Pricing Help?

[Former_Member]

I was reading things about how to price your items and realized that according to etsy, I'm waaay off. I know what they give you as a pricing formula, and my retail values end up outrageous. I also couldn't believe that pricing things low could actually hurt my sales because people think it's not handmade. So I bumped up some of the prices (mainly of the scarves) to absolutely terrifying prices for me. I'm looking for any advice for pricing items that makes them affordable for others, but that I still make a profit.

[Former_Member]

I judge my pricing on how many items I can comfortbaly make in a day, I then work out prices this way : ) each to their own though! Some folks are on here as a hobby and just want to make a few ££ where as others are to make a living!

[Former_Member]

I think your items are lovely and you could still increase the prices on some of your hats and not be out of line. This adorable little pumpkin hat!
http://www.etsy.com/listing/109871433/halloween-pumpkin-hat-costume-hat

[Former_Member]

I actually just lowered the price on that this week hoping it would sell for Halloween... I might be a little lost.

[purlBknit]

Hi Angie,

I love your shop and all the models! Yeah, pricing is tough and the advice I found very helpful from admin is - think of your buyer. Who do you imagine will buy these items? Think of the mainstream stores they would likely shop in and go from there, taking into account that your pieces are handmade. Your hats I think could go up to $20 like your head bands.

I was sitting by my iPod stopwatch like a crazy person. I had to stop. It helped to set a range like hats are $58 - $125 and set the price between that range. More details, hand sculpting, a trimming result in a higher cost. If the cost of your materials are basically the same, this may work for you.

Fell free to ask me anything, I am relatively new too so it is nice to bounce these kinds of things off other fiber folk.

[Former_Member]

I just don't want to sell for that much. It's something I could never afford, and I don't want my customers to feel that way either. I want them to love something that's handmade, but not feel like they're paying an arm and a leg for it.

[TheSalvagedEdge]

I think $20 for.an infant hat is very reasonable and have seen them go for much more. You could price them higher and have a coupon code for people to use. Perceived value is 9/10 of a sale. I know if I buy something cheap from Bigbox USA, I don't expect it to last. I also don't take as good of care of it as I do if I bought it at a boutique and I don't generally "care" about it as much. But if I spend money on something, I usually wear it often and take good care of it.

[OutoftheBeaker]

One thing I have to remember is that I'm not my customer. If I truly loved a crocheted item, I wouldn't pay a normally resonable amount because I'd just go home and make it. However, I know the value of a well-made item and when I find one that I can't make myself, I'm willing to pay the price! Case in point: I just bought a knit wool hat for $50 for a birthday gift for my brother here off Etsy. I really wanted to get him a new, handmade hat and mine never turn out right. I recognize that this hat is a great value, will last forever and, since it's something I can't make myself, it's totally worth the price! Find a friend who isn't a cheapscape but loves handmade and have them help you price your items. My mom and sister (who aren't particularly crafty) help me out quite a bit!

[BostonPaperCompany]

I second Cindy's thoughts - you are not your customer! There is a reason I take my pants to the tailor to have the hem fixed: I have neither the skill nor the inclination to do it. The same goes for your potential customers looking for handknitted hats or other items.

And 'affordable' is a very tricky term. Affordable for whom? Middle class people? What is middle class? That definition will vary from town to town and different regions of the country. Affordable for people who normally only shop at goodwill because funds are tight?

I understand that you don't feel comfortable charging more, but if Etsy is going to be a business for you instead of a hobby, then you have to look at it through a business lens. Evaluate if it is worth your time to make hats at the lower price point...

[Former_Member]

I guess being a recent college grad has made pricing for me difficult. I'm used to being strapped for cash. Plus I guess I think that people won't pay for something that they could buy in the store for less.

[creativemind]

This is a dilemma for me as well. I agree with what Anna says, but I also agree with you Angie. I will splurge on a handmade item because I know how hard a person worked to make it. But in the same breath, then I might not buy as many, because I just can't afford it.

I've had many people tell me my items are priced too low. But right now I work with a variety of materials, and I count materials cost pretty heavily in the price formula. As a result, my prices can be all over the board. I also count complexity pretty high.

As far as quantity, or time, that's a tough one. I only have one item I can make in about an hour. The rest take anywhere from a day to a week to much longer. I have to mix it up, so I can keep my stock up, which it's not right now.

But I disagree with the idea of overpricing something and then offering a coupon. To me, that makes it look like a shop is trying to be a discount store, not a chic boutique. or that a seller doesn't have a good grasp on pricing in the first place. I know it's a proven sale tactic, but it's not for me.

Keep up the good work, try different things, and in the end, go with what makes you most comfortable. That's the great thing about being in charge of your shop!

