I know, I know it isn’t cheap by any stretch.
I love a blend - especially for baby items
,
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I started my business selling knit and crochet pieces and very soon found that it was a very slow affair! I certainly have never been able to charge what it really costs in time to make pieces - the best I’ve ever done is recoup the cost of the materials (like you, I love the good stuff and only use that) and make a bit more on top - minimum wage would be doing pretty well! I quite quickly realised that I needed to find other things to make that used my love of knit and crochet but had some sort of profit margin…
Patterns of your own designs are an obvious starting point although I wouldn’t recommend doing only that unless you’re a bit of a creative genius with a distinct / different style and work at a very fast rate. I’m fortunate in that I sew as well so I make things for my fellow knitters, crocheters and stitchers - things that I’ve designed for myself and know will be useful to others like me. I do still sell pieces that I knit and crochet but that’s really only a sideline now, although very useful as a way to be able to afford to knit and crochet what I like without the ultimate materials cost - plus giving pleasure to others who can’t knit and crochet things for themselves.
Your makes look lovely although there are a couple of things that might help - I see you’ve already changed the main photo of your cute dog jumper as Kim suggested and that looks so much better now - more of Jasmine would always make things look better! 
You might also add a little space around the central subject of your photos so that none of it is cut off in the photos - this is something that I’ve struggled with in the past and it looks so much better when you add that space so that your thumbnails still show everything you intend them to. I’d also suggest that you include photos of your hats on a head - either your own if you’re happy to model, or a dummy head (ideally with a wig). I’m sure that most people will wonder what the hat looks like on a head - especially how the brow band looks when stretched and fitted in place. I always try and remind myself that my description and photos have to answer the common questions a buyer might have and, if I’m being fussy, I ask myself what questions I would have if I was looking at one of my items - LOL!
Although I’ve been pretty succesfully selling on the other platform for over 10 years, I’ve only been selling here actively for a few years and have found it super slow to get rolling. Added to that, the last few years in both my shops have been much quieter than in previous years, which I mostly blame on the economy as everything I make isn’t what people essentially have to buy. My US sales have always been excellent but since the other place changed their algorithm to focus on ‘local’ search results over the last 2 years, that’s struggled too. My knitwear always sold well to the US but I removed it from that shop when they started taking big lumps out of my payments for the offsite ads they run that I couldn’t opt out of.
It really is a bit of a struggle at the moment I think but you need to continue doing what you love, share it on SM, support your fellow creatives and continue to develop your shop - it’ll come right over time, just never as fast as we’d all like. Good luck with it 
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Thank you Debbie - yes, am beginning to realize that it’s just not really possible to charge properly for the time it takes to make something.
Can I ask how do you do the thing with the photos ? So put a space around it…
I’m going to look into getting a head dummy …sounds funny.
Not that keen on being photographed really …
It’s not easy at all and is it. This was supposed to be something quite nice but it’s turning stressful…I know I shouldn’t let it.
Thankyou so much
xx
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Getting the pricing right is really difficult, isn’t it? I still don’t think I have it right, but I can’t quite tell where the line is between getting sales, and undervaluing the work that goes into making what we’re selling. And then there’s the possibility that new sellers, who have yet to make a name for themselves and establish a customer base, will be undercutting established sellers and devaluing their work… I’ve read comments, as above (and elsewhere), advising new sellers to be realistic about their pricing expectations until they become more established. It’s good advice, but I’ve also read comments (on youtube) where makers are irritated by sellers who do this because it undervalues everyone’s work. So it really is a fine line.
