How Much???

[chuck123wapati]

19 hours ago, Doc Reaper said:

This is the shhtuff I hate reading about! If a skrawny, flat chested, ugly as hell hooker went by perceived value the poor girl would starve to death. In the same profession is a Barbara Eden lookalike call girl. She also uses the perceived value method. But not for her - she sets the price by going off the telltale signs of her clients wealth and looks which determine her bottom price (pun intended). 
 

 

 

That MEAN WAGE is antiquated by todays standards. (Sorry Chuck123) that MEAN WAGE is what is equivalent to average of low end hobby compensation to high end quality craftsmanship. Only a cheapskate would resort to using skewed numbers to have you pry a penny from their fingers. There is a difference between hobbyist and professional!

Set this in stone -  material cost + labor = cost. True a flea market won’t bring top dollar but the people at the flea market are looking for USED items with life left in them, new is new and quality is sought after no matter if it’s at a flea market or a department store of a garage sale. I have a both at a flea market. I sell biker leather and custom leather. Folks know the difference when they want a special design that can’t be purchased anywhere else. I have seen 3 other leather shops close at the same flea  market that I’m at. They closed because of their cut throat practices which are fuled by selfishness and greed. Another vendor started selling belts and tried to undersell me, it took them 3 months to fold up shop and leave. They forgot to do the correct math. Materials + labor + lot rent + travel cost + and employee hourly wage

there is a song that states “it cost so much because it takes me effin hours!” And if you sell at an unsatisfactory price you only hurt yourself! Cost of 
materials plus an hourly fair wage for yourself.

Sorry about the hooker thing but thats just the reality of life, pretty hookers fetch more , pretty leather fetches more. some people like red headed hookers, some like western style tooling, people buy what they like if they can afford it then settle for less if they cant.

Mean wage was thrown in there to wake folks up to the fact that there are real jobs tied to this trade and people use the data to run their businesses which you and I  are competing with so yea it still matters.  None of us would hire a person to sew belts on a machine, or run a clicker press stamping out widgets for top dollar that would be just stupid business but we tend to sell our own labor for top dollar no matter our skill level,  experience  or part of the assembly process we are doing whereas a business can cut cost in all those same areas. thus making cheaper products of the same quality.  Thats how Henry ford did it, one person doing one thing cheaper then on to the next guy. LOL all you need to is find someone that will do piece work for sewing and you can save yourself $x dollars a piece on your own time. I guess the simple way to say it is that sometimes we price our own  selves out of the competition but then blame others who can do the work cheaper.

Oh and flea markets rock my friend it wasn't my intention to knock them and i hope you didn't take it that way you just wont get the same selling power in a flea market as you would say a high end store.

[chuck123wapati]

31 minutes ago, Tugadude said:

I like how she also offers embroidery services, so with tattoos, piercings and embroidery there's enough diversification to hopefully keep her business steady.  One of the toughest things for any business is cash flow, so having more things to sell certainly helps.

oh yea now she has a new shop and rents space to other artists, sells vaping goods as well as other odds and ends. 

[chuck123wapati]

So my wife just showed me something on fake book. A page popped up on her fb page of this sweet little old man, standing in his leather shop. His messge is "

Sadly, My wife and I decided to quit. 

Underperforming advertising, over-purchasing of inventory, and a bank account that is running dry; has left us with no other choice but to close up shop for good. My family and I feel defeated because despite our best efforts we cannot profitably run this shop. If you want anything from our store, make sure to order before we close.

We will be closing in the coming weeks, and potentially earlier depending on the inventory stock levels. This is your last chance to shop these pieces before they’re gone for good.

Shop our closing sale before the pieces you want to sell out!"

 

Click on his pic and you go to this site     https://samaye.co/collections/leather-purses

 

How do you price your stuff to compete with total bullshit lies?

 

[chuck123wapati]

back on topic i would charge  60 to 75 bucks for those wallets in my town today, 150 or so at Cheyenne frontier days when it starts up.

[GrampaJoel]

On 3/14/2023 at 10:10 AM, Doc Reaper said:

This is the shhtuff I hate reading about! If a skrawny, flat chested, ugly as hell hooker went by perceived value the poor girl would starve to death. In the same profession is a Barbara Eden lookalike call girl. She also uses the perceived value method. But not for her - she sets the price by going off the telltale signs of her clients wealth and looks which determine her bottom price (pun intended). 
 

