Free Q&A session on how to price your work for Folksy Plus members

I believe so. As far as I know everyone who registered will receive a link to watch in their own time :slight_smile:

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Link received

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Just listened to last nights webinar.

A lot of useful information to think about, and ideas look at. I had already timed making some items, and thought about the ones that are not financially viable.

Thank you for putting this on, definitely food for thought

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@folksycontent Please will the blog also be available to Folksy Basic members as we didn’t have a chance to benefit from the full session itself? Thanks!

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@folksycontent
Camilla. Will plus accounts who didn’t register get access to the link for last nights session?

Thanks. Ruth.

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I missed it as well, I wasn’t sure whether it would send me on a downward spiral if it was discussing how to price your work. In the past when this subject has been discussed I end up feeling fed up thinking I’m wasting my time creating as it’s impossible to charge for time (as many others have already mentioned). I have listened over the years to those who wouldn’t work for less than £10 per hour then done some quick sums in my head only to realise on that basis I should charge a bare minimum of £500 for each bear or doll and that’s without the huge material costs. It will be interesting to hear the positives that came out of it though and whether the advice was realistic for those of us who make time consuming items.

Hi @folksycontent I didn’t register but am a Plus member, is there any way I can view it still ? There may be some points that are helpful.

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Hi Debby, I didn’t attend either precisely because of what you just mentioned. In the past I also listened to many creative professionals advising on how to price things. The pricing rules work only if you run a business and, let’s face it, most of us wouldn’t be able to turn what we do into a business unless we drastically change what we do and how we do it. I’m a silversmith and know very well that unless I make things using expensive materials (like platinum, gold and diamonds) or scale up what I do by having it made bulk in China, I can’t charge for my items following the rules. That said, I wish I did sign up and would be interested in getting the information, if it’s available somewhere.
Nat

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That was basically it Debby. My question was answered about how long knitting takes and that there’s no way I can charge a proper hourly rate.
The answers were:
“can I add something like diamonds to make the item more special?”
Erm… OK :woman_shrugging:t3:
“Do I present my expertise properly?”
I have mentioned in my about that I have over 40 yrs experience
“Can I get faster?”
I’ve been doing this 44 years - I am fast!
“Can I add raw materials to make it faster?”
Then it isn’t hand knitted :woman_facepalming:t3:
“Can I diversify and sell patterns or teach?”
This is sensible but that’s not what I want to do.
“sometimes it’s unrealistic, it can works as a hobby but not a business” (a business meaning it pays a proper wage)

So basically I carry on as I am, selling at price I think is reasonable but I’ll never make big bucks which I knew all along :woman_shrugging:t3:

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I got to about half way through the podcast but whilst very good just felt had heard it all before. Been in this game a long time now and sorry but think most crafters do not or could not charge £20 per hour for their time. I felt again that I was useless and wasting my time, so have gone back into my world of happy thoughts and lace and doing my own thing.

I did think the suggestion about grouping cards was good. I started with card and gift in one last year to enable a better rate for selling an item.

A lot of customers are now not spending what they used to on gifts, we have cut it right down in the gift line.

An ideal listen if you are starting out or want to do creating as stand alone, needing to earn a decent living.

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Yes, I think for anyone wanting to do ‘real business’ there was a lot of information to think about but to be honest, for most of us, I didn’t find it that helpful.

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I feel most of these things are fine for say design trust, art schools etc but for the standard crafter then no. A few good points but got bored as heard it all before. Too high faluting for what I make.

Worked out one item and would have to charge £150, sorry not going to happen.

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@NataliaMcIntosh It made it clear that things can be different depending on how you view your shop and what your goal is. Such as there is no hourly rate that works for everyone, although £20 might be what one person needs to charge as an hourly rate, it might not be what you need to charge. You need to work out your own rate depending on your own personal circumstances and needs.