When I was first trying to price things I followed advice videos on youtube that had tables for working out your pricing. So you’d input your materials costs, your time, and the hourly rate you’d like to make. Some of them advised around £20 per hour! I quickly ditched the tables as I’d have had to ask £100s for everything! Now I look around on all the handmade platforms at the range of prices people are asking for similar items, and try to pick somewhere in the middle that feels comfortable to me and that I’d feel comfortable paying myself (under normal circumstances, if I wasn’t flat broke trying to get this off the ground). Some people have very low prices (IMO), and others have a big reach and can charge a lot. As I say, I’m not sure I’ve got it right yet. I did a mid-craft-fair-panic-price-decrease just before Christmas to try and stimulate sales, and I might need to reduce them further. For some reason I’m always afraid to ask people’s opinions on my pricing, but maybe I could do with some honest feedback too (on the jewellery - the bookmarks do sell and are going no lower!!).
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I love your jewellery Carrie and think it looks really well priced as a buyer, although I very rarely now buy jewellery as I don’t often wear it myself these days and have very few people in my life to buy it for. There seems to be a really wide range of pricing for handmade jewellery in particular but to my eyes, there’s also a really wide range of quality for sale online too, so perhaps that’s why?
Keep the faith and keep chipping away at getting seen - quality will always win in the end!
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It’s really nothing more complex than making sure that there’s plenty of ‘clean’ space around your item when taking your shots. Then when you come to cut it to whatever size you need for wherever you’re going to be posting it, you still have plenty of clean space around the item to act as a border, even if the platform where you’re posting cuts it further for their thumbnail view.
Here’s a page that gives you a roundup of Product Photography tips from the Folksy blog that you might find useful: Product Photography Tips Archives | Folksy Blog
Thanks for the vote of confidence Debbie @thecrimsonrabbit 
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Hi
Yes, I did all those things, reading up on all the pricing advice about not devaluing yours and by proxy others work.
It’s really really hard.
I have dropped my prices, on others advice here to see if that makes a difference.
It’s quite deflating when I see my products coming up so late on in the searches here.
I’m guessing the search algorithm works on popularity or items you’ve sold
Your jewelry is gorgeous and I definitely don’t think you’ve overpriced it - seems reasonable to me but then I think we’ve established I know nothing about this…(
).
As a consumer though my gut says it’s a decent price point and one that I would buy at.
I look forward to us celebrating sone sales soon
XC
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Hi Claire @jasmineme your position is Search isn’t affected by popularity or items sold.
The main search algorithm is based on how you have written your listing title, tags, description etc), and how they combine to create a score that “matches” the exact terms customers are using to search. It’s not easy to get “right” as everyone uses different search terms, so you have to be a bit creative and try different combinations.
Have a look at the advice the Admin Team gives to sellers, it very helpfully spells out exactly how Search works, and gives advice on how you can improve your listings to be found easier.
You should have received links to lots of resources by email when you joined, but you can also find them in the KnowledgeBase or Blog.
These are a good place to start.
Get your shop in shape | Folksy Blog
How to write a listing that gets found in search results
https://folksy.uservoice.com/knowledgebase/articles/57288-titles-and-description
Plus members can also watch a video recording of a seminar covering the same advice.
The other features in Folksy home page (theme of the day, gift guides etc) work differently to Search, but again the Admin team explain how you can be featured.
https://folksy.uservoice.com/knowledgebase/articles/57283-how-can-i-be-featured-on-folksy
Both the blog and the knowledgebase are fantastic resources, and I’d advise all sellers (new and longer term) to look at them regularly.
Best of luck with your shop, and hope you start getting sales soon. Your hats are lovely.
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Another possible solution to pricing when you don’t want to compromise on materials is to find or invent a product that you can make in a shorter time so you can still make some sort of profit. Depends really whether you’re doing it as a business and aiming to pay yourself a decent wage and have a profit margin to reinvest, or whether you’re doing it as a hobby and a pleasure and don’t feel you need to charge for your time or for more than the cost of the materials. The lovely thing about Folksy is that it supports both of these kinds of seller!
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Hi
Thank you - that’s so so helpful.
I’ve already gone through my titles and photos.
Knowing how the algorithm works changes everything!!!
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