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  • Travis
    Travis

    Pricing Your Work

    Originally published in The Village Square - Sept. 2009

     

    Your walls are covered and your shelves are overflowing with your scroll saw projects. Then it finally dawns on you; maybe you should start selling your work. But what should you charge? This is a tough question to answer. After all, you want to make it affordable so people would actually buy your products. But at the same time, you don't want to short change yourself. While pricing structures can range from picking a number out of the air to complex formulas, here's a good way to come up with a price for your scroll sawn art.

    First, you must decide what your time is worth to you. Are you happy making $15/hr? $30/hr? Be sure to keep this figure realistic. While it would be nice to make $150/hr, chances are that my work isn't worth more than $15/hr. Once you come up with a number, this becomes your target income goal.

    Next, figure out what it would cost to make your product. Figure in your time and material cost. Material costs not only includes the materials used to make your product, but it also includes expendables like scroll saw blades, masking tape, paper, and printer ink. Figuring out the costs of your expendables might be a bit of a guessing game, but try to put a ballpark figure on it. While you're at it mark up the material costs by about 20%. After all, you still have to hoof it over to the lumber store, pick your stock, haul it back home and organize it.

    Don't overlook expenses that occur in the sales process. Are you going to craft shows? Chances are, you'll be spending all day trying to sell your wares. Be sure to compensate yourself for your time. Plus there are booth fees and travel expenses to figure in too. Online markets charge listing fees and take a sales commission. Plus any time that you spend listing your products. See where I'm going with this?

    Now it's time to figure out what price to charge for your product. So take your time multiplied by your target income goal plus material costs. This is your price. But wait. We're not quite done yet. Now that we have a price, we have to figure out if the market can bare that price.

    When you come up with a number, compare it to what others sell similar items for locally. If others are selling it for more, raise your prices. If they're selling it for less, decide if you'd be willing to take less. If not, see if you can reduce your time or cost to get the widget price closer to the market price. There are many times where it just isn't worth your time to make that particular product. But there are many other items that you can make that has a nice profit margin. You may also consider the law of averages. Perhaps one product has to sell below what you'd be willing to take, but another product is selling for more. These two products may balance each other out in the long run.

    Naturally, custom work will cost more than items that can be "mass-produced." Making several of one item is usually more time efficient than making them one at a time. If you do portrait style cuttings, be sure to stack cut your items so you get 3 or 4 copies. Other items, make jigs where possible to speed up production. Also, keep an eye out on how to reduce material costs and any expendables. Often little compromises result in huge savings, thereby increasing your profit margin.

    And lastly, know who your customer is. Flea market folks won't pay $35 for a free-standing puzzle, but a patron of an art museum would. Be sure to research your customers and what others are doing. Find someone who is doing well and copy them (their method, not their patterns). No need to re-invent the wheel.

    Hopefully, these tips will get you on your way to selling your wares. It's nice to earn a little extra money to keep yourself in sawblades and buy a new tool on occasion. But if you don't sell anything, don't worry. After all, it's the journey, not the destination that counts.


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    A couple of tips if you decide to sell at craft fairs. Make sure that you set in the fairs that are for all handmade items and no reselling or manufactured goods. Also do not try to sell your goods along side a flea marketer. Use nice covers on your tables and make sure that you display some items up in the air (EYE LEVEL IS EYE CANDY) and creates impulse buys. Have pieces in a vast assortment with a wide variety and from a small price to ? on the upper end. If you can demonstrate on the saw at a show it draws a crowd and you do not have to demo all day set some specific times. Steve

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    Yeah I am bad when it comes to pricing my stuff so before I put it on facebook I ask the wife and her sister what to charge. I have family all over the country and most of the time someone will buy what I post. Think about it... Someone is always having a birthday , having a baby..... so on. If something dont sell I will pack it away and eventully give it away. The yarn holder that I posted over in the bragging forum, I sold 3 sheep on facebook and my sister asked me if I could make a horse. yep Thats how I sc(roll) .

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    For several years I had a booth out at a local flea market, and dearly loved the flea market family most of whom I am still very close to, friendships don't sell product however nine times out of ten, and as Travis stated flea market folks are use to flea market pricing which is usually well below fair market value. For instance there was the time I was literaaly giving one of my pieces away for twenty dollars, a gentlemen to be polite said he would give me five dollars, my German temper raised a little and I told him that before I sold the item for five dollars I would destroy it with a hammer...so as I have read before if you are out to sell your art work flea markets are not the place to do it...

    Like Kadar2 I am horribile at pricing my work, I usually can't even give a good guesstimate..and would undersell myself nearly everytime...our business is not like selling a pair of shoes where you can go on the internet and search for the price of a similar pair and whoolah you have a price figure, around here I will put a price on and item and my wife will usually raise it by doubling my price. I think the promblem is I don't see in my work what my wife and kids see in my work..Anyway my wife must be in the ballpark as I am having very little problems selling my art on the festival circuit...so I will continue to trust her judgement...but I like the formula Travis layed out in the orginal post...

