Last Name Doily

[JnL]

I am finishing up making a last name doily for a co-worker, she is going to give it to her sister-in-law for a wedding present. I am trying to figure out how much to charge to crochet it but also how much to do the matting: one, two, or three layers. Any suggestions would be appreciated! Thank you so much!

lori

[Amy]

Lori, did you make any type of arrangements or give any indication as to approximate costs before you began this project for your co-worker?

 

Are you expecting to receive a fair wage for the hours it took you to complete this project?

 

What were your expectations for pricing this project when you took it on? Did you just want to make back the cost of your materials? Did you want to make a profit?

 

There are many different ways to set a price. It's usually best to have pricing worked out before taking on a project like this, because your co-worker/friend may not be willing to pay the price it would take to pay you a decent hourly wage for making this for them.

[JnL]

Thank you for your help! I don't want to do an hourly wage, she said she would pay from the beginning but we never did a price. I do want to cover materials and do a small profit. Right now I am thinking $6/letter, it is 6 letters so $36, would that be a reasonable price? I have made a few before, but they have always been for wedding gifts. Thank you!

[Amy]

Well, I consider a reasonable price for a custom-made hand-crafted product like this to be something that at the very least pays the crafter a reasonable hourly wage plus materials. (Since crochet is a skill, the hourly rate should be well over minimum wage.) Of course, even though I crochet very fast, the hours involved in making many things mean the labor charge alone would be well over what most people would want to pay (although they personally wouldn't be willing to work for the hourly rate they expect hand-crafters to work for). This is why I don't make anything for sale!

 

So I'm probably not the best person to ask whether that's a reasonable price. Based on how long it probably took you to make it, I'd likely say that's way too low a rate!

 

The best suggestion I can give is to go look for similar-sized items on Etsy and see what those are selling for. That would give you a good starting place for a price. You can adjust it downward from there if you think the prevailing Etsy price would be more than your co-worker is willing to pay.

[Amy]

It might be interesting to calculate up how much you'd have to charge for the item to pay yourself a skilled hourly labor rate.

 

Then tell your co-worker that the actual rate, based on the number of hours you have invested in the custom-made project, should really be $______. But as a special favor to him/her as a co-worker, you're only charging $_____. They'll see how valuable an item they received.

 

Hopefully, that might help spread a little education on just what is involved in making custom hand-crafts for others.

[chicksmama]

Lori,

There is a website that shows name doilies and what she charges:

http://www.crochetdoilies.com/filet_crochet_for_sale.html

 

Hope this helps.

Linda

[mama_crochet]

I charge $6.00 per letter unless it's a long name (more than 8) then I drop it to $5.25.

[JnL]

Thank you for all of the suggestions! I talked with my co-worker and she said she wants to pay more than $6/letter!

lori

[kerikrochet]

I made a name doily for a co-worker and we agreed on the price before hand. I charged her $80 - $8 per letter. It was a 10 letter name and I used a "fat" letter pattern. It still only came out to a little over $2 an hour. I felt strange charging so much, but she was happy to pay it.

Edited January 5, 2011 by kerikrochet

[cat3crazy]

kerikrochet, the doily turned out adorable.

[JnL]

That's gorgeous! Thanks for all the advice, I'll talk with her tomorrow and go from there!!!

lori

[pineapplequeen]

Very nice!