Prices On Original Work?

[raysouth]

WOW !!!

This is a topic that could go on forever.

Try adding DEMOGRAPHICS, to the equation and it presents another situation.

Something that sells in a chic shop in New York for big bucks, would probably be overpriced here in Alabama.

There are many variables to take into consideration, ie; talent, market sought, location, method of making available to public, and the list goes on.

Everybody has valid points and many more could be added.

China ???? Whats to say ? I have seen some fairly nice items come out of China, but when examined closely, I cannot say that the quality is there. They are very adept at making products look good but they are "no comparison" when items produced by handcrafters are placed into the mix.

This is a very difficult area for some folks to handle but most eventually come up with something that works. Everybody's formula may be a bit different but usually works for the individual crafter when they have done a bit of research or come up with a formula that keeps them going.

God Bless.

Ray

[Cyberthrasher]

Ohhhhh... well, that explains it. I didn't realize that there was a "ACTUAL guitar strap - I was just using a "what if" scenario. Yikes, that explains the claws out reaction.

Sorry. You originally mentioned me by name in a post talking about overpriced guitar straps that seemed to exactly describe the only guitar strap on my Etsy page, which had one more view on it immediately before your post showed up. Sorry for sounding hostile if you weren't pointing it at me, but I do stand by all of my statements and beliefs. No hard feelings hopefully.

[JLSleather]

Ah, got it. Actually, I was just replying to HER post, and you had just commented so I used some of what you said. No offense intended - and no offense taken.

[Cyberthrasher]

Ah. I get confused when I multitask sometimes.

[Cyberthrasher]

This is kind of a long read, so I started only scanning about half way down. But, there are a lot of good points in here that follow my personal train of thought. This may not be of any value to someone who views their work as purely utilitarian, but for those of us who view what we do as art, there's a lot of value in it.

As an example of some points discussed (finding a baseline), whenever I make a new offering for a product, I like to make one that's just plane with single color in order to get a feel for what a basic version with no tooling would cost. From there, I'll usually make a second "prototype" that's got some super basic tooling just to get a feel for how long it might take to customize (ie...how much value will be added according to MY standards). That will usually give me a good range for pricing and estimates. The key stuff to take away here is just as I mentioned before, finding similar work based on your own criteria (skill level, overall quality and appeal, etc...) and try to use that as a ballpark figure.

http://www.artbusiness.com/pricepoints.html