Thelovingheritage Report post Posted January 9, 2014 How do I price my crafts for sale what do people usually charge per hour of work as well? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JLSleather Report post Posted January 9, 2014 (edited) You'll do better researching what people in your area (you decide the area) are charging for the same item in the same quality. "Per hour" doesnt mean anything around here. Seriously, I pay for what I'm getting, not how long it took you to get there. By "you", I mean anybody. Example: You make a belt. Fully tooled, good solid leather, good color, and give a warranty - say, if used for what its for, you replace it for 10 years. You price yours at $100 (example). On the other side o' town, I make the same belt. Except I used a swivel cut where you used a "veiner", they are identical. Cut from the same leather. Guy tells me he can get a warranty from you, so I offer the same deal. But, it took me nearly twice as long as you. So, SOME foks 'logic' says mine should be $200. This doesn't even make sense. Do I really get a REWARD for being slow? If I took twice as long and made it twice as nice, this might be legitimate, but remember we're talkin about the SAME belt. If you call a cab, and he blows a tire, is it okay if he leaves the meter running while the tire is changed? Maybe bill you for the new tire? Just a tip ... the time you spent on faqbaq (or tweety, or whatever) trying to convince people why it's worth more ... doesn't count in the time to make the belt (and drying time, seriously). I could go on, but in the end it's YOUR choice to do whatever you want with YOUR leather. Reminds me, that chubby girl has a sale over at cheesey, or etsy, or something like that .. 66% off on already too-low pricing. She's a smart-mouth .. only does it cuz she CAN Oh, just went and checked ... this one holds standard size cards, one pocket each side, maybe thick enough to hold 6-8 cards .. current pricing $7.06 (free shipping with anything else). Doin the math, that's $2.77 worth of leather, so $3 by the time you add dye, finish, thread, and an extra needle "in case". TRIPLE material cost (standard-ish) would price this at $8.32, but like I said it's a 'sale'. Some prefer an hourly thing: materials still $3, total invested time (including cleaning the brush) 1/4 @ $25/hr = $3 + $6.25 = $9.25 Oh, keep in mind she may not be able to get the whole $9 and change - just because there are 100 guys right behind her willing to do this for $8.32, making the whole pricing thing a dead issue. Edited January 9, 2014 by JLSleather Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
lightingale Report post Posted January 9, 2014 (edited) JLS has given you some nice advice. Boil everything down, it comes to "it's worth what someone is willing to pay for it". The customer doesn't care if you're a fast or a slow worker or any of the other things you've put into the production of the item, most only care about the final product. It will take some trial and error to find the right price point for you. Your input is so much more than your materials cost and your crafting time. It's the time and mental effort you spent on the customer making the sale, it's the time you spent learning and improving on your techniques. it's the time you spent marketing. It's the money you spent on learning materials. It's the time and money wasted on projects that you find fault with that you have to scrap. It's the time (and sometimes money) you spent on customer service trying to help someone who gave you the wrong measurements and their new item doesn't fit (despite your best efforts at idiot-proofing prior to the sale). It's the time you spent photographing your items, promoting them, designing logos, new products, business cards, and other paraphernalia, keeping up a blog, etc. etc. Gee, I realize I'm starting to go on a tangent. There's really no good formula for prices. Ultimately, I think you must have a passion for the craft (and another source of income), to make this work. Do your research. See what other people are selling. Guess their material and time costs. Align your prices with others offering similar items and quality. Build up from there as you find your niche. Edited January 9, 2014 by lightingale Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Northmount Report post Posted January 10, 2014 Some related threads. Searched "how much markup". http://leatherworker.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=433&hl=%20how%20%20much%20%20markup&st=0 http://leatherworker.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=5139&hl=%2Bhow+%2Bmuch+%2Bmarkup http://leatherworker.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=9081&hl=+how%20+much%20+markup#entry1068 Tom Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Thelovingheritage Report post Posted January 10, 2014 Thanks for the links they were very helpful Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
chiefjason Report post Posted January 10, 2014 I wish I could charge hourly. I look around at similar products. Figure material cost and associated fees, shipping, etc. Can I get their price? Can I sell lower and make money? I find the places I can compete and work there. Some things I either can't compete with, or wont. Some things I set the price and it's a take it or leave it proposition. Maybe they can get it cheaper somewhere else, but just not from me. Word of mouth and reputation help greatly. As that has grown for me I have been able to expand, bump up price some, and charge more than other guys and still sell stuff. I thought I could not sell leather on ebay because of how cheap some of it was. Trick was to do it better, set a price, and let it ride. I've sold everything I've listed. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JLSleather Report post Posted January 10, 2014 (edited) Yikes .. she sold one o' these this morning for $59. GOT to have a talk with that girl ... I mean, old Stohlman design, so not like she spent any time at all with layout, but ... Oh, well - it's her show, guess she'll do what she wants. Math-able. Carving leather $2.78 Chrome goat $1. Backing $.50 Calf lace $4. SUBT $8.30 with dye, finish, cement, wax, call it $9 (which is a bit generous) Meh ... $59 close enough. Edited January 10, 2014 by JLSleather Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
KCF2013 Report post Posted January 10, 2014 I take the cost of the item and break it down, leather per sq.ft. cost of dye everying part that goes into making a finished product and that gives us a cost to make, we take that and x3 , this is an average of what the craftspeople in our area do, seems to generat a fair price and still put suppllies and a bit of cash in our pockets. I am pretty good with Excel spreadsheets and created a master list of everything we make and it calculates our prices. I can do up a template of it if anyone wants one. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
KCF2013 Report post Posted January 10, 2014 I wish I could charge hourly. I look around at similar products. Figure material cost and associated fees, shipping, etc. Can I get their price? Can I sell lower and make money? I find the places I can compete and work there. Some things I either can't compete with, or wont. Some things I set the price and it's a take it or leave it proposition. Maybe they can get it cheaper somewhere else, but just not from me. Word of mouth and reputation help greatly. As that has grown for me I have been able to expand, bump up price some, and charge more than other guys and still sell stuff. I thought I could not sell leather on ebay because of how cheap some of it was. Trick was to do it better, set a price, and let it ride. I've sold everything I've listed. That is the key only you can decide waht a item is worth , you made it, set a price and let it go...I had a call yesterday from a fellow who wanted a pair of mocs, i told him the price, he said he appreciated all the work and effort into making a pair ,but they are not in his budget at this time... we still need to restock and keep the lights on, I am getting better at setting the price and keeping it at that price. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Thelovingheritage Report post Posted January 10, 2014 A spreadsheet template would be awesome. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
KCF2013 Report post Posted January 10, 2014 Send me a email to inquiry@kingscountyforge.com and I will send the template, I can't post .xls files here Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