[TheSalvagedEdge]

This thread is a pretty good read.

http://www.etsy.com/teams/7722/business-topics/discuss/11111978/page/13/

[Former_Member]

I agree with the above, just because you can't afford that price, doesn't mean others can't : )

[Former_Member]

I'm not a fiber artist, but I've struggled with pricing before, and for me, add to the fact that I make items that I don't buy or wear, so I have no personal reference point.

I agree completely with the comments about "you are not your customer". The worse thing you can do is evaluate your pricing based on what you would pay for something. I listed a pair of earrings for what I calculated as a fair price for my time and level of skill and quality, no emotion about "affordability". Thought to myself... "no one is ever going to pay this much for earrings". Surprise to me, I sold them within the month... and not only that, right after someone convo'd me and asked me to make them a pair just like them! Lesson for me... take the emotion out of pricing and stick to the formula.

I time my work. I don't get obsessive about it, but I do keep track of the time I spend on each piece, just as I keep track of the materials I put into each piece. I don't see anything wrong with having as much information about how much time and money you put into making what you make. However I have found that how much time I think I spend on making a piece and how much time I actually did spend making a piece were two entirely and surprising different pieces of information.

I've learned too, to "normalize" the prices between similar pieces. For example some earrings may come out of the formula a bit more or less than others of similar style etc. However, I tend to look at the range they come out from the formula and pick a price point that averages out across the range.

I agree with others here, if this is a business for you, then you have to consider your time and efforts. It only fair to you... and it's only fair to others like you on Etsy. One of the thorns in my side are people who price their items low, either because they don't care or they don't think they can raise their prices and then the rest of us that do care and do take our efforts seriously suffer because they have priced below what is reasonable for a handmade item. This is not unlike countries that pay their workers pennies to make things and then sell these items on the open market cheaply... see what I mean?

Your pieces are handmade for Gosh Sakes! It takes time, and effort to make these things... you are not a machine, and even if you enjoy the heck out of what you do, you deserve to paid for the time you are spending making it. Time you are not spending with your family. Time you are not spending doing other things you enjoy doing. Time you are not spending cleaning the house, running errands, having coffee with your friends. Time is valuable, as is your effort and skill in making something by hand. Yes you enjoy doing what you do, yes time for you spent doing it is easy to do because you love it so much. But that doesn't lessen the value of the time and efforts you spend and you should be compensated for that.

You are not Walmart! If someone want's an affordable knit hat they can go to Walmart and buy one made in a country that pays their workers pennies to make them, or a by a company that has warehouses of machines to knit 24/7 and spew out un-creative, un-imaginate knit hats by the dozens a minute. You are an artisan! You are a person who has a specific skill that uses that skill to make things for people who don't have that skill and can't make them or don't have the time to make them. You have the power to bring imagination, and creativity to your pieces. You don't just knit, crochet, weave, sew, etc. You bring together colors and textures and shapes and combine them into something that is not only useful but reflects a statement. A statement that your customer will appreciate, someone will find it and it will "speak" to them personally and they will say I've got to have that. That is me...

So ok... you say will I spend a week to crochet an Afagan and no one is going to pay me upwards of $800 minimum for this Afagan. You may be right! But why? What is it about the Afagan that would cause someone not to pay $800 for it. I once paid $3400 for a quilt... and it wasn't antique, of course it was made of hand dyed cloth, and was hand stitched and quilted, and appealed to me so much that after a few hours of hand ringing I decided to forgo that summer's beach vacation just so I could have that quilt. It is an amazing quilt, and to this day (8 years later) I take great joy in putting it on my bed in the spring and using it all summer and fall. It's a thing of beauty (to me) that every time I go to bed and every morning when I make the bed I appreciate. Now why can't you make an Afagan that creates that sense of specialness for someone? I guarantee you that if you create an item that speaks that way to someone, they will gladly pay a handsome price for your item.

Yeah but it's just a knit hat. No it's not! It's a knit hat that expresses your sense of creativity. Obsess about how to make your hat speak, not about how much someone is going to pay for it. Competition is not who can out price or out sell who. Competition is about how you can make things better, more unique, more interesting, more exciting. How you can make things speak louder. Look at others and ask yourself how can I do things differently, how can I give better, how can I make a difference with what I make.

The other thing I think someone said here is that perception is 9/10 of the sale. I agree with that too. You have to create an air about your work that says you are a professional artisan, that your pieces are worth the price you are asking. It's not any different than when you go look for a job. How you dress and present yourself is a large part of how a perspective employer will view you when you first come in the door. First impressions are everything in this world, and you have only one chance to make it great. Always put your best foot forward every time; and each time you put your foot forward make it better.

