How To Put A Price On It?

[JustKate]

The prices I set on my work do not fluctuate from one prospect to another. I'm not a brick and mortar, I sell online, so I don't get to observe customers who browse my "shop". I set the price based on my cost, plus a certain amount of profit I hope to make on it. If it doesn't sell right away, I don't lower the price or put it "on sale", I just look for other places to offer it for sale that I think may be attracting more of the kind of buyer I'm looking for. But if it sells very quickly, that's an indication to raise the price.

One interesting thing I'll also mention is, on a couple of occasions, I've gotten flurries of sales after raising my prices. What I gather from that is, it is possible to price something too low.

[Cyberthrasher]

I'm lucky enough to have found my market on a Blues Forum that I was already an avid participator in. I'd say 90% of my sales come from those guys. I do get a lot of inquiries from some of the members there who don't realize how much a strap costs and can't afford it. That's one thing that has led me to push for "budget" models that are still cool enough to leave my shop, but that the older guys on a fixed income can still afford. Some of the other ones just need an argument for their wives, such as "why buy a $1000 guitar and trust a $20 piece of fabric to keep it off the ground?"

The key is definitely to find your market. I wouldn't expect to be able to sell high end custom guitar straps to anybody with a guitar. I had to find a market full of people who understand (and fiend for) the value of a custom made piece of music gear.

[billymac814]

I have found the same thing with prices. A lot of people equate quality to price so if something's too cheap they think there's a reason its too cheap. The same thing goes with turnaround times I think. If you have a fairly long( but reasonable) wait time they realize that your work is sought after by a lot of other people as well.

On the other hand there's the people who want it cheap and fast, they can go pound sand. I do have a rush service so I don't mind those who want it quick and are willing to pay for it.

I have a brick and motor store but still about 90% or more of what I make is sold online, my local customers are a bit on the cheap side but I can get their money in other ways like retail items, leather care products, etc and I do a lot of repair work for them as well. That's really the beauty of the Internet, nobody with an Internet connection should feel limited by their local market.

The prices I set on my work do not fluctuate from one prospect to another. I'm not a brick and mortar, I sell online, so I don't get to observe customers who browse my "shop". I set the price based on my cost, plus a certain amount of profit I hope to make on it. If it doesn't sell right away, I don't lower the price or put it "on sale", I just look for other places to offer it for sale that I think may be attracting more of the kind of buyer I'm looking for. But if it sells very quickly, that's an indication to raise the price.

One interesting thing I'll also mention is, on a couple of occasions, I've gotten flurries of sales after raising my prices. What I gather from that is, it is possible to price something too low.

[Cyberthrasher]

nobody with an Internet connection should feel limited by their local market.

Another very good point. I think I've sold a total of 3 things locally - 2 of which were to a close friend. The internet is what allows us to find the market.