Pricing Craft Items - Part One: Beginning Craftspeople

(This is a three part series on Pricing Craft Items.

Part One is for beginning crafts people and offers a simple formula for pricing your work.


Part Two is for mid career and mid skill level crafts people.


Part Three is for full time crafts people who anticipate earning a living from creating and selling their crafts.)


Incorrect pricing effects all crafts people. It devalues our work, time, effort and skill. 


Part One – Pricing Craft Items for Beginning Crafts People


Before we jump into how to price just a few words.

Quality Materials. Use the best quality materials you can afford. A beautifully crocheted baby blanket worked in a dollar-a-skein acrylic is not of the same value as a beautifully crocheted baby blanket created with Peruvian, organic cotton.

Better one quality blanket at a higher price than five cheaper products. Craftspersonship is about doing your best, with the correct equipment and quality materials (including creative use of recycled materials). Leave the acrylic blankets to the mass producers and spend your time creating one of a kind, quality, fine crafts.


Study. Knitters should be familiar with the work of Kaffe Fassett. Quilters should know the quilts of the Amish and Gee’s Bend. Potters should understand the properties of iron oxide. And surface textile designers should be familiar with the work of Jack Lenor Larsen. If you’re not, no problem. Get on the internet, go to the library, begin taking classes at your local community college or adult continuing education facility and make learning your craft a habit.

On to pricing.

Major cost areas to consider: Labor, Supplies, Packaging,
Travel


Formula: Labor + Supplies + Packaging + Travel = Base Cost


Base Cost X 2 = Sales Price


Labor. Set a price for your labor. Start with the minimum wage and add 50%. If you were working a minimum wage job, your employer would offer benefits – unemployment insurance, health insurance, contribution to social security, perhaps a pension or 401K plan. That’s what the 50% is for.


Supplies. Compute the cost of your supplies. If you’re buying for a number of items, divide the cost of supplies by the number of items.

I’ll keep this simple, but you shouldn’t pass the cost of retail prices and sales tax onto your customer.


Set up the simplest business possible (may be a resale permit from your city) and a checking account in order to take advantage of wholesale prices. Some things won’t be affordable in quantity, but other times you will be able to get a wholesale pricing discount.


Packaging. The cost of bubble mailers and recycled newsprint adds up. Include the cost of packaging materials.


Travel. If you spend one day a week driving around town to pick up supplies and go to the post office, you are spending both time and money. Keep records and pay yourself for mileage, time, wear and tear on your car. Use your labor cost figure for your time.

Double these costs to arrive at your sales price.


Formula: Labor + Supplies + Packaging + Travel = Base Cost


Base Cost X 2 = Sales Price


Competitive Pricing. Check out the competition. Are you in the same price range, lower or higher?


Same price range, you’re doing fine.


Lower, ask yourself some questions. Why is your work priced lower? Are your materials of a lower quality? Did you get a tremendous deal on supplies, can you sustain this price? (If you aren’t able to get a deal next time and are still selling the same items what would your price be?) Should you be priced higher?


Higher, what sets your product apart? Do you know how to market for a higher priced audience? Are your supplies too expensive? Is your product really marketable?

Tips.


Write down everything.


Break it down. Start with one area of cost and list everything you can think of associated with that cost.


Set up a system for record keeping, use Excel, create a table in Word, or use the calendar on your email.


Save receipts and record receipts.


Don’t be afraid to charge what your work is worth.

Images: Iron Oxide Glazed Pot; Organic Peruvian Cotton; Kaffe Fassett Knits; Gees Bend Quilt; Jack Lenor Larsen Textile; Amish Quilt.