China and Walmart have contributed to the “perceived cost” by pumping out cheap manmade materials that do not hold up past a certain time frame. Folks that shop at “Wally World” do not spend time in the better retail shops. Rarely do these folks step outside their own habits of comfort. 
I charge a minimum base price for what I make. It’s usually materials plus labor. I have been doing Leather for 52 years and that “it’s cheap cause it’s handmade” is ignorance trying to get something for nothing. Put a price on it that is worth your efforts. The fence jumping illegals will cut their own throats to get a sale. Keep a firm backbone when it comes to pricing your handmade items. The cut throats will force themselves into a new job and you will still be here with awesome merchandise that is well made and durable for hard work.

That MEAN WAGE is antiquated by todays standards. (Sorry Chuck123) that MEAN WAGE is what is equivalent to average of low end hobby compensation to high end quality craftsmanship. Only a cheapskate would resort to using skewed numbers to have you pry a penny from their fingers. There is a difference between hobbyist and professional!

Set this in stone -  material cost + labor = cost. True a flea market won’t bring top dollar but the people at the flea market are looking for USED items with life left in them, new is new and quality is sought after no matter if it’s at a flea market or a department store of a garage sale. I have a both at a flea market. I sell biker leather and custom leather. Folks know the difference when they want a special design that can’t be purchased anywhere else. I have seen 3 other leather shops close at the same flea  market that I’m at. They closed because of their cut throat practices which are fuled by selfishness and greed. Another vendor started selling belts and tried to undersell me, it took them 3 months to fold up shop and leave. They forgot to do the correct math. Materials + labor + lot rent + travel cost + and employee hourly wage

there is a song that states “it cost so much because it takes me effin hours!” And if you sell at an unsatisfactory price you only hurt yourself! Cost of 
materials plus an hourly fair wage for yourself.

yes absolutely!!^^^^^^^^^^^
 

 

I’m going to be brutally honest here.  Please except it,,, in the kind way I offer it.   As the very realistic old leather worker that  I am. Wanting you to look at reality.

Maybe they aren’t,,,,,but your wallets look like ‘ kit ‘ wallets.
Maybe purchased from a supplier, say like Tandy.

Something a Boy Scout might make as a project.

it’s nice that you have added tooling to the outsides. But your tooling is just in,,,the just above  beginner class of  tooling. 
Look at and compare your wallets to the ones JLSleather posted. Can you see the difference?

As for the price?

I would,,,  ask the price of the cost of the kit.   And be willing to take less, and chalk it up to the learning experience.

So ,,,

I don’t know what others would pay, but I’d say less than $15.00. If I was  a teen,,,Or just a boy looking for a first wallet.

As an old guy that has seen and made from scratch some  ugly,,,,, AND,, some pretty nice wallets.

I wouldn’t pay money  for any of them at all.
But you never know what a person will pay money for.

So keep going, keep making.
 IF,, or,,, AS, you continue to improve. Perhaps one  day people will be willing to pay whatever you ask. No matter what it is.

maybe…..

Joel

 

Edited March 15, 2023 by GrampaJoel

[SeaCitadel]

One opinion is that quality of an item and the cost to produce it are not incredibly important, and that the "quality" (if that's the right word) will be dictated by the price you set.  Now obviously there are limits to that idea.  You can't charge a thousand dollars for a piece of garbage and expect it to sell.  Likewise, charging $15 for something that costs you $100 to produce will put you out of business.  But from my observations, people will decide what an item is worth after seeing the price.  How else can one plain T-shirt cost $5, but the same T-shirt branded with a popular logo cost $80?  Is that shirt going to last 16x as long?  I think not.

Granted, a lot of time and money has been spent building up the clout of certain brands, but I think the principle remains sound because I have seen it on smaller scales.  No-name furniture selling at department store prices, and furniture of equal (shoddy) quality selling for quadruple the amount in a "designer" showroom.

The point is that setting the price also sets your clientele.  Someone who wants a unique, high quality, handmade leather wallet, and is willing to pay for it has different shopping habits too.  That's why the first page of leather wallets on Etsy is all under $100, and most under $50.

Don't base your business practice on this opinion though!  It's just food for thought.  I saw an interesting video a while back that touched on these types of pricing dilemmas.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5xyCr70aw2U

[Klara]

There is definitely something to that. The difficulty is  getting hold of the clients willing to spend big bucks. I never managed. Possibly because I didn't try hard enough because I knew from my time in fashion how demanding (and nasty about it) these clients can be...