I have been watching the latest series of the BBC 1 ‘Make it for market’ whilst doing my work. I am astonished at the prices the mentors suggest their work should and indeed does prove to sell for. I am holding back listing my recent work I have made over for the past few month and when i do list them i will definitely be charging a more realistic price for my work.
Does anyone else feel they the same having watched the series. Money is definitely out their and the BBC have proved it with their makers selling figures over a short eight week period of time.
I was just thinking this evening about starting a thread on make it at market. I’m a bit addicted! There are lots of useful insights in it. The main thing that stands out to me is how the major issue with so many of the makers is self belief and confidence. They just need that mentor to say “you can do this, go for it!” and it makes all the difference.
As you said pricing work correctly is definitely another common struggle. I wonder if we could have a kind of peer support idea within Folksy, eg a more experienced making offering suggestions, insight to a newer maker? (Not sure how that would work in reality mind you)
I binge watched them, and have to say the pricing is all over the place. They really never discuss sensible pricing on the program.
Many of the makers then go on to stock galleries that will take a big commission, so they must talk and get pricing advice behind the scenes.
A lot must be lost in the edit.
In one sence it shows viewers the work that actually goes into making handcrafted goods. On the other side it doesn’t show the pits falls of running a craft business and leaves viewers the impression crafters must earn good money making their craft products. The hard fact is it’s far from the truth
I think it is easy to put a higher price when backed by a programme, they can advertise that fact at an event.
I have been in and out if this business since the 80’s. Nothing much has changed it is damn hard to make and sell. In particular hard to justify a final price.
You also have to cherry pick events where the price point fits in. Somewhere like Wisley costs approx 1K for the 4 days, affluent area and things sell but let’s put this into perspective. The rule of thumb is to sell 10 times your rent, that should cover material costs, accommodation, food and give you a profit.
Now for the truth, to sell 10k over 4 days does not always happen. Customers have got to be prepared to buy big, many do not as that would be a considered purchase. They may come back to you later, if you have a website, most will not. I have done large events at Losely and Charterhouse when younger and over 3 weekends lost £10. That may sound okay but would have been better loading into boxes and handing into a charity shop, you get my drift.
I used to do a local fair, pre Covid, cost £10 in the next village average sales £120 for 5 hours. Not a living wage but happy.
The truth is most crafters have other jobs or like me pensions to live on or husbands that keep them. Not saying you cannot sell and do well. I price as realistically as possible on here but know a lot of people only buy cheap as they expect handmade to be cheap. Until that changes most of us carry on as we are.
Sorry about the spiel.
PS. I do well on here now but has taken me a long time to build up a customer base that keeps returning. 49 sales so far this year but gone a been quiet this month.
I hole heartedly agree with what you have said. I started by knitwear business in 1991. I had my own shop for 8 years and during that time i really did sell well. People have a different mind set when the walk into a retail premises. When they see a craft fair they expect things for peanuts. We no longer have any up market craft faires in Cornwall, infact, we don’t have many at all. Due to physical disabilities i couldn’t attend any if they did exist! Like you, i have built a good client base on Folksy and i am getting new regular customers every month. For me Folksy has worked, but it is still hard work to keep the motivation to keep going. The beauty is when i have health relapses i can rest until it’s passed, which can takes weeks sometimes.
It would be interesting to know now many featured makers over all the series have actually stuck with it!
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@Caroleecrafts I’m looking forward to watching this and have set it to record.
Pricing is hard..Mohair has doubled in price since brexit, i can spend anywhere between £25 and £60 just on the piece of fabric for a mohair bear and anywhere over 4 days to make each one. I try to make £10 per day for 10 to 12 hours work !!
I do sell but still regularly ask myself why am i doing it, after 10 years I think it is harder to sell than it was back then and I do have some loyal return customers. I used to put a bear on facebook and have 3 or more people requesting it, for a few years Christmas eve saw zero stock on my shelves, I have more in stock now than I have ever had so something must have changed. My prices are higher than they were because the costs have risen so much but it also seems harder to get noticed now on social media, always the same people liking and commenting which makes me wonder whether our items are being seen at all by a wider audience.
My own fault I know but my stock of bear fabric alone must value over £5000, I darn’t even estimate a value of my threads and everything else so it looks like I will have to keep making for a very long time yet .
