How do you price your work

[Solunar Silver Studio]

Hi, having read a lot of the replies above I was wondering how you get round the problem of consistancy in pricing. Does everyone charge the same for a piece offered for sale in different venues or do you alter the price depending on what you think you can get in that particular venue? I hope that makes sense! I live in an area where I would struggle to get 'good' prices at house parties and so on, but I want to do some craft sales in the region - which is pretty 'well to do' in general, so I think I could charge more - and then I am also setting up a website - hopefully to attract all those 'rich' people out there!! Do I charge the same price for the same item offered in all three venues? At the moment I have put 'introductory price' on my website prices as I have only just launched it and then I can alter them upward if I think it can take it! I'd love to know what you all do...

[MuranoSilver]

As a general rule it's best to keep prices the same and if there's a discount show it....e.g. Introductory offer normally £16 now £12!
Otherwise if a customer turned up at both venues and they'd paid more they might feel you'd diddled them.....

Maybe you could do a different offer at the hostess parties that effectively worked it out at a lower price. e.g. Spend x and choose one of these for free.
or do it as a hostess gift

Nic x

[AlexandraBuckle]

I agree with Nic - I try to keep my prices the same everywhere. My website prices are the same as the shops/galleries. It wouldn't seem fair to me to undercut them.

If I am at a craft fair I sometimes lower the prices slightly to group pieces together under one price label. I find this works well as then people can inspect all the items that are £20 because they know they have £20 spare to spend.

If I do lower my prices I try to inform the customer that they are getting a better price and why.

[Charlotte]

What is the general mark up in shops/galleries? I heard it was 2.4 (I think!) so I try to work mine out accordingly (please send me a private message if you don't want the info on an open forum). Is it appropriate to put prices on your website if you aren't undercutting anyone, or does it put off potential buyers?

I usually work to(wholesale):
Materials + £10 an hour + £10 (hallmarking and postage etc) usually works out about reasonable price.

I know I should be earning more than £10 an hour but I'm quite a slow worker, so any more gets to a ridiculous unsaleable price.

This is low but I'm testing the market at the moment, I will put it up when I get a better feel for the market (and speed up).

This has been one off the toughest topics I've had to deal with... I wish this forum had been around when I needed it because this kind of information seems to be a well kept secret. I would really appreciate some help on this!

[myke]

hi Pricing is a strange broblem I found out years ago if someone wants to buy a present and they have desided to spend £100 even if they see a piece of work they like but its priced at£50 they wont buy it. Also You have work out what you want lots of money or a life style that suits you. I stoped doing craftfairs years ago because prices were mad.

[EmmaRose]

I use the brilliant formula in the book "second steps". It is very helpful!
Em

[Milomade]

care to elaborate???

[EmmaRose]

http://www.bcfbooks.co.uk/secondsteps.htm

I have an earlier addition- invaluable!
Em

[Caroline Foulkes]

Blimey, this thread is really quite enlightening...i make silver jewellery as a hobby and at night class. Recently someone asked me to make them a cuff style bracelet identical to one I made about five or six years ago. When I told her how mucht the silver alone would be she blanched am trying to find ways around this (thinner metal, smaller dimensions) but struggling! Any ideas?

Re sceneario a above, I wish people would appreciate some of the lovely handmade stuff that is out there rather than just going and buying some of those wretched mass produced things. A certain shop in Glasgow apparently had a queue a mile long outside it at Xmas, of husbands all buying their wives the same item. What happened to individualism and appreciation of really lovely pieces?

[bustagasket]

Basically:

Materials total x 2 + Labour (I earn £20 / hour) = TOTAL

Now the TOTAL above can be added to to cover shipping (so you offer free shipping to your customers because nothing is ever REALLY truly free) you also need to cover overheads (electric, water, petrol to take them to the post office, wear and tear on your car, bus fairs, tools wear and tear, website costs etc etc etc) I usually add a certain % on depending on what is is made of or if it is a bespoke order or not.

Everyone has their own different ways of costing up their stuff but everyone should do it as it's no use selling something for £3 if it cost £10 to make... that's just bad business (and what most people on etsy and the likes are doing it seems).

OMG I take so long to make stuff, no one would ever pay for the real labour cost