What to charge??

[butterfly_girl]

Ok, I never know what to charge ppl for items I crochet. It was the same when I did beadwork. I have made some little crocheted baskets, they are bout 3 inches wide and about 3 inches high, not including the handle. and each has 3 lil crochet "flower friends" that are about 4 inches high. With little embroidered smiley faces. The basket is actually higher, probably 3 or so inches higher. The top folds down, to make the basket. THere is also a drawstring that can be made, so it's a drawstring bag. have not done the strings yet.....

 

What would you charge. I have 4 made, and plan to make more when I get more white yarn. Oddly, that's the one yarn i don't have much of. I have tonnes of off white yarn, and some white but it's a super light weight yarn. I'd need to use 3 skeins together at least to make it equal to worsted weight.

[ZuZu's Petals]

I saw a segment on Martha Stewart about a woman who makes tiny antique-looking animals from yarn pompoms. She said she could make one in one hour. I caught the bit where she said the small simple one was $85!! I gasped. I wonder if people actually pay this (don't see that they would, but she said she has a business), but it is interesting to note that we must charge for our creativity.

I don't know what you should charge, but don't sell your time/talent short!

Zuzu

[LaurieE]

My daughter is in the same situation. She has been asked by a co-worker to crochet a king size afghan and she has to answer the same question.

 

I have several thoughts in regards to what to charge. Many people may disagree with this.

 

1) My grandmother used to say, "asking is one thing, getting is another". You don't want the price to be so high that not many people could afford to buy it. Basically, no matter how much the person may like the item, if the person can't afford to buy it, they won't and then you wouldn't have sold any. Prime example of this is the housing market.

 

2) Be reasonable in charging for your time. Yes, you will want to charge above minimum wage but don't be excessive (meaning $25/hour) about it.

 

3) It used to be, and I don't know if they still do this today, but I remember learning in school if an item cost $1.00 (as an example) to make/or purchase from the wholesaler, the seller would turn around and at least double the price and that's what he'd sell it for ($2-$3) . The seller recouped what he spent plus made a profit. In the case of your baskets, you could use that formula. I'm not sure this formula would apply if the project took a long time to make, though.

[Addey]

I haven't had to ponder this for myself.

Here's what my parents do in their framing business, which in some ways is simmilar.

They get the moulding, glass and matting for X They mark it up to Y in order to make at least some profit on the moulding and this also factors in their time to cut/build/put together the final piece. If it's something complicated, then they had an hourly rate of Q to the final quote.

So, what I suggest for you, would be to take the cost of your suplies (just the consumables) and then add something for 'labor', again, like Laurie said, keeping it reasonable. But since it's something relatively small, I'd try and keep it under $20, even though it has 'extra bits' to it.

[Trinket]

I'm constantly trying to decide on that with everything I do, whether it's artwork, or crochet work.

 

There are those who will argue that you can ask $5.00 an hour (minimum wage) for anything that you make, plus costs if necessary. I don't think I really agree with that, myself. Sometimes, something might take a long time to do, but the materials used in it didn't cost a lot, and the end result isn't really all that fancy or anything.

 

I guess it depends on the person who made it, more than anything. Personally, I try to keep my prices lower so people will be more interested right away. I still make a fairly decent profit this way, but I'm not making a ton of money off my projects. I set my prices so that I can cover the material costs, and I make enough in profit that I can feel satisfied in and I feel is fair.

 

That probably didn't help much, huh..? I'm sorry.

[ZuZu's Petals]

I don't think we can even try to get paid according to the hours spent.

Maybe there could be a sweater that took weeks to make. How about one thousand dollars? We would deserve it for our time and creativity, but "askin' ain't gettin' " to quote a movie line !!

[01buckler15]

That is the question on everyone's mind. I was recently asked to make a couple of blankets for someone. She wanted to know how much. Ahhh! I have no clue. I spent about $10 for the yarn but only used half of one skein. I doubled that and asked for $20. She is an honest person so she offered $40. But ended up paying $30.(each) So now she wants me to make 6 bears, 3 monkeys, and 1 duck. I have no idea how much to charge. The bears take about the same amount of time to make, but cost less in yarn. The monkeys are much smaller, much quicker to make, and use a lot less yarn. And the duck, I don't know yet, I haven't made one. The bears she has agreed to pay the same as the baby blankets. But I'll have to figure out the rest.

 

Sorry I can't help you. It's a hard decision to make. You can't charge to much(what it's worth) but you don't want to go too low. Basically double the cost of supplies and add some for your time.

[pampsmom]

Well, I sell, and I got to tell you if it costs me 10 to make, I charge 30. I times my cost by 3. The only exception I make is on my baby blankets and then it is a flat #35.00 for a simple one and $50. for a more complicated one. I had a friend want a bedspread once and I told him $250 as the time it took would take me forever and he said fine. I laughed and said I hope you last a lifetime cause I ain't making it! lol:lol

[ZuZu's Petals]

Well, I sell, and I got to tell you if it costs me 10 to make, I charge 30. I times my cost by 3. The only exception I make is on my baby blankets and then it is a flat #35.00 for a simple one and $50. for a more complicated one. I had a friend want a bedspread once and I told him $250 as the time it took would take me forever and he said fine. I laughed and said I hope you last a lifetime cause I ain't making it! lol:lol

 

 

:lol Good one! Ok, we can't expect to get paid per hour. (oh, maybe 50cents per hour? )

BUT.....I agree, we can't sell our time and talent short.

Someone asked me to make something if she gave me the thread. You know that the thread for a small project doesn't cost very much. I was horrified, and I didn't even respond (email). This is like stealing.

This was someone who didn't even make an effort to stay in touch. Just because we have the talent, doesn't mean we give it willy-nilly.

I will not do that anymore.

Someone once asked me to sew (fabric) a dress for her for $15 !!! Do you even believe that? I said NO:eek

So I say , charge something that has respect for your skill, within reason, and for what the market will bear. I just won't do it for so little . If the person thinks what you ask for is too much, they can go buy something elsewhere.

I think we sometimes want to "be nice", but we must have respect for ourselves, our time, and our talent.

 

On the other hand, if someone is good to me, and I care about the person, I will make something that takes a long time indeed, and give it as a gift. But even that, I am more selective than I used to be.

 

Zuzu:manyheart