My shop has been a bit quieter the past couple of months, I am still getting sales but the value isn’t as high as it was. I have had a couple of new customers as well which is always nice but I know what you mean about always keeping the motivation going @DemelzaDesigns sometimes it is hard especially when going through a quieter time and our health issues do make it difficult sometimes.
Know what you mean Debby. Today my motivation has gone awol. Tried to start a new project this morning but just looked at it and thought my mind has gone blank. Nothing inspired me. I do have periods when I can not do anything, think this is one of them, instead of fighting it now just shut the door and walk away.
May have to start a no buy April challenge again, not done one in a while. If anything makes me use what I have and do have a lot of ‘stuff’.
I know that I really, really undercharge for my work…sometimes just £5 for an original painting.
However, I have been selling my work…knitwear, crochet and art …since 1960’s and pricing has always been a nightmare. I see a lot of work for 20 times the price that I ask…( and more)…BUT if I asked those high prices I would never get any sales at all.
Trust me I have tried and have been doing this a LONG time.
Some of these people on tv programmes have access to customers with the money to spend but generally for most of us, we are not that lucky.
It often doesn’t even matter how good our work is…it is whether or not we can find the right customers.
The argument over charges raises its head time and time again and trust me I would LOVE to find a customer who would happily pay me £50- £100 for my work…but I have yet to find one.
My mouth often drops open when I see a shop with exceedingly high prices and wonder what makes them think that they will get a sale?..
I love what I do and would only give it up if I could no longer have the ability to create…
To me I just have to plod along with £1 here and another £1 there…and watch the pennies mount up…better than waiting for a larger sale that never seems to come.
Years ago I was making 10 times what I make now … because now people just want bargains..(.thanks to foreign imports and markets.)
Most of these programmes and advice links are not living in the same world as I am…and I once knitted suits for Harrods, so I have been there in the good old days of selling…but those days are long gone.
It is no good just being talented, you have to know the right people too.
this is me in the good old days when sales were wonderful
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I hate it when i lose the will or motivation, I feel like I am wasting time, we all go through it now and then but always bounce back…hope your mojo returns soon.
I was just looking at my sales as i thought it had been quieter but March has been good so far, I have just sold another bear today which always lifts the mood. He was my most expensive I think so there are still people out there wanting high end, this week has been good for sales.
Like you I do well on Folksy.
I really have to curb the spending the level of stock I have is crazy and that declutter has to happen soon, my sewing room is being decorated at the minute so I will sort through everything once it goes back although i struggle to part with craft stuff. I decided to bring my desk downstairs, so the dining room has now become a snug with my desk at one end the conservatory has become the new dining room. I am changing the single bed for a double in the sewing room, i was fed up of it looking like a workroom, most stuff is behind cupboards and in an ottoman bed so although i will still sit up there it will look like a nice bedroom again. The house actually looks a lot bigger for moving rooms around. I will declutter
Actually I found the prices that the makers were setting were often nuts, at the end of a make they would say something like …materials cost £10 and it took 5 hours to make and they were asking £35 - £50 .
sometimes the mentor would say if you up your standards you could ask more, or you need to get quicker to make any money. They don’t mention wholesale prices and retail on the program, so it’s a bit unrealistic / unhelpful from that point of view.
Obviously we can set our prices to fit our needs, but to be a business that earns a proper living, pays the rent, feeds the family etc you need to be charging a descent hourly rate.
Yes sadly nowadays all the bargain home type shops and pound shops are everywhere, it certainly isnt as easy as it used to be,
I will have a read of your article later, it must be lovely to look back on. Wow, selling to Harrods, how amazing that must have been.
The other thing nowadays is there are so many people out there selling handmade compared to years ago and although my high end bears are still my biggest sellers I have lost a lot of local customers due to my price increases and have had to find new. It’s not as easy as it was when i first started selling bears.
