The Basics of Pricing Online Lab

[#1]

Sellers!

We’re in the throes of the month of May and I wanted to reach out to you about the topic du jour this month, pricing. From mastering the pricing formula to practicing pricing strategies, this topic is one that takes time and energy to master. I’m here today to tell you about a lab we’re having later this week and want to encourage you all to come out and get your questions answered.

What: The Basics of Pricing with Danielle and Michelle
When: Thursday, May 10 - 3:00 p.m. ET
Where: Etsy’s Online Labs, www.etsy.me/onlinelabs
How: To RSVP to attend an Online Lab click on the blue “RSVP now” button next to the lab you’d like to attend. We’ll send you a confirmation email and then remind you right before the lab starts.

Leave your pricing questions in this thread and we’ll answer a few during the Online Lab LIVE!

Nickey

[ForgedMettleJewelry]

I REALLY need help with pricing, please.

I work with silver which fluctuated in price like like crazy, not to mention at the moment I'm not even really basing my prices on how long it takes to make each piece.

I could really use some suggestions as to what I should do...

[etherealflowers]

Hello, i've more question for the lab!
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Q1: Let's say I've decided to rise the price of my items so to afford the 50% wholesale discount. would it be better to rise it at once or in small steps (like one € or $ at a time)?
PS. in my case the rise is almost the 30% of the actual price.

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Q2: Is it good practice to tell/warn the customers about the price change? like in the shop announcement, explaining it's because a new packaging / rise of material costs / whatever?
PS. in my case - i have many returning customer, i don't want them to be shocked and never come back again!

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Q3: it has been asked already, or maybe it's obvious - but i just reiterate: the packaging of the product (not the shipping packaging! i mean the nice box or whatever used for each item) must be included in the material costs or just added to the shipping & handling?

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Thanks in advance!

[Former_Member]

My question maybe is similar to others, but sorry I have no time to read back...

I'm just at the beginning of my shop, but I feel that pricing with the aka "Etsy Price Formula [ (materials+labour)*2=wholesale price
Wholesale price*2= RRP ] is really to much for my items. Is there a different ratio to follow at the start up of the shop? Do we have consider to keep prices bit less and waiting until the brand is known for increasing prices?if yes, how much to keep (in terms of % extra from expenses) at the beginning, and how much to rise later?

Thank you, I hope to follow the lab online 2mrw.

[Former_Member]

I have always had a hard time figuring out pricing.I love how Etsy community is always sharing information to help each other.

[PassionflowerJewelry]

It'll be 5am in the morning Down Here - this lab is important but sleep is more so!!
Melanie See said there will be a rerun - is that so? Will the link be on the Etsy success email?
Michele

[Former_Member]

Like everyone else I get confused about pricing. My materials are relatively low for my mosaics, but the time involved to make them is very high so I am not sure what I should charge.

Also, when doing a custom some people think the prices should be comparable to the mosaics already for sale, but it takes a lot more time to design and get exactly what the customer wants and I feel I should charge for this time. How do I charge for time? Do I set an hourly rate? What do I base it on?

[Former_Member]

If you make 2 similar items but one takes you much longer to make do you price as per the time taken or do you average the price out over several similar looking items?

[playsculptlive]

I can't participate in the live workshop (time conflict) but I will check it out later. My question is how much should I include in my price the amount etsy charges me for selling? I try to stay competitive for the market but I noticed that after a sale, the little profit I did make is eaten away by fees. Is there a set amount I should add to my price to off set that?

[NaturesDesigns4U]

My struggle with pricing is we gather our supplies from the woods. If we did not have that available we would have to buy them. So how do I consider the cost of supplies in my pricing?

[Former_Member]

Elvira from 2wired says
Tamara is right.. People tend to compare a handmade piece of jewelry to the cheap mass productions made in China. They have no idea how much work is being put in each piece.
My husband is always telling me I should charge more because he sees how much work it really is.. but I don't want people to think that my stuff is overpriced..
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This is a huge problem. We know how much labor it takes to make our items, source quality supplies from trusted vendors (not necesarily the cheapest, as trust is huge in the jewelry world), and if we price our items accordingly, some seller will have it for 50% our price, if not less. So we have to underprice sometimes to stay competitive.

