Pricing Arts and Crafts  

I find it really hard to price craft items.. I've never sold any on ebay. I had them advertised there, but they never sold. I ended up giving them away to a charity. Mine were baby afghans and I gave them to the come alive ministry. The way I feel about it is if folks are unwilling to pay for good work they won't get it from me, but I will give them away to a worthwhile charity.

Oooo, thanks for the info. I still haven't set up anything with etsy although I've been intending to and this link will be extremely helpful for me!
Thanks!!

Pricing is one of the hardest aspects of selling your handmade items. You have to pay yourself for your time and effort, cover the cost of the supplies used, all while charging a fair price for your item...without undercutting yourself.
The most important thing I learned selling on handmade sites, is the buyer expects to pay a fair price and if you are not charging enough, they may think the components are inexpensive and the item, cheaply made.

Funny story about pricing.... my Etsy shop was critiqued and it was suggested that I charge a bit more for my jewelry. So as the items began to expire, I relisted the item and added anywhere from $2-$5 to the price...and the items began to sell at the higher price.
I still have sea glass collectors tell me my prices are too low...lol Maybe I should take a hard look at the article you shared : )

i have trouble with this too - it always seems like you just can't find the right balance between what people will pay and what you should make. I'll check out the articles.

I feel if you process a skill put it to good use. I wish I could do some crafts myself but that has never really been something I was good at. I know how t do a few things and I have been told I am creative but I never really make anything to sell online, yet. I have some ideas of some products I would like to create but I have not put it into phase yet. I want to let mylotters know that there is a site called blujay that allows you to sell items for free. I like ebay as well but I think the fees can get rather high when it comes to selling crafts. Nice post and happy mylotting.

thanks for the link, I am going to check out your article as well, I have made a few homemade items, I cross stitch, and never have been able to sell anything on either ebay or etsy. I usually end up giving them as gifts to friends and family.

Thanks for the link, I'll be checking it out. I've been having a hard time selling any of my crafts on etsy. I thought the prices seem fine to me though! A few people have told me I need to narrow my selection down, but I have seen lots of crafters on Etsy that have a wide variety of things and still have hundreds of sales! I'm not sure what the problem is! also people tell me to just be patient, but I've been patient for a long time!
The most aggravating thing to me is when people flatter you and tell you how lovely your stuff is, and tell you you sill surely start getting sales, and nothing happens!

Does $30-$40 for a crocheted caplet sound too expensive, or not expensive enough?

Hi there,
I'm fairly new to this list but wanted to share a bit about my experience with pricing...

I have an etsy shop (http://pinkap.etsy.com) and have some items that have been in there for a few months.... and not selling. Some tell me I'm undercharging (I agree), other says they're over priced. I don't really think that it's the price itself that determines if something is going to sell or not. It's how and who you market to. I've had so many people compliment my work (and I'm quite proud of it too) but no one has wanted, or been able to, buy one of my creations. Thinking back on it, I think it was because I was marketing to other crafters who were all in the same financial situation I was in.

Last month I joined a social network group on Yahoo groups where the group is made up of business owners from all over - including Avon, fine jewelry, beaded jewerly (like mine), dresses and clothing, home spa... oh, you name it and there is probably someone on there that sells it. :-) :-) But the point I'm trying to make is that not everyone on this list can make the kind of jewelry that I make... so if they have an established business with a little bit of extra play money, then my chances of making a sale there increase. It's helped me make my first two sales, so I think it's working. :-)

So you should charge what you feel your items are worth... just try to market them to the people that can afford them. :-) :-)

If you would like any information about the group I joined, please feel free to email me: pinka_m@yahoo.com

I hope this helps,

Pinka

http://pinkap.etsy.com
http://pinkap.blogspot.com

I have been thinking about selling on esty, but like most everyone else I am not sure what to chage. I make bath salts and soap. I am not sure how much to charge. I also make dough ornaments and when the time comes to finding the glass balls I will try my hand at mosaic ornamnets as well. I know the mosaic pieces can be expensive unless you go to a place where they have discounted tiles and break them up yourself using a hammer.