How do you determine how much to charge for an item?

[PattiJacks]

I don't know how much to charge for the baby afghan I just finished for a friend of a friend.  It's similar to the previous baby ripple I posted about a month ago, but I added the polka dot border from the Moogly blog (which, by the way, turns out to be a gorgeous border!).  I bought the yarn (Caron Simply Soft) on sale and have approximately $15.00 in materials).  It's roughly 36 x 36.  I usually only make things for relatives and close friends.  I have no idea what to charge her. 

[redrosesdz]

There's 2 ways that I've seen people price things.

 

1. Go to a store and find the average price for similar items.  Add just a bit for it being hand-made.

 

2. Price it by the materials.  I've seen 1.5x to 3x the cost of materials, with 2x being the average.

 

You can also go out to Etsy and see what people are asking for similar items.

[ReniC]

What has always worked for me is 3x the total material amount If it's for some one I know well, then I take off 20% (Immediate family gets it for nuttin'). And I always give a quote before buying and making.

ie:  Materials: $15x3=$45 -20%= $9. $45- $9= $36. Easy peasy.

[PattiJacks]

Thank you so much!