Re: new question - pricing

vj found this in rec.crafts.beads, from "Tante Lina" :

]LOL! Poor Vickie! Ask a simple question...

]To stay within your comfort zone, why not determine your ideal price, then ]ramp your asking price $1 every few months until you get there?

interesting idea.

]I walked into my friend's second hand store and noticed an item had doubled ]in price since I had last seen it. I asked why. He said, "I put something ]out and if it doesn't sell within a week, I keep raising the price until it ]sells." You can actually hurt sales by underpricing. People might think ]it's not really handmade, for instance.

okay - point taken.

]Don't know if it applies online, but I do have some experience in boutique ]sales. The most important thing, if you don't yet have a reputation to ]boost your prices, is to have a wide price range. It's good to have a $15 ]item, but could it be something a little quicker to do? Then make sure ]there are some *outrageously expensive* items in the mix. Use your "just ]for me" beads and make something with a price tag no one is likely to pay. ]This makes the moderately priced stuff look affordable. And once in a while ]you sell that big ticket item.

thanks! i definitely have some more work to do.

]Very nice bracelet, BTW! :^)

----------- @vicki [SnuggleWench] (Books)

okay - i think i have it figured out.

it took me 10 minutes to do 1".

that's 6.25 hrs x $8/hr = $50 plus $5 for the beads and going to get them

so - $55 should be about right.

thanks, everyone!

so, Sooz, i'm only off on the bracelet by a little bit.

----------- @vicki [SnuggleWench] (Books)

vj found this in rec.crafts.beads, from Deirdre S. :

]isn't it necessary if you ]are going to set realistic prices for any future work they might ]request?

it is. and it's something i have to get a better handle on.

----------- @vicki [SnuggleWench] (Books)

Then I think that all of us who do seed bead work need to educate our customers about what goes into it. And I don't mean low-cost materials, I mean our patient, quality-conscious time and attention.

Deirdre

vj found this in rec.crafts.beads, from Deirdre S. :

]Re-think this statement. It says: the materials aren't any good. The ]design is nothing special. My time isn't worth much. ] ]Is that really what you want to say? Is it what you really think about ]what went into it, and the value of the effort of the person who ]created it?

you're right, of course. i have to find a way past the blocks.

----------- @vicki [SnuggleWench] (Books)

I've made several longish necklaces using the spiral rope design for friends and family, and they all report getting rave reviews from people who see them wearing them.

A piece of jewelry that gets complimented a lot does wonderful things for the wearer's sense of well-being. And that can't possibly be bad PR for the jewelry-maker. ;-)

Deirdre

vj found this in rec.crafts.beads, from Deirdre S. :

]I've made several longish necklaces using the spiral rope design for ]friends and family, and they all report getting rave reviews from ]people who see them wearing them. ] ]A piece of jewelry that gets complimented a lot does wonderful things ]for the wearer's sense of well-being. And that can't possibly be bad ]PR for the jewelry-maker. ;-)

well, yes. i love the basic design. her wanting it Red/White/Blue blew me away. but now that it's finished, with the right outfit, it will work just fine. i just never really expected this one, for some reason.

----------- @vicki [SnuggleWench] (Books)

vj found this in rec.crafts.beads, from Deirdre S. :

]I'm hoping that you didn't hear what I said as a 'scold'.

well, maybe as a well-intentioned one only. you didn't upset me - just made me re-think, which is not a bad thing.

]The ]questions about how you value -yourself- are real, because I don't ]think you really hear and see yourself in the act of devaluing -- you.

you're right. i don't. it's a lot of "if i can do it, it MUST be easy". which is partly from the way everyone EXCEPT the kids and my mother in my family have treated me. you know, the whole "prophet in his own country" thing.

]I'd be thrilled to see how good you feel about vj as a jewelry artist ]... starting to be reflected in the way you price her work...

well, i'm working on it. i just have to keep remembering, and hope it sells that way. i need to get more of it up on Eclectic Beadery soon and do fewer commissions, i think. but i like pleasing the people that ask for them, too.

