When I price out a new item to sell, I always check to see what other people are charging for similar items. Today I am looking up crochet belly dance belts. This is an item that takes at least 2 hours for a basic belt so thats a minium of $40 under my current pricing model. How are these other sellers making anything by selling a belt for $13 to $25?! That means they are only paying themselves $4 - $8 an hour. Minimum wage is $7.40 right now. Minimum wage is for brainless, talentless jobs not art and things that take skill. I think my over 20 years of art and design expereince is worth WAY more than minimum wage. Its really disheartening to see other sellers under cutting the market and devaluing handmade crochet items.
Here is how I price for anything I make:
- Cost of Replacement Supplies + $15/hour labor(includes design time for one of a kind items, or a portion of design time for reproduced items)+ 15% for Overhead Costs + Etsy/PayPal Fees +/- Love Factor = Item Price
- Overhead includes things like photo editing time, time spent promoting, marketing, tools, equipment, time/gas spend shopping for supplies, and any other indirect expenses.
- Love FactorI also make adjustments for appeal. If the items