving crowd!

You could even do some staging in your photos... set up a few bowls that you keep for personal use as if you were having a party as an example for how they could be used. You could put them on a table, fill them with chips, pretzels, and candy, add a lava lamp and burning intense for a 60's-70's vibe or some black and white checkerboard and an Elvis statue for a 50's look... whatever you want! I think that would really help entice your customers to take the leap and make a purchase!

[Former_Member]

You have some pretty good suggestions here, including the ones above with editing and stages your bowls.

Just my two cents.... Lowering your prices won't make them sell any faster. You just need to be a little more patient. Also, I agree totally with those that are recommending to play down the charity. You already have it in your About page, so its very clear what you want to do with sale proceeds.

People are not searching for products that give to charity's, so I would eliminate that reference from your titles. Charities are a very personal thing. A charity that you give to may not appeal to some, and although I feel that your goal is quite admirable and I'm impressed with, it may not work to your advantage by publicizing it so much. Some people just give to a cause anonymously. A gift from the heart.

I wish you well, and hope that things turn around for you and you can get those sales coming in.

[Former_Member]

i dont think you need to lower your prices but i DO think you need to address in the pictures how sturdy they are or are not. if i remember records correctly they broke fairly easily. so you need to say in the pictures or the titles if they are display or if they can carry things.

[Former_Member]

Thank you everyone for all your wonderful suggestions!
So I changed the cover photos to most items to show an angled, detail shot in hopes of it adding more variety.

Also, about the charity thing, I had not even thought of how obnoxious my page looked with donate to fight hunger donate to fight hunger donate to fight hunger plastered all over it. So. I changed that.

I also added a variety of "adjectives" to the titles.

And finally I raised my prices $5. I definitely wasn't expecting to do that today. But with so many people insisting I figured it'd be worth a shot.

Anyways, I guess know how I'll be spending my weekend. I'll definitely have some photos showing how they could be used. I'll play with the filters on picmonkey. And I'll create a more fitting banner and icon. Oh and fix up my descriptions.

Thank you all so much for taking the time to help me out with my shop. I truly appreciate it.
If any of you come back feel free to let me know what you think of the changes or let me know if you forgot to mention something :]

[philosophiacreations]

I don't think your prices are unreasonable and would not suggest lowering them.

[Former_Member]

You mentioned that you've gotten good/faster at making the bowls... I would actually raise your prices then. If you're getting faster and better, it means that you should probably up your hourly wage! So even if you don't raise your prices, keep t hem the same and consider it part of your hourly wage. I hope I made sense. I'm getting sleepy :)

[Former_Member]

Haha dont worry Nicole you made enough sense for me to understand. And thanks to the both of you. I think I'll try my prices at $20 for a bit. But I definitely dont think i'll be raising them any more.
again, Thank you all so much!

[Former_Member]

No, don't lower! Your prices are fine....You have to value your time, so that others will, too!
Also, remember all of the time spent listing, photographing, etc.

[KriyaDesign]

Test it... and see how it goes.

Lowering the price doesn't seem to work for me. I think if you don't believe in it, it won't work. Am I making sense? What I meant is price is not the sole factor folks flocking your store. I've noticed, doesn't matter how big discount I was dishing, no one seems interested. There is something about you and the store that get buyers' attentions. And price is not top of the list.

There are sellers who selling $30 items like hot cakes. What the science here?!