----------- @vicki [SnuggleWench] (Books)

vj found this in rec.crafts.beads, from Deirdre S. :

]Well, time to move full-time to another country, then ... :-)

trust me - i've considered it more than once!

friends are people you choose.

families are what you're stuck with . . . for some values of family.

----------- @vicki [SnuggleWench] (Books)

I am speaking of 'moving out' of their country more symbolically and psychologically than literally. Moving literally wouldn't help anyway, if we took the same old mindset with us.

I'm suggesting a move away from the self-value imposed on you from without to a place where your sense of value arises from within. And that *is* a whole nother country, when it comes to 'where you live' emotionally on a daily basis.

If the influence of your family feels like something you are stuck with, then consider what it might take to become unstuck... not by rejecting them so much as by rejecting their take on _you_.

Our families are not the world's highest authorities on who is or isn't a worthwhile person. When they controlled our whole environment we may have gotten that idea planted fairly deeply -- that what they said was never less than the truth, but we belong to a wider world than that at this point, don't we? And we have the right to re-evaluate ourselves by looking at ourselves through our -own- lens instead of continuing to look through theirs.

A lot of times that family lens is a very bent, very distorting one and the images visible through it are -- to say the least -- inaccurate ... IMO.

Deirdre

Wow, I admire your speed! Does it feel good to know for sure you're getting paid?

• TL *

vj found this in rec.crafts.beads, from Deirdre S. : taking a much needed "break" from the sounds of MDs voices:

]I am speaking of 'moving out' of their country more symbolically and ]psychologically than literally. Moving literally wouldn't help anyway, ]if we took the same old mindset with us.

true.

]I'm suggesting a move away from the self-value imposed on you from ]without to a place where your sense of value arises from within. And ]that *is* a whole nother country, when it comes to 'where you live' ]emotionally on a daily basis. ]If the influence of your family feels like something you are stuck ]with, then consider what it might take to become unstuck... not by ]rejecting them so much as by rejecting their take on _you_.

i've been fighting that one for 30 years!

]Our families are not the world's highest authorities on who is or ]isn't a worthwhile person. When they controlled our whole environment ]we may have gotten that idea planted fairly deeply -- that what they ]said was never less than the truth, but we belong to a wider world ]than that at this point, don't we? And we have the right to ]re-evaluate ourselves by looking at ourselves through our -own- lens ]instead of continuing to look through theirs.

and Kathy N-V is a perfect example . . . i just tend to forget that for *me*.

]A lot of times that family lens is a very bent, very distorting one ]and the images visible through it are -- to say the least -- ]inaccurate ... IMO.

well, i hope so, yes!

----------- @vicki [SnuggleWench] (Books)

LOL, that's what I would charge too - even though people will actually pay a lot more, I feel weird about charging a lot for something that costs so little in materials. (I know, I know, my time is worth money too - it just takes a while to get used to that idea. )

It's lovely, btw. I agree with whoever suggested to price it at 3x the bracelet price, as it's 3x the length (and 3x the time).

Taken here as well... Raising the price can bring it up to the next "buyer bracket" - those who will pay a fair price for handmade goods, rather than those who just want something pretty and inexpensive. It's just a matter of having the confidence in yourself, in your designs, to step up to that next level.

It's something I'm working on, myself. It's really, really scary to make something and try to sell it at that higher (fair wage-paying) price. Self-confidence takes a long time to learn.

vj found this in rec.crafts.beads, from scaperchick :

]It's lovely, btw. I agree with whoever suggested to price it at 3x ]the bracelet price, as it's 3x the length (and 3x the time).

thank you. it just happens to be one of the first "patterns" Lynda [beadgoddess] taught me. and that price actually came pretty close to the "how long it took me" price, after all!

----------- @vicki [SnuggleWench] (Books)

vj found this in rec.crafts.beads, from snipped-for-privacy@aol.comnospam (Carol in SLC) :

]Check your email!

got it! thanks! hmmm - this may be harder than i thought!

----------- @vicki [SnuggleWench] (Books)

No problem, they came through fine, and I think they look terrific. Replied by email also... asking about the carved bone, if that's what it is...

Deirdre