Hello all. Am a new seller on here and am happy to be on Folksy.
Am called Patricia. So thanks to lockdown (looking at the positive sideš). I rediscovered an old skill that I decided to turn into a business venture. I do mainly crocheting and Iāve done some amazing stuff. But I seem to be having a problem with pricing. For example a friend asked me to make her a waist coat and after I told her how much it would cost(Ā£33) she immediately said price is too high.
My question is how do you deal with such.! Also how did you manage to make a breakthrough in sales in your business. Thank you.
Attached are some of my work.
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Donāt alter your prices, Ā£33 for a waistcoat is brilliant. Sadly I had this when starting out in fact my BIL and sister did a market research survey! of their friends and they all said I was too expensive. They knew what it cost to make as stitchers and felt I should only charge that amount. Really upset me and knocked my confidence but now charge what I am happy with and is worked out right for me. So please do the same.
Cannot find atm but there used to be a story went round that a lady approached a seller at a craft fair and wanted to buy a necklace but she thought it was too much as she knew the cost felt she should be charging that amount. The buyer said fine she would send her a necklace for that amount plus postage. A few days later the parcel arrived but only components, she rang the seller who said well you wanted to buy at cost so you got the raw materials to make it yourself. I do not make for nothing and you were not prepared to pay for my time.
This is so true and sure a lot of use have been through this. Never compromise yourself for anyone even a friend. Tell her you can supply the wool and crocket hook for cost but she will have to do herself. Stand firm.
Love the pink mermaid tail.
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Hello. Thank you so much for the encouragement. This is what I needed to hear. I actually told her for the size she wants and the wool that will go with it,the amount of creativity input thatās really nothing. I will definitely stick by my price.
Thank you for appreciating my work 
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Iām sorry that you are having this issue. I know pricing is a tricky one and I struggle too, particularly because I use upcycled fabrics . I feel that people will not want to pay a lot if they think that the fabric is not ānewā if that makes sense. It actually takes longer to prepare pre-loved fabrics than just using a nice flat new piece and I need to charge as such. Hubby is always telling me that people are equally put off by low prices as they think that it must be ācheap tatā (his words 
) and I can see his point. We donāt want to be paying people to buy our stuff which is what we are doing if we donāt charge what weāre worth. Stick to your guns @TriciaCrochets and thank you @Caroleecrafts for your input. Much appreciated. Helen
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Helen I to often use Vintage cottons and appreciate the amount of work that goes into preparing. Again mention vintage linens etc as with Escape to the Chateau people crave vintage and used. Keeps history alive.
Great tip. Thank you 
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Donāt be pressured into lowering your prices. I suspect your friend wouldnāt be prepared to do her job for less than minimum wage!
There is a lot of good information and guidance in the Folksy Blogs, including pricing.
Good luck x
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Thank you so much Alison. Your input is much appreciated and also thank you for the link. Great hearing these encouraging words 
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Among other things I cut and polish rocks, many of these I pick up for free. But it can take over an hour to make one cut, another two to lap and polish so like that they get them at cost, like free ? Not a chance, three hours work= three hours pay, stick to your guns.
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Hi Helen. Thank you so much for the encouragement. I think what youāre doing is amazing 
. It must take a lot of skill, talent that shouldnāt be under estimated. And we definitely giving our best to produce the best out there. So really should be a little fair on us for the price 
.
Thank you
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Patricia
Iām really sorry youāve had this response. Donāt take any notice of them, if people really want your product they will pay. I make jewellery and have a phone app provided by www.craftfairs.com. Itās called craft pricing app and I found it on the app store. You put in how much it cost to make in materials, how long it took you, what you want to be paid for it (donāt forget your Etsy commission and post and packaging, yes Packing costs as well as the actual postage).
If you are donating to charity you need to take your costs out first, so youāve got enough to buy more materials.
It is important to ensure you pay yourself for the work youāve done and then add a percentage profit. its really helpful.
The other thing is to look at what everyone else is charging for similar items on Folksy and Etsy. Sometimes the app just comes up with what seems a ridiculous price but when you think about it your are probably worth it. You can always adjust your prices and give special offers, but you need to have leg room in your pricing to do that. Iāve got 20% off during COVID19. lockdown and it has really helped my sales.
I donāt make a lot of sales in my shops but I do get people contacting me to place orders as well.
Very best of luck with your project and hope this helps.
Patsy
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Just popping in to say that your crochet it lovely, Patricia, definitely donāt change your prices!
Iāve noticed a bit of a shift in the last couple of years toward people paying a little more for quality, handmade, local, indie business-y items. I think although some people want to pay Ā£5 for something made in a factory with dubious health and safety, there is a market for quality handmade/locally-made goods.
I often direct people to Folksy with the mention that everything is handmade so often a bit pricier than in the supermarket and most people donāt mind. And those who do will only be happy if they get change of a Ā£10 note, so theyāre not worth thinking about as theyāre not the target audience for most Folksy sellers or crafters.
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I was in the throes of clinching a sale at a craft market last year, my customer was really interested in one of my mixed media pictures and wanted to know all about it! I started telling her how I list on the reverse all the materials and embellishments that have been recycled and saved from landfill - she was really interested and thought it a great idea to repurpose things that were otherwise destined for landfill. As I was talking to her, her husband came along and overheard our conversation and said, along the lines of, āoh, so youāre using second hand materials then, so the item is second hand, so itās probably only worth a couple of quid then!ā - I was completely taken aback, as was his wife, and sadly she left without buying 
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Hi Patsy. Thank you so much for the encouragement. Very uplifting. Am certainly going to take a look at the link you shared. All of your comments have tremendously uplifted me today.
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Hi Elaine. That was so unkind of him. Perhaps if he had taken a little bit more time to understand it all like his wife did? I think the way to go with all of this is believing more in our selves and our works no matter what anybody else thinks. I really do admire all of you who repurpose āwasteā. Itās something that deserves respect for. I would be more interested to know how waste becomes a useful end product instead of thinking otherwise? Well done 
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Thank you Francesca for your kind compliment on my work. Very uplifting. Really appreciate.
I was actually thinking today that perhaps people just donāt consider how much input goes into all of this or perhaps itās just taken for granted in away. These comments have been so uplifting today that I have more energy to just push on really. Like you said, there will always be someone interested anyway.
Thank you.
Patricia
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@elliestreasures thatās awful. One of my friends used to make childrens clothes and was told āyouād sell much more if you charged Primark pricesā 
We have to remember that these are not our customers!! People who buy from us understand what goes into what we make and are happy to pay.And we appreciate them
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very true, but it still knocks you at the time.
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I think price is always difficult as some people only want to buy cheap. I mainly sell cards and have had people tell me they are too expensive as they could buy five cards from the market for the same price I am selling one. I do point out that you canāt compare mass produced Chinese cards with handcrafted British ones, but often my words fall on deaf ears! Personally I will always pay more for an item and then wear it or use it until it drops to pieces!
@elliestreasures - what a shame that you didnāt get the sale. I often use recycled and charity shop finds but the finished piece of work has usually taken more time than if I had used new items. Good luck @TriciaCrochets - stick with your realistic prices. Selling too cheap will make some people suspicious of the quality.
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