craft show prices, oh my!

[countrykids]

well we have a local craft show ( I sell hand made paper products, like cards because there are so many crocheters that sell) well I couldn't believe the prices that people were asking for. I know how much time and work is put into these products (cause I crochet also alot-I have too many hobbies) but come on! here are some things that I saw

 

knitted sweater 125 dollars

knitted sweater 85 dollars

crochet scarf made with RH and double crochet 15 dollars

scarf with eyelash yarn 25 dollars

dishclothes 5 dollars a piece

slippers (basic) 10 dollars

baby blankets (with very basic stitches starting at 20 dollars and up and some of the yarn was just awful-most of the blankets where granny squares, dh says I need to start selling my stuff, because its different)

 

and then there were some that were reasonable, like baby sweaters for 20 dollars

 

I'm not sure if these people know how to make other stuff like bags and purses, but everyone has the same stuff, argh, its boring but so over priced.

[Ldyjarhead]

Five bucks for DISHCLOTHS? Was anyone paying those prices?

 

Gee, I better get busy. I could make a mint if people would pay that.

[ManicMittens]

wow. see now i have the opposite problem. i always end up near someone selling hats for 5$ and i do price mine higher.

[eyrthmother1]

some of them are on the high-ish side, and some are about the right area. Like the scarf for $15. If it takes you 1 Caron 1-pounder to make, at $7.49 per skein (this is what my local Jo Ann's is selling it for, to explain where I got the amount). the "formula" that i have seen suggested to use to price items of easy skill level is 2 1/2 times price of supplies. so that is $18.725. So $15 is in the price range.

 

The $20 for a baby ghan also seems to be in the "proper" range of pricing.

 

As for the knitted items, I do not know how difficult it is or isn't to knit. (it's quite difficult for me since I've never learnt). Or how difficult the design.

 

The $5 for a dishcloth, I'd say was a bit on the high side.

 

I haven't sold items I've made very often, so am not the 1 to really say about prices, though. Just quoting suggestions from others. Also, have seen many fussing in the opposite side of this saying that most crafters undersell their items.

 

Sandy (just a bit on depressed side tonight, so my thoughts may be off from normal, so please don't hold against me )

[Elle]

Five dollars might seem a bit high for a dishcloth, but if you think about it, it takes almost a full skein of Peaches and Creme cotton to make a dishcloth, and they cost more than $2 a ball. If you buy them directly from Elmore Pisgah they cost $1.69. Now, speaking just in terms of the yarn, marking up the yarn 100% ensures that you recovered the cost of your original yarn purchase plus you made enough to go replace the yarn you used to make the item. $1.69 times 2 is $3.38. Then, if you subtract the $3.38 from the $5.00 charged for the item, that leaves a total of $1.62 for your labor. Even if it takes you only an hour to make the dishcloth, $1.62 per hour for one's labor is next to nothing. I know there are probably plenty of people who could knock out a dishcloth in an hour, but I am not one of them, so for me, to charge $5.00 means I am getting considerably less than $1.00 per hour for my labor.

 

Knowing the work that goes into making sweaters, shawls, ponchos, afghans, etc., I don't think that $100 or even $150 is a lot of money, depending on the work that went into it. If it is a dressy evening shawl done in thread that has an intricate filet pattern, the price could even be considerably higher and still be reasonable, IMO, but remember, this is all just my own opinion.

[LegalWoman17]

Those prices do seem pretty outrageous.

 

I'm having a craft show next Saturday (Nov. 1). I am charging $1.25 for a simple dishcloth and $2.00 for a fancier one. For the hotpads, $2.00 each. For a baby afghan, $20. Scarves, $6.00 for a simple pattern, $8.00 for a fancier one.

 

Do those prices seem reasonable?????

[Elle]

Those prices do seem pretty outrageous.

 

I'm having a craft show next Saturday (Nov. 1). I am charging $1.25 for a simple dishcloth and $2.00 for a fancier one. For the hotpads, $2.00 each. For a baby afghan, $20. Scarves, $6.00 for a simple pattern, $8.00 for a fancier one.

 

Do those prices seem reasonable?????

 

What is your yarn source that you are able to sell things so cheaply and still be able to come out ahead? The time you took to make the item and your craftsmanship is worth more than $1.25 even without taking the cost of the yarn into consideration. Don't sell yourself short! Your work is worth more than that!

 

Whatever prices you decide to charge, best of luck with your craft sale! I hope you do very well!

[kilikina]

My personal soapbox issue:

 

Good for those people for charging for their materials, time, creativity (whatever it is), artistry, and care!!!! That's what ought to be charged for handmade things - you want a dish cloth for $1 go to Walmart or Sears or Penneys. You want something with care and individuality it should cost $5.00!

