Have you signed up for the free Q&A session with The Design Trust on how to cost and price your work? It’s next Thursday evening (7-8pm on Thursday 13 April) and it’s free for Folksy Plus members as part of the membership package.
During the session, Patricia will also be revealing a special offer code which also gives you 15% off their new Costing and Pricing course.
this could be very interesting but as always, will probably flag up a lot of different opinions
As an artist I would love higher prices for my work but it just doesn’t happen.
A lot depends on someone’s circumstances etc.
So although I am sure there will some excellent advice at this session at the end of the day each individual will have to decide what is right for them .
I’ve signed up and am looking forward to it At the risk of sounding a bit jaded and negative, I’m REALLY hoping that the advice is practical / realistic and not recommending that you charge at least £20 an hour for your time making, on top of the materials used / fees and other costs paid, as many articles on the subject that I’ve read do. In the well worn phrase of many a meme, ain’t nobody got time for that
As a self employed person with no employees (other than the dog for break time entertainment who gets paid in snacks), my approach to getting paid for my time is that my payment is whatever is left from the payment of a sold item after costs and overheads are deducted. Am very interested to hear about anyone else in my circumstances who’s found a better way to do it and I will copy their method immediately!
I would price myself out the market if I worked out an hourly wage + materials + costs (fees, postage, packaging etc) it would be lovely to charge that but it won’t happen.
Like you Carol, @Knittingtopia these pricing issues are only helpful to people who are in what I term as “Big business”.
I paint cards and who would want to pay me £15 for a greetings card?.
It just isn’t realistic.
I don’t really time myself but I did once when knitting a ladies long line cardigan with a cable pattern. Charging a minimum hourly rate plus the cost of yarn and buttons I would have had to put a price of around £1,200 on it.
I’ve registered for this Q&A session so we’ll see what’s said.
Interesting topic and as Debbie @thecrimsonrabbit mentioned, it would be interesting to see something different this time. I am not a plus member so I will miss the fun. (used to be but it just became pointless with no sales for a year).
Usually the advice is Time + materials + fees + other costs *3 + package + 10% on top for maintenance + extra charge for delivery = price. And then it changes… after you have your price, have a look to see what others do to be competitive, offer free postage to be competitive, offer super fast tracked delivery to be competitive, and run regular sales to be competitive and God knows what else I am missing. That will leave you with a very low price that is usually not enough to cover your expenses, but you are advised to go with it to bring customers in… I’m sorry, I just had to let it out!
LOL @theslothscavern …I can’t tell you how many ( almost hate) messages I have received because my cards are just £1.25 each…I work on the basis of selling quantity ( as well as quality).,…anyone want to buy a greetings card for £45?..
I have signed up for this with a downlink mainly because interested in the suggestions. Know when I have done this sort of thing before the price has been stupid and no way would an item sell. Even got told once to stop selling cards!
I can imagine, you put your heart into making things, you cannot actually charge for it. You’ve got to find what works best for you at the end of the day, so you can keep doing what you love!
I think that sums up most of us on here…we are talented and we love what we do. Only the rare few want to go onto big business.I used to design crochet jackets that back in London 30 years ago, I sold for £35…I can still only get the same price for them today. However there are some BIG companies selling crochet jackets for £2k and getting it.
It really depends on who your customers are , where you live etc
I take more happiness in knowing that the average person can afford to buy from me.
I am sure this session will be very interesting but sadly for most of us, just not realistic
It is also a perception some people think handmade should be cheap, others are prepared to pay a reasonable price, others a large price ticket.
Did you see the adverts from high street and e…y on prime time tv the other night? On about 4 times each, that is what we could do with as no point knowing how to price if customers do not know about us.
A lot of people do not know about Folksy and ask if new? It also does not have the trust built up that e…y does.
I don’t think anyone here wants to go into ‘big business’, but many do need to make a living from selling their work. To do that you need to have a product which will sell at a price that will make you a reasonable return. So the Q&A session will be most helpful.
I agree @HelenCliffordArt. I think it will be interesting. Q&A could throw up some real life problems we can all relate to, and make it not just about a formula for calculating the price of your end product. I have been watching Make it at Market, those crafters are way out of my league but it’s made me think a lot about cutting costs and production time without compromising on quality. I find the whole thing fascinating, and I’m only here to fund my hobby.
I have registered for this, thanks for organising it. In case people aren’t aware if you can’t attend you can register and they’ll send you a link to a recording which is useful.
The above discussion has been interesting. I think there’s a difference between making a product to earn money from and following your creative bliss. Sometimes they align, but often they don’t! It will be interesting to see what tips are given in the webinar.
Sounds great - is there going to be a written summary of any conclusions afterwards for those of us that don’t have Zoom?
My question would be “if I pay myself minimum wage for the hours knitting, and finishing, but not counting time for photography and listing, my fingerless gloves cost about £175 per pair to make - do you know any outlet where I can receive that much for them?”
That is a good point. I have been told before do not make these items if cannot make quicker! Having been doing this on and off for over 40 years will not be told not to make what I love in the style I love. So I sell for what I can sell it for.
You can sign up and download afterwards via a link, not sure what detail it goes into but I do not do Zoom either.
At the risk of sounding a bit jaded and negative, I’m REALLY hoping that the advice is practical / realistic and not recommending that you charge at least £20 an hour for your time making, on top of the materials used / fees and other costs paid, as many articles on the subject that I’ve read do. In the well worn phrase of many a meme, ain’t nobody got time for that 