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    For several years I had a booth out at a local flea market, and dearly loved the flea market family most of whom I am still very close to, friendships don't sell product however nine times out of ten, and as Travis stated flea market folks are use to flea market pricing which is usually well below fair market value. For instance there was the time I was literaaly giving one of my pieces away for twenty dollars, a gentlemen to be polite said he would give me five dollars, my German temper raised a little and I told him that before I sold the item for five dollars I would destroy it with a hammer...so as I have read before if you are out to sell your art work flea markets are not the place to do it...

    Like Kadar2 I am horribile at pricing my work, I usually can't even give a good guesstimate..and would undersell myself nearly everytime...our business is not like selling a pair of shoes where you can go on the internet and search for the price of a similar pair and whoolah you have a price figure, around here I will put a price on and item and my wife will usually raise it by doubling my price. I think the promblem is I don't see in my work what my wife and kids see in my work..Anyway my wife must be in the ballpark as I am having very little problems selling my art on the festival circuit...so I will continue to trust her judgement...but I like the formula Travis layed out in the orginal post...

    I have also found that if you have an item that you are constantly selling out of it is usually because your price is to cheap. Don't adjust your prices in front of your customers though. Raise or lower the prices between shows. I have people wanting discounts towards the end of a show all of the time, they think that they can get something real cheap but do not understand that I may have other shows to go to and it would not be fair to anyone who may have bought at full price earlier in the show. That will get you a bad rep if they find out that you discounted also. Just some things learned on the craft circuit. Steve
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    Hey Steve

     

    You and I think alike, as I agree with you one hundred percent...a customer who paid twenty dollars for one of our pieces in the first hour of a show would not be a repeat customer if someone purchased a similair item in the last hour of a show at a much lower price...I and the wife do shows all over our state however last summer we did several shows in the same area and kept our prices uniform across the board..

    I think if I were to go up or down I would do so in the off season for us the months of January through March....

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    Thanks for the formula, Travis,

    I don't normally do any craft shows. I want this to be fun and a relaxixng, enjoyable hobby more than a business BUT, I also do want to sell what I make and not have it pile up in my own home.

    Steve hit on a very good point about reputation. I do a LOT of sales by word of mouth and if I start changing prices or hurrying to get a piece done and don't do the same quality work on every piece it can really make me some enemies at work (which is where most of my items are sold).

    I make something, take it to work and show it off and inevitably people begin asking how much it cost and when I can have one done for them

    Also, I enjoy making items for benefits. I recently did the Judy Gale Roberts Fireman Intarsia for a fireman that was diagnosed with leukemia.

    From that one freebie that I gave to the benefit auction I got three orders for the same pattern and another from a woman that wanted a

    female version.

    I won't get rich and this area is just a rural area with low prices but, I can make a profit to re-stock on blades, wood, etc.

    Enjoy your time on the saw and be thankful you are healthy enough to enjoy yor time and make some spare change at something you enjoy.

    God Bless! Spirithorse

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    Thanks for the formula, Travis,

    I don't normally do any craft shows. I want this to be fun and a relaxixng, enjoyable hobby more than a business BUT, I also do want to sell what I make and not have it pile up in my own home.

    Steve hit on a very good point about reputation. I do a LOT of sales by word of mouth and if I start changing prices or hurrying to get a piece done and don't do the same quality work on every piece it can really make me some enemies at work (which is where most of my items are sold).

    I make something, take it to work and show it off and inevitably people begin asking how much it cost and when I can have one done for them

    Also, I enjoy making items for benefits. I recently did the Judy Gale Roberts Fireman Intarsia for a fireman that was diagnosed with leukemia.

    From that one freebie that I gave to the benefit auction I got three orders for the same pattern and another from a woman that wanted a

    female version.

    I won't get rich and this area is just a rural area with low prices but, I can make a profit to re-stock on blades, wood, etc.

    Enjoy your time on the saw and be thankful you are healthy enough to enjoy yor time and make some spare change at something you enjoy.