As a buyer, I think I know what to look for and sometimes will pay more for an item if I'm assured it is handmade and the quality shows through the photos.

[Former_Member]

Just thought of another question for the lab...

What about price endings? Is it better to end prices in even dollar amounts, or throw in some cents... Ending on .50, or eben .99?

Also, if doing even dollar amounts, if a price falls say at $31, is that a good price, or just drop it to $30, or even $29? Raise it a little?

[Former_Member]

I'm not sure if this has been addressed but, as a jewelry designer I put many hours into a beaded piece only to notice that another shop with similar items is pricing their items WAY below market. Specifically sellers located in China. I'm not sure if they have access to lower priced supplies or what but I can't compete with shops that uncut my prices by almost 75%.

How to handle this?

[Former_Member]

Knot, we have been talking about this already... It is a huge concern!

I buy my supplies from places that sell at wholesale and even get price breaks for ordering bigger quantities, and still, my costs are high. If I were to price by formula, they would end up higher than other jewelry sellers.

I have also wondered if there is a secret supplier that supplies to the other suppliers!

I also like to treat myself to supplies here on Etsy, but those usually end up being expensive for resell as a finished item.

[Former_Member]

My biggest problem is coming up with setting a price for shipping.
Labor........$$ I thought we did this for what we love to do.

[Former_Member]

I try to gauge whether or not pricing is correct based on how long it takes me to sell an item. Is this a fair assumption, and if so, how long should it be taking to sell an item? I sometimes feel like my shop sells a ton at once and then goes through a "lull" where I have no sales for almost a month. When my items sell quickly, I wonder if they are priced too low, because it becomes hard for me to work fast enough to get the shop stocked up, but I am too afraid to raise my prices because I am still so new.
Also, how do I make sure the different items in my shop are in "relative" price range? I carry a variety of clothing items so it is sometimes hard to say. If a scarf is $26, does is make sense to sell a dress for $54? It takes A LOT longer to make a dress than a scarf.
Thanks! (sorry for the long question!)

[Former_Member]

When is a good time to put merchandise on sale and the best way to promote the sale without compromising the integrity of other products in the shop?

[Former_Member]

I sadly will be at work when this is happening. Will there be a video of it that I can watch later???

[Former_Member]

I want to put a decent price on my items to be at least paid for the hours I put into making it. But I dont want to price them too high compared to the similar items that are for sell on etsy. I want to blend in, but sometimes if I blend in I wont make much profit...

[Former_Member]

1.) I would like to find out pricing structures for customized art in comparison to prices for readymade art. Should the custom art be priced a certain percentage higher? Should custom art be based off of similarly-sized readymade art?
2.) Also, should realistic portraits be more pricey than things which do not need to resemble a customer's source photo? I sell both pet portraits and other custom paintings (abstracts, landscapes, florals, etc.) The portraits take substantially more time to ensure an accurate likeness.

[TheWishingElephant]

Is there really one uniform formula to determine pricing?

[TEEsox]

How do you decide on a price, when the item takes a lot of time, but you are afraid that if you actually pay yourself well, that the customer will think the price is too high? Does that make sense :)

[GranniesEmbroidery]

Do you figure on how long it takes you to make the item plus the cost of matterials? It has been hard for me since I just started ,do not want to over charge! I do want to make money doing this1 alot to learn.I have done crafts for years and it is hard to figure your time!Need some answers on that? Thanks!

[Former_Member]

Has Etsy considered allowing sellers to see the prices other seller's items actually sold for? Comparing similar items that are currently for sale is nice, but it's hard to determine actual market value, particularly on vintage items, without this information. Thanks!

[Former_Member]

Not sure if this has been posted before...

but here is my question:

Is it a good pricing strategy to round your price up to the next whole dollar, such as $15, or dip just below at something like $14.95? What actually works?

[Former_Member]

I feel confident in my current prices (a rarity I know) I'm actually at the threshold of what I can actually produce independently which make me have a lengthy turnaround time of 2-3 weeks! My question about pricing is how much to charge for RUSH orders? I feel guilty making customers shell out more but time is money right? How do you make it fair to myself and the customer?