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Saturday, February 1, 2014

Pricing My Items for sale

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This is the first in a series of articles. I appreciate you, and hope that you will follow along as I try to add something to the subject, from a direction that makes me comfortable.

If I have seen anything repeated in multiple threads on Facebook, or any of the social media groups for that matter, it is, "What should I charge for this?", usually followed by a picture. Sometimes they are great pictures, sometimes not so great.  Photography will be a topic for a future series.

There is a HUGE push for three times the cost of materials.  We can go into more detail on this method Next Saturday, February 8th, because this really needs to be thought through. There are others who have expounded on this concept. I will pull together an article that will cover it in depth.

There is a BIG lean toward a cost + time compilation.  (We can discuss this after we talk about the Three times method.) So many factors to examine.

There is a small group who feel  "It needs to be reasonably priced, so I can sell more, and therefore make more money in the long run."  There is a place for this thinking, and we can delve it into it in the Spring.

From my Perch on the Porch, I find that none of them work for me.  It is not so cut and dry as any of these.  There are elements that factor in that are not so easily defined.

I did find this tool a while back, that helped me establish a starting place.  Check out this gadget  from CraftsCalculator.com!
It is easy enough to use, and has just recently been upgraded to allow a few more options.  It is fun to play with, and gives the opportunity to adjust factors, while keeping it depersonalized.

I would suggest playing with it a bit. You have a product that gets regular orders, let's say a hat. You have sold this hat for 2 years at $20.00. You are happy with that price, you feel compensated for time and materials. This is a great place to do a comparison.  Enter the cost of materials, and the time required to create the hat, then slide the profit button around, or try the different skill competence levels. Where does it put your $20.00 price?  Do you still feel good about your price?WONDERFUL!
Now use the same levels to see what the price would be for that item you just do not know where to start.  Does this tool provide you with a number that makes sense? Do you feel in your gut it should be more or less?  Why? Now you are thinking. Some effort is going into it, but not from a thin air place. You have a suggested dollar amount from which to start.

I have struggled with a confidence issue for quite some time. My work is good, the items I create are often my own designs. I am proud of what I do. I still struggle with placing a value on my work.  I have had people look, and be extra excited about an item, then shut down immediately when they hear a price. I have also had people reach into their pocket and hand that same amount to me immediately.  I have had those that agree to the price, but I never hear from them again.  It is real, it happens, it is not you, it is them.  The people you want to connect with are the ones who are reaching into their pocket right away.  That is your target market. We will look at the details of who they are soon.


Article two has been published, you can read it here

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