 

And you know what? When you dumb down your prices and try to compete with Walmart, you do a great disservice to the rest of the handmade community - most handmakers aren't even able to get wholesale prices on their supplies, and many items take a few hours to complete well - these things should be paid for when you're buying a handmade product!

[stitchgirl]

I think this is such a controversial topic. I always tend to see both sides and that's why I've never made things to sell. Don't know what to charge for them. In my mind the craftsmanship is the most important factor and even though I feel like a crocheted dishcloth is worth $5, the reality is that alot of people just won't pay that. But at the same time if you put a price on it that's too low because you're concerned about selling the item, there are those people that won't buy because if the price is too low they seem to think it's not of good quality. It's just all too much for me to sort thru.

[Michaels Gram]

Has anyone ever gone into a boutique and checked out the prices on any crochet or knitted pieces they have there, you would fall off your chair if you did. A shawl (filet or even with a little glitter on it can run as high as $200.00 and you stand there and say to yourself "WOW". They are commissioned pieces and you can see there is a lot of work in them and they do get the price for them. I think we all undersell ourselves because we don't want to seem greedy or not get the sale so we take the lesser price for our pieces.

 

I have a friend who sells her afghans for $175.00 to $200.00 and sometimes even more, she does nice work but nothing really fancy and she is always busy with orders.

[smokeyp81]

My personal soapbox issue:

 

Good for those people for charging for their materials, time, creativity (whatever it is), artistry, and care!!!! That's what ought to be charged for handmade things - you want a dish cloth for $1 go to Walmart or Sears or Penneys. You want something with care and individuality it should cost $5.00!

 

And you know what? When you dumb down your prices and try to compete with Walmart, you do a great disservice to the rest of the handmade community - most handmakers aren't even able to get wholesale prices on their supplies, and many items take a few hours to complete well - these things should be paid for when you're buying a handmade product!

 

Amen! I couldn't have said it better myself!!!!

[kilikina]

I'm all for re-educating people on the real cost of handmade products. $5.00 might sound like alot to the average consumer's ear, but if everyone were charging a price like that, they might begin to say, "Ah, a hand-crocheted dishcloth is worth $5.00." After all, a Walmart dishcloth is an embarrassing housewarming gift, not so a hand crocheted one.

 

Do crocheters deserve to get paid less than other workers? Is $6.00 an hour somehow a ridiculous amount to be paid for your time? I think not. By my calculations, a dishcloth that has $1.50 in materials and a half hour worth of work, should cost no less (ever) than $4.50. I'm no expert, and I'm certainly not an expert crocheter, but my guess is that only a very experienced crocheter working off a pattern in her head that she has already crocheted fifty times would get a whole, well crafted dishcloth complete in a half hour including edging and weaving in ends. Ok, I'm certainly not that fast. And, as such, we need to bring people's expectations up, rather than expect ourselves to work for pennies and hour.

 

And yes, I agree with you, stitchgirl, as I've already said elsewhere, I would rather give my handiwork to a loved one or to the needy than peddle it for pennies to people who compare it to walmart.

 

My husband summed it up well this morning (we own our own business that deals in handmade confectionery, which we sell locally), when you go to a handmade/local produce/craft venue, the items and their prices should be compared to the most expensive and finest items in any nearby grocery or department store - not to the value products. People pay handsomely for good products all the time. How much does a dishcloth cost in Macy's? Dillards? Bloomingdales? Ahh... a much better starting point.

[kilikina]

Sorry I should have quoted - that last post was in response to stitchgirl's post.

[Darsa]

This is exactly why I crochet for gifts and not to sell. I finished a tree skirt last night, and showed my mother; she was completely blown away and one of the first things she said is "You could make a mint just selling these!" Heh, I just nodded and smiled I won't work for the amount of money I would get for my finished pieces.

 

There IS a Humane Society craft fair nearby each Christmas season, and I went to it this year to survey (and possibly pick up ideas, heh) but the crochet showing was SAD! I was very disappointed; although my daughter fawned over a bag that I could crochet in my sleep, and will probably make for her for Christmas. But anyway, I would probably make some pieces of crocheted work for that craft fair, as long as the funds raised all go to the Humane Society (which I know they do). But selling? Naaah.

[EMedley]

Five bucks for DISHCLOTHS? Was anyone paying those prices?

 

Gee, I better get busy. I could make a mint if people would pay that.

 

yesh! I sell mine 3 for 5 usually depending on their size.

