Pricing my projects

[ednitau]

Hi, i mostly crochet and give stuff as gifts. Now i’m unemployed and would like to sell some project but don’t know how to price the things i do. can someone here share your pricing method?

for example this wrap that can be use as bracelet, anklet, necklace or even in the hair or tummy. 

how much would you ask for?

Edited February 20, 2020 by ednitau

[Granny Square]

It might make a difference where you live if you are thinking of selling at bazaars or flea markets.   At a flea market near the coast in CA in the summer, you'd probably be able to make a nice profit.  Where now I live, if you only asked your cost of 1 of those charms for the whole assembly, people would balk at the price.  (Based on spending most of my life in the Hawaii and the SF Bay area, and now in a rural-ish area on the mainland).

Take a look at any craft fairs in your area, or check out similar items being hawked by Etsy sellers--that is probably your best bet.

What strikes me is that, what you have a lot of is time.  The major cost of the whole assembly is not your time, it's material that you had to fork out money for to start with.  So for you to make a worthwhile profit on an item, you need to have people pay you several times more for the material than you paid for it, and a whole lot of $ for less than an hour of your time.

There are a lot of threads here and on other forums pointing out that most people won't pay more than they can get a similar item made offshore & sold at Walmart.   Or a friend who wants you to make a bed size blanket that thinks "1 skein of yarn is enough for a blanket, right?, and oh, plus a couple of bucks for your time, 'cuz you can whip that out in an evening, right?"  Sorry to be a gloomy Gertie.  

 

[BPokorny]

I agree with Granny Square. It can be very difficult depending on where and when you sell. To make money in any self employed business you need to pay yourself an hourly wage plus supplies. Your product is very cute and pretty but I think it may be more profitable to make them out of yarn left over from other projects and then you only need to recover your cost of the hardware. ex. If you want to sell hats, find a pattern that you like and keep making it over and over again. the more you make the faster you will get. Then the break down would follow for price.  (Making up prices)  Yarn-$4.00. You can make 3 hats from the skein and it takes you 1 hour to make each one. You pay yourself $10.00/per hour (minimum wage) So your price would then be as follows:

yarn -$1.35 x 2 = 2.70 + $10.00 = $12.70/per hat. Then adjust that price according to your area. So you have the potential of making about $34.00 from that one skein. 

You can take the same formula and make 2 hats ($24.70) and then make several of your bracelet/anklets and price them according to your area like Granny Square recommended above

Making afghans or larger pieces you will have a hard time paying yourself hourly and hopefully will be able to get the cost of the yarn back. But you still get the pleasure of making it! Good Luck in your adventure! 

(I'm on the East Coast)

 

 

 

Edited February 26, 2020 by BPokorny