I am selling my baby knitwear cheaper than when i had my own retail shop 25 years ago! Fortunately, the rent wasn’t expensive and the landlord paid the business rates for the building. It was a set of 8 small shops on the ground floor of a large building just 2 minutes walk from a gorgeous picturesque Cornish cove setting. I opened my shop every Easter and shut it mid September. Then i spent the rest of the months working from home knitting and making my own collection of childrens cloth clothes from dungarees, dresses coats etc. I actually earnt more every year than i did working full time in a good well paid office job. I certainly regret closing it to go on to University for a career change in the NHS specialising in theatre practice. During my time having a shop i was interviewed on BBC radio Cornwall, had endless articles written about my work in up market magazines and was featured on a BBC children’s program. Those were definitely the good old days. Like you i have so much materials in stock including over £85,000 in gemstone strands, sterling silver and gold findings i will never get my money back. . At the time i was still working and i wanted to give up in the NHS so i spent most of my last three years salary stocking up on materials with the aim to start a full time jewellery business. Then bang i broke my neck and landed up with a spinal cord injury plus a degenerative spinal condition. Four major spinal operations later and major open brain surgery (ruptured anryism deep within my brain) i lost my physical health. I was told four months ago i now have adult scoliosis and nothing more can be done for me. So, i keep going to save my sanity and mental health. However, i am not willing to carry on making quality products for just over material costs with less than £2.00 per hour. Gemstones, silver and gold have sky rocketed in price and quality knitting yarns are going up drastically in the last two years. Like you i will keep going until i can no longer work with my hands. Many crafters are in our shoes and that has been the case with some of the makers featured in ‘Make it for Market’.
Wow, what a wonderful past Gail in both your employed and self employed roles. I find it very sad reading posts such as yours and Brendas, you made a name for yourselves and had a buzzing business, it really is getting much harder all the time. Those really were the good old days. It is very sad to see so many hand cafted businesses closing and struggling, times are very different now. I have only been going since 2014 but in the early years I was lucky to have any bears sitting on the shelf, although it is good to know it’s not just me it is also, sad to realise how much it has changed for many.
When I started Bearlescent I thought any income was better than none, like you I have similar major health issues so going back to being an employee was no longer an option so I am grateful I am still making and selling but had I have chosen it to make a living and pay a proper wage i would have changed career a long time ago. I agree, working for nothing isn’t an option as the pain it causes to do this just isn’t worth it.
I will also continue as long as possible but if the day comes where I am not making enough sales I will close shop. I like my independence and earning my own money so it would be a difficult decision but there are also so many things I want to do and make for myself and so many people I don’t have time to see so i know I would have plenty to occupy me without pushing myself too hard like I currently do. Retirement actually sounds very appealing .
I think between us we could probably make a living with retail premises selling off all of our craft supplies, if our bodies would let us that is .
I must watch the programme, I will put it on later, it sounds really interesting.
The prices are right, I think most people under value their skills. Make it at Market is not all it seems I was shocked that the wood chopping boards were using timbers that could cause harm to people eating from them, both Oak and Iroko are not good for food prep, etc. Some of the experts are not at the top of the tree to mentor, but it shows how these skills have declined. Lack of crafts people has been shown more that once through this programme.
I left my trade 25 years ago (to become a Civil Engineer), and have now come back to it here on Folksy, with my wife we make some different things mainly in wood as our preferred medium.
In the past, I have mentored joiners and shopfitters, later young engineers. Two totally different areas of work. but people need a sounding board to progress.
People know more about E*** than Folksy unfortunately, but we need to be out there more. As E*** has been infiltrated by large companies, or foreign companies that in the past have stolen my designs.
I think the BBC have been good with both the Repair shop and now Make It At Market, to inspire us to get out there and push UK craft skills. alongside Heritage Crafts. May be we should try and get to one or two of the bigger craft shows such as the ones Make SW have in Bovey Tracey, Devon, Cheltenham and Wales. As a collective rather than individuals, the image of Folksy could be pushed at this sort of place under the Folksy banner. Much like Design Nation for example.
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. At the time i was still working and i wanted to give up in the NHS so i spent most of my last three years salary stocking up on materials with the aim to start a full time jewellery business. Then bang i broke my neck and landed up with a spinal cord injury plus a degenerative spinal condition. Four major spinal operations later and major open brain surgery (ruptured anryism deep within my brain) i lost my physical health. I was told four months ago i now have adult scoliosis and nothing more can be done for me. So, i keep going to save my sanity and mental health. However, i am not willing to carry on making quality products for just over material costs with less than £2.00 per hour. Gemstones, silver and gold have sky rocketed in price and quality knitting yarns are going up drastically in the last two years. Like you i will keep going until i can no longer work with my hands. Many crafters are in our shoes and that has been the case with some of the makers featured in ‘Make it for Market’.
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