 

Some of the prices sound reasonable but I always try to take in account the cost of the yarn + time/effort, if its a cheaper yarn and an easy stitch, I don't charge as much

[Craw]

I think the sweater prices are close to being a fair price, though it's tough to tell without having seen them. I only just learned to knit myself and I know it would be a miracle if I ever made a sweater, lol. Miracles are worth 125 bucks. Still, I couldn't afford to pay such a price so I would just do without, as I imagine most folks would. The scarves do seem a little high. I would not pay $5 for a dishcloth but then I know I can make one for just under a buck. The baby blankets I would think they could get more for even if they used a very inexpensive yarn, but if they're not functional as well as pretty looking, I'd even have trouble giving them away.

 

Yes, we can keep the prices high for handmade items and people will begin to expect that they are indeed worth that price, but the majority still won't pay it. Not in this economy.

[kilikina]

I'm sorry to everyone, but I'm on my soapbox now.

 

Operational costs for a handmade (anything) business - also to be taken into account when selling work:

 

1. Cost of getting the supplies to your place of work (i.e. home) - whether going and buying them or having them delivered.

2. Insurance, if it's required of you. We're required to have public liability insurance at a cost of £75.00 per year.

3. Business Car Insurance - most likely required of you if your insurance company finds out you're using the car for any business purpose. If you're involved in an accident on a business trip, you may not be covered. You may also need coverage for "goods in transit," as this may not be covered in your business car insurance policy.

4. Taxes - if you're declaring your income, of course. If you're doing this as a business, you'd better be.

5. Cost of getting yourself and your goods to your selling destinations.

6. Cost of listing items on a website to sell them, whether a personal website, or a site like ebay or etsy.

7. Cost of internet access/email for putting items on.

8. Craft Fair Entrance Fees

9. Craft Fair Physical Set Up Items - Table, Tablecloth, Display/Props, Chair to sit on while you wait for customers. (It's really not best to throw your work on the floor to sell it. )

10. Cost for google or paypal checkout for internet listings.

11. Cost for non-consumable supplies - everything has to be replaced eventually.

12. Cost for organizational supplies - whether organizing physical space like having a place to put your yarn and hooks in an organized manner, to keep your ideas/idea books, whatever, or whether to organize your business items - notes about craft fairs, financial spreadsheets, records.

 

So, the more I think about it, the more I think dishcloths should start around $10.00.

 

I, too, have stayed out of the selling market all this time for these very reasons. I have decided to try etsy though, and one of the reasons is that people seem to charge quite reasonable prices for their items. There is not a great deal of under-cutting as far as I can see (thus far), and people who buy items on etsy seem to expect and be perfectly happy to pay appropriate prices for handmade work. We'll see how it goes.

[dragonpuck]

Has anyone ever gone into a boutique and checked out the prices on any crochet or knitted pieces they have there, you would fall off your chair if you did. A shawl (filet or even with a little glitter on it can run as high as $200.00 and you stand there and say to yourself "WOW". They are commissioned pieces and you can see there is a lot of work in them and they do get the price for them. I think we all undersell ourselves because we don't want to seem greedy or not get the sale so we take the lesser price for our pieces.

 

I have a friend who sells her afghans for $175.00 to $200.00 and sometimes even more, she does nice work but nothing really fancy and she is always busy with orders.

 

where is she selling- i have NEVER been able to get more than $50 for any kind of afghan so i quit trying to sell them!

[countrykids]

but, where I live in ontario, you can't charge prices like this (and we live in the county too) people just are not willing to buy stuff that is that priced, thats why many people did not sell their things. Because this is a hobby for me, I don't calculate how many hours I spend on things. BUT, I run a home daycare today I have 2 kids (thats 30 dollars a piece and when it comes down to it I make 3.75 and hour per kid, really not alot and you factor in the wear on my house, and all the other stuff) so thats why I always compare my daycare to my crocheting per hour. But I have to agree about what the stores sell in crochet items, the prices are crazy but people buy them. Another factor is that most don`t take debit or mc at craft shows and many don`t carry large amount of money on them.

[EMedley]

where is she selling- i have NEVER been able to get more than $50 for any kind of afghan so i quit trying to sell them!

 

 

Yeah Im curious to know if she makes any money off selling those. I did however do a custom order type deal for $45 but that INCLUDED shipping costs. Im a terrible person and will go to craft shows and if I see something that I feel is pricey Ill think "hey I can make that!" and I have done so several times. I only sell my stuff at my mom's garage sale and when I have someone asking me to make them something.

 

It does take a lot of time, money, effort to make something like an afghan regardless, and not enough people understand that.

[Michaels Gram]

where is she selling- i have NEVER been able to get more than $50 for any kind of afghan so i quit trying to sell them!

