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Pricing

This is a topic that comes up whenever two or more professional artists/crafters get together. What’s a good pricing formula?
I’ll admit upfront that I don’t have all (or maybe any) of the answers to the pricing dilemmas, but thought I’d point you toward some resources that I’ve found useful.
In the Etsy Storque, there are many pricing related articles, I think the older ones are the most helpful:
Etsy Storque Pricing Articles

Also, an Etsy seller, chrisparry, developed a very detailed spreadsheet that they are offering for free that helps calculate selling price:
chrisparry blog

I have a few issues with this formula, at least for my personal situation. I’m sure it works great for some types of items. I think the spreadsheet recommends taking equipment into consideration. That part is good advice, but it says, for example, that I’d need a new sewing machine every 5 years. Don’t think so. The machine I have now was my mom’s, and I believe she had it since before I was born, so it’s well over 30 years old, and works just dandy (thank you very much). I understand that someday it’s inevitable that I’ll need new equipment, and I need rotary blade, etc. rather more frequently, and all that needs to be accounted for.
I also have a bit of a philosophical problem with the “decide how much money you want to make then divide that buy how much stuff you make” philosophy. I’ve seen this advice in many places, and it never sits well with me. Just because I’d need to sell my I-spy blankets for $80.00 each to replace my job and live my dream of working at home does not make them ‘worth’ $80.00, no matter how much love I pour into them. Don’t get me wrong, I love my blankets. If I could make only one thing, that’s what I’d pick. My daughter still plays with hers all the time after 4 years. But, come on.
Sure, maybe someplace there is some celebrity super-high-end market for an $80.00 I spy blanket, but I have zero interest in finding, developing, or catering to such a market if one exists. It isn’t me. And I don’t want to change who I am for this.

Now these types of decisions are very personal. I don’t presume to tell anyone how they should run their business. Pricing is complicated, and I don’t believe in a one-size-fits-all formula, even for businesses that sell similar items or services.

What I’ve learned, for my own business, from my pricing research is that, no matter what formula I use, I will NEVER be able to give up my job to come home and sew.
I wanted to be a professional, but I’m a hobbyist. I was upset at this realization for about 30 min. Now I’m okay with it. The upside of these epiphanies is that now that I know that sewing isn’t the most efficient use of my time in my quest to work from home, I’m free to move on to other endeavors. Now I can sew for fun, for family, and to sell with out all the pressure. I can make things when I want, for whom I want, and if they sell – wonderful! If not, it’ll make a nice gift at the next baby shower I’m invited to. But my garbage bill won’t depend on it.

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Diversifying

I wanted to write this entry awhile ago, but I was hoping to link it to the original source articles where I got my information. Since I can’t find them again (darnit!) I’m posting without.

The article talked about the importance of diversifying in online marketing. The old, “Don’t put all your eggs in one basket” idea.

I’m generally happy with Etys, but the article did make good points. I don’t run Etsy. I have little to no control in what changes they may choose to make. It is in my best interest not to connect my entire business future on something I have so little control over. Diversifying helps buffer the risk of changes that may negatively affect my business in any one venue.

So I started several other easy to operate online shops in other venues. I’ve linked these so that you can see how they look if these are venues you are interested in as well, but bear in mind that I have very little added to my other shops yet. I just don’t make things fast enough, I’m afraid.

Mintd.com – http://www.mintd.com/stores/show/1032-Karabu-s-Creations

eCrater – http://karabu.ecrater.com/

Lov.Li – http://lov.li/users/2886

There are more sites out there, but these are more than enough for me to deal with right now.
On all of these sites, there are no listing fees, and the selling commission runs from about 5% to 7.5%. On eCrater there are no fees at all. eCrater also has a neat page with promotion tools that tell you how to add your site into various search engines, and other great tips.

The other thing I did was buy my own domain: Karabu’s Pathcwork Creations
It only cost about $18.00 or $19.00 for two years thru GoDaddy.com. I’m a far cry from being ready to start up my own website, but because I have my domain, I will be able to have that option later of if I so choose. Right now all that site does is forward to my Etsy shop, because that’s the main place I want to sell right now. The larger benefit, though, is that I can put all my effort into promoting my own site instead of another (like Etsy for example) What that does for me is if and when at some later time I choose to change the focus of where I sell, I don’t have to start promoting all over again. I just change where my site forwards to, or actually start my own site. The point is, with my own url, I have a lot more options and control over how my business runs and grows.

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One more thing to juggle

Well, now that we’re finally getting into a nice routine for sleeping, and my cold is starting to fade, I feel ready to start trying to get some work done again. I have a half dozen projects near completion that I haven’t been able to get to in weeks. Thanks to grandmas – the house isn’t a total disaster, but it could definitely use some work.

So I’m looking forward to getting my new listings up on Etsy – my mom gave me a new castle to list, I have a doll quilt almost done, as well as a soft fabric shape book. I’m making one for numbers too while I’m at it. Have several new tooth pillows started in different colors, and I finished drafting patterns for the pocket quilts I want to make.

On top of that, I’m combining my passions a bit, and creating a zine with some of my short stories around a ‘family’ theme. This won’t be for kids – but some of the stories are about kids – and about parents, grandparents -husbands, and so on. When I begin listing my pet items, I want to do another zine with an animal theme. Now that I’m feeling more like myself again, it all feel exciting – not overwhelming like before.

I’ve spent a lot of my ‘down’ time reading and learning about marketing. I’ll share what I’ve learned in another post soon.

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Millions of ideas, but much less time.

I have an entry I’ve wanted to write for a few days now. Since I’m not sure when I’ll actually get to it – I wanted to at least share some of my newer listings at http://karabu.etsy.com
With the baby due in just a few weeks now, I’m trying to take my creations and my marketing seriously. If all goes well, I won’t have to leave her and go back to work later on.

I have so many ideas for new things to make and new stories to write, but I have no time (and not much energy either) I’m trying to make notes, so I can get to everything as time allows. Makes me feel slightly better that the ideas won’t get lost. Thank goodness for the book, “Refuse to Choose!”. Helps keep everything I want to do in order.

Alas – I have other endevors calling, but I’ll be back.
Oh yea – the Etsy listings I wanted to share. . . well – check out the photos over there to the right. I’ll try to be more interesting next time!