    God Bless! Spirithorse

     

    I wished I worked with more women to be able to sell at work but I work with all guys LOL

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    Some can make a plaque in half an hour, some in two hours for the same item. Pricing doesn't always work out to TIME and materials, you have to be able to pay for your time, yes, but be reasonable with the final price. A item of Walnut versus birch plywood should be able to demand a higher price, but, some customers could care less. I did two shows last year, and had to lower my price some to sell as others were really low. Guess I have to watch out for some of these vendors. (I hate going to shows and seeing "bought" items being sold next to "hand made") Oh well,

    Jim B

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    I am not offering advice as much as I am saying what I do: I sell wooden items year round at about 25 street fairs and festivals per year. Over 1/2 of these venues allow items to be sold that were not made by the vendor. I do well at all of them. Usually I am the only wood worker there so the lady selling figurines or jewelery does not effect my sales much. I set my sales price according to what I think folks will pay for the item. Not what it takes me to make them. Some things I make $20 per hour making and others much less. My prices range from $125 to $5. Most of my sales are in the under $20 range. I offer a few of the higher priced items (Intarsia) and a lot of the mid priced stuff (inlay on box lids) and the $5 toys and signs pay for much of the booth rental. Prices will vary according to your area. If I were to travel further I am sure I could get higher prices but then there is the trade off of motel bills and travel expenses. I also get custom orders most every time. (I do not like them much but they do make me stretch my wood working ability)

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    I price my items depending on how much time is spent. My paintings have a price tag of $35.00 to $225, wooden items $15 - $35.

    Pricing also varies according to the crowd.

     

    I do well at the larger art and craft shows, NOT at the small VFW or Church shows. The folks at the small shows are looking for items $5 and under. Not worth my time. I do great at chain saw events because most of my items are wooden; I price high there.

     

    Most people at these local events don't realize the time, or heart and soul involved in creating the items.

     

    I always add and extra amount of money over my asking price to the price tag. If I ask $25 for a small piece, I add $5 to the price labeling it at $30. When a customer is interested, but does not like the price tag, I offer to lower the price $5. Funny, how a few bucks less will make a sale.

     

    You never know what kind of crowd will show up at these events. Sometimes it takes a few hours to get a feel for it. I will however raise or lower my prices as the day goes on. But it depends. I do it sneaky, and re-tag items.

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    I have made items and tipped them off with a tip board. Work was always a good place for that if it is allowed. Also by talking with establishments that have tip jars can get you some orders. Some establishments will tip off your wares and split the profits. Just a few other ways to sell your wares. Steve

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    I have made items and tipped them off with a tip board. Work was always a good place for that if it is allowed. Also by talking with establishments that have tip jars can get you some orders. Some establishments will tip off your wares and split the profits. Just a few other ways to sell your wares. Steve

    Tip Board? never heard of it.
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    Dad and I are going to enter our first craft show. We live in a small town, and so we are trying to keep prices at $30 or less. We are kind of cranking out the goods.

    Here is my fear - Will selling the items cheaper at the show interfere with the higher price that he sells his stuff on facebook?

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    Thanks for all of the insight. So much is also local dependent, but that doesn't mean you can hose your customers. I do two venues a year one is a three day consignment event the three days after Thanksgiving across from a local vineyard. They get 20% so I mark my stuff up accordingly. They also help me with my pricing, they usually tell my prices are too low. 

    My other event is my annual Christmas fair at our church. I have developed a strong following there.  An example one item. I stack cut 6 1/16 ply for the ornament below. It takes 45 minutes to cut, add finishing, signing and packaging = 1hr for six. I sell them for $12 each. My material cost each is .25 for the wood, .50 for the box. x 6 ornaments $4.50  $72-4.50 = $67.50  for an hours work.  The profit margin on some of my more detailed and special items is not so high. 

     

    The second picture was at a small boutique owned by a friend that asked if I would do a small table as a trial last year. It was fun and I did surprisingly well for such a small venue. The plus is that I met a bunch of new folks and customers that will come to our local fair this year.( I hope)

    post-29702-0-11567600-1473598273_thumb.jpg

    post-29702-0-71963600-1473598329_thumb.jpg

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    my wife tells me what an item is worth. I know she is a little under what The market will bare so I take her price and add 10% to it . they usually sell for that if they don't I mark them down for my next sale. I never worry about what I make per hour, this is a hobby and I want to keep it that way. If i figure the per hour bit it becomes work and I retired from work. and don't want to go back. 

    IKE

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    The wife and I do a lot of shows. I keep my prices the same no matter where we are. There are a lot of people looking for lower priced items, and I have that covered in the $5 and $10 dollar range. I also display pieces that sell for hundreds and many in between. I have always used my time by what I want to make plus 10% for materials etc. The shows that are smaller normally are less money but also higher in custom orders. I will say that most of what we offer is Faith based and many people are so pleased to see it. 

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    We have a niece that majored in marketing at college plus has a gift for what people like. She is 50 but seems to know what all ages of people like (women that is). Last year about this time she set up at (well I really don't know what). She had among other things 125 T-shirts that she paid $9 for and sold them for $24.95 and sold out early. I made a small cross on my scroll saw that I thought would make a nice necklace and she said they wouldn't sell. She said while some ladies would like it most would not. Now I wasn't wanting to sell them I just wanted to make something to give away at Christmas. You know maybe get a few hugs. I like hugs.  :smitten:  :thumbs:  So in my opinion a person needs to do good work and have things people like and can't do without.

     

    That is the $64,000 question that I can't answer.

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