 

She developed a clientele by word of mouth. She made an afghan for one lady she knew and that lady became a good customer and through her she received other orders. She also makes baby afghans and sells them for between $35.00 - $50.00 depending on which one she makes, she makes a lot of the Terry Kimbrough afghans which I think are beautiful. I've made a few of them and they can be a lot of work too.

[Miss Crochet]

There are lots of different aspects to this topic, so just for the sake of discussion, let's look at a few more:

 

Re. the general price of handmade goods: of course it seems unfair to be competing with WalMart or some other discounter. The thing is, the people who recognise the value of hand-crafted items are generally those who craft themselves. So I might understand that a baby blanket is worth $100 but I'm not going to pay it because I'll make it myself. A non-crafter, however, won't pay it because he mightn't necessarily see a significant difference in the crafted product and the mass-produced product. Sorry to put it bluntly, but that's the case. Yes, we have become a discount society, but it's not only the consumers' fault: there is occasionally an 'Emperor's New Clothes' mentality to handmade goods - i.e. because it is so pricey, the quality must be better. In some cases it is not. Furthermore, there may also be a social stigma attached to things that are 'handmade': my grandparents (and to a certain extent my parents) come from a poor generation where handmade implied that you didn't have enough money to buy yourself the more desirable 'boughten' products. 'Homemade' was cheap, was mend-and-make-do. Just because we attach an artisan value to our work mightn't necessarily mean that the general public does. Let's hope it changes - and let's hope there are enough of us producing work of good enough quality to push this change through.

 

And there is the question of professional vs. hobby status. What I mean is, there is a difference between someone who makes a product by hand for the purpose of making a living, and someone who does it as a hobby. Just about every handmade product (with the exception of certain branches of fine art) is subjected to a certain industrialisation: if I were making handmade candles, I'd have to set up a small-scale production line or I wouldn't meet the volumes needed to make its sale worthwhile. We all agree that there's no way to 'industrialise' crochet: we have two hands, one hook, a skein of yarn. So in terms of sale, we're producing something like a painting or a piece of sculpture. Yes, there are a lucky few whose crocheted work has attained a 'designer' label, but similar to the art world: for every ten thousand amateur painters that crank a few watercolours a year, there is perhaps one professional artist earning a good living from his art. That's us, folks. I crochet for fun and relaxation - whether or not I ever sell anything is irrelevant to how much time I spend crocheting. If I do take part in a craft sale, I want to make enough to cover my costs and earn a token amount for my time and effort. I'm not a professional, so I can't charge professional fees for my crochet work.

 

On the other hand, how you present your work has a lot to do with how your work is perceived and its perceived value. In other words, haggling with someone to get them to pay $40 for a crocheted baby blanket is tough. But people are far more willing to pay $45 for a "handcrafted heirloom piece" that is wrapped in tissue paper and tied with a sumptuous bow (total cost:$1). We don't often don't present our craft in a way that makes its inherent superiority apparent. Marketing, my dears, marketing!

[stitchgirl]

[quote My husband summed it up well this morning (we own our own business that deals in handmade confectionery, which we sell locally), when you go to a handmade/local produce/craft venue, the items and their prices should be compared to the most expensive and finest items in any nearby grocery or department store - not to the value products. People pay handsomely for good products all the time. How much does a dishcloth cost in Macy's? Dillards? Bloomingdales? Ahh... a much better starting point.

 

I totally agree with this - I think where you sell your items definitely helps dictate what you can expect to get for them. I bet if we could sell crocheted dishcloths in Bloomingdales and have the advantage of their display people and all their patrons, you would get more than $5 for a dishcloth. The power of suggestion and eye candy are certainly very tried and true sales techniques. But I still like just giving away what I make. Besides I don't have enough crochet time to make enough things to sell to make anything significant anyway. It's still my favorite hobby.

[Super Granny]

there is something I'd like to add that none of you have said anything about... I live in a semi-rural area.... we have lost 4 major employers in the last three years... people are barely feeding their families ... so there is no way they could afford to spend those kind of prices even if they wanted to... you're talking Macy's and Bloomingdales when people around here are shopping Thrift stores because they can't even afford Walmart...

[Miss Crochet]

there is something I'd like to add that none of you have said anything about... I live in a semi-rural area.... we have lost 4 major employers in the last three years... people are barely feeding their families ... so there is no way they could afford to spend those kind of prices even if they wanted to... you're talking Macy's and Bloomingdales when people around here are shopping Thrift stores because they can't even afford Walmart...

 

Yes, of course. During an economic boom people can afford to shop at speciality stores or spend more money on handcrafted items. That's a no-go for all of us at the moment. At the same time, when money gets tight, people with a crafting skill begin to hope and wonder if they can squeeze a few cents out of their hobby... not our hobby, I'm afraid