The world is filled with all kinds of people who have all different sizes of wallets out there. My take is that I price my items to be fair to what I make, and I know that my customer, who has the money to pay for something they appreciate and value as a quality handmade piece, will find me. Of course that's the really big trick... helping those people find me. :)

Keep up the good work and have faith in what you make.

[KriyaDesign]

"I just don't want to sell for that much. It's something I could never afford, and I don't want my customers to feel that way either. I want them to love something that's handmade, but not feel like they're paying an arm and a leg for it."

**************

Aaww Angie. Not everyone thought $30 is costing her arm and leg. I've seen friends and family paying that much for a single meal. Not me. Mine only cost $2 and prepare by my own two hands... at home.

My sisters love jewelry. But they don't wear mine because they said it won't last a lifetime. So they would rather fork out 20 - 30 x my prices to get the long-live ones. And they said my jewelry is cheap. So what is cheap and what is expensive, anywho?

Folks are going for experience. The pieces that will give them the longest enjoyment will get their businesses. Convey that in your works and you can charge premium prices. Of course use top quality materials too, please.

I love flipping through fashion magazines. And I feel inspired when I see fashion jewelry (not precious metal, mind you) are priced 10 - 20x mine. And their stuffs sell. 200 bucks for silver plated necklace. Wow! I love that. This is abundance. Isn't it. Here I am charging only $20.

Its not about getting the most from folks. ts about how much we value our works, energy and creativity. About how deserving we are. About giving people the best service and products.

Don't think you can't fork out 200 bucks, others don't too :-)

Oh test test test... see what happen. What works for me, may not work for you.

[Former_Member]

Thank you all so much for your insights! I definitely needed to fix some of my prices. It's really hard for me being straight out of college to set prices. I have to remember that not everyone has been living on ramen noodles! :) Thank you!

[MadeByMari]

Angie, I think more like you do. I'm retired, not young like you. But I still can't justify charging so much for my time. I know what a skein/pkg of yarn costs. Even the expensive ones. I buy them on sale. Even if it takes 2 to make an item, and I'm watching TV while I'm doing it, I'm not going to charge $15 or more an hour to sell it.

I did a search of infinity scarves, and it looks like yours are at the high end. They are nicely done (pat you on back) and I like the yarn and size, etc. But the price is above most of what I randomly looked at. So what I then think is: do I want to sell these or do I want to look at them in my shop? There is a lot of competition out there.

I sell a lot of the closer neckwarmer/turtleneck button scarves. I know I undersell them, but I am just doing it to take up my sitting time. I probably could sell them for $10 to $15 more, but I don't feel right doing that. It's totally up to you.

I'd say to look at what's out there for sale like yours; think about what you put into them; think what profit you want to get out of them; think about what you would pay for them. Best to you...all of your items are cute and nicely made. Just figure out a competitive pricing sheet.

[Former_Member]

I understand where you are coming from but they are right if you do not charge enough people will think you are reselling and not making your items, that pumpkin hat is so cute I would charge 19.00 at least. when people come to buy on etsy it is because they want that personal service it is so much more then selling our items. They want something special you know when you buy that perfect expensive purse how you love it so much more then the everyday cheaper purse LOL that is all I could think of

Plus if you do not charge what your fellow etsy sellers are selling for in your category you are hurting them by driving down prices just go with the flow at least if you are not worried about prices

[Former_Member]

I will say this, your hat pricing is pretty strange. You could definitely sell your slouches for 30. I was confused why some were 20, 25,and 30. Then you have the odd Blackhawks one for 40. Most people I know who buy sports stuff like that wouldn't do 40 (unless they were really cool fitted ball caps. That's a whole different market) 30 maybe but I wouldn't mess with stuff like logo items. There could be a potential for the Blackhawks to come after you!

[Former_Member]

I totally understand where you are coming from angie, I have no idea what to charge, but I have just reduced my prices too. I get lots of views since the browse thing started, but I have had no sales for two weeks now, I can only think it is to do with my prices. We need to make money but I agree with you, I don't want to make my items unsaleable because of pricing, it is a real dilemma

[ThePlaidPineconeCo]

I've heard before that your customer is you with more money. Try to keep that in mind. Your customer has your taste and style but clearly has some $$$ to spend or they probably wouldn't be shopping on Etsy to begin with. They are buying from you and not a department store because they appreciate handmade, one-of-a-kind items and they know that's going to cost more than something made in a factory.

[Former_Member]

Thanks to everyone for their advice. I'm going to keep tweaking things until it's just the way I want it hopefully!

[Former_Member]

I too agree with Cindy! Your shop is not overpriced and your handmade will last much longer than items purchased at a store! Don't sell yourself short...you did the work and purchased all of those supplies ...you can get a reasonable return on your investment without feeling bad. I too appreciate well made items. $20 is very reasonable price for the kids hat...and yes it could be higher!!!