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Oh so basically a waste of time then Carol, I didn’t sign up for that reason, I knew I would come out of it feeling like I am wasting my time doing what I do. Yes we could make things faster and using cheaper materials, cutting corners and basically taking everything out of our items that make them so special and high end. I have worked at this for almost 10 years, have a reputation for excellence in what i do yet spend half my time wondering why i do it and questioning whether it is worth it as can’t make a proper wage and I know you are the same. If I could knit half as quick as you do it wouldnt take me 4 nights to knit a dolls cardigan lol.
The bit about adding something like a diamond seems a little contradictory , is that not adding more value to your work which surely would need recovering ? Would that not push the price up even higher making it totally out of reach for most customers.
Oh well I will plod on sewing by hand, I could use the machine but I don’t like machining and if I want square paws (i have seen many on bears) maybe I could but hand embroidery is called slow stutching for a reason, so if the only way to make a wage is to make quick, cheap products and swap my hand embroidered items that take days upon days to make for machined I would rather close my business, i value myself as an artist too much. Not to mention weeks and weeks spent free of charge designing new bear or doll designs, I suppose the answer there would be to use commercial patterns but then I would be a bear maker not an artist. To clarify then we are hobbyists not businesses …even though we had to register with HMRC, file our year end, pay insurances, pay for our business domain name so nobody else works under our name etc etc. .And breathe … and back to wondering why I do it. :pensive: :worried:.

By the way …Twitter…can’t make head nor tail of it, not got past what a tweet is yet lol…need to schedule some time to read it all again. :sweat_smile:

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I’m pleased I didn’t sign up now, it sounds as though it is the same old advice. To be honest unless we can find a way of making cheaper, quicker items, by cutting down on time which basically means quality as well we will never be a business. I have been happy in my work for a long time now, but it doesnt take much for me to start questioning whether it is time to retire.

Saying that I hope the link does help you and I am sure there will have been valuable advice for a lot of people.

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I thought exactly that Debby about adding more, that will just add to the cost. I could invest in a knitting machine but then I’m just mass produced primark :rofl:

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Funny we felt the same over this q & a. When mentioned I knew what was going to happen, been there before, got the T-shirt and moved on. I love what I do and create because it is in my being. Will never change and happy if considered a hobbyist. Still have to be legal though and am,

Onwards and upwards. Wonder how much of the fee increase was spent on this as another course on the website is £997! If a payment was made would prefer it had been used to advertise in a non crafting magazine. Instead of a directory of suppliers, how about a directory of shops, so people can see quickly what someone does.

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Hey become a Primark and you will be one of the best businesses ever Carol…you might have to employ people to work in slum conditions for nothing though to succeed :laughing: and I really dont think the quality will be like yours

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I just get fed up sometimes wondering whether it’s worth it, but in a day or two I will be happy plodding on again, it hasn’t stopped me yet lol and I definately wouldn’t sleep at night if I didnt run it like a business with everything I need to have in place. No—one ever said it was going to be easy lol :laughing:

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@Bearlescent The people watching at the time seemed to find it really useful, those watching back after don’t seem to have got as much out of it, I wonder if there was a difference in how it was watched? Such as maybe some bits skipped over which have might have missed some comments.

Being a hobbyist in the context of this didn’t mean that you’re not still selling and don’t need to do all the legal stuff, but that you’re in a lucky enough position that you don’t need the income from it to pay your bills. You create for the love of what you’re doing and it’s not important that you make a certain amount to afford to live, just that you cover the costs to make.
It’s things like that which can make the hourly wage someone needs vary so much, someone with another job and a partner to help with the bills is going to be in a completely different position to someone who is a single parent and their craft is their only income. The focus is going to be different and if you are the latter, you may need to make changes to make sure what you’re getting from your sales is cost effective or you simply won’t be able to afford to carry on.

Although the focus of the examples was more of someone who needs to make money from their craft, there was so much mentioned (not just pricing calculations) that people went away motivated by all sorts of different things. Hopefully the upcoming blog post will help give a quick idea of what was included though.

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I’m happy to be considered a hobbyist too. All the women in my family have/do knit. I’ve been doing it since I was 4. I have restless hands and can’t sit and relax without my hands doing something. I certainly don’t want to make a loss but also I don’t do it for big money. It’s a hobby that gives me a bit of pocket money and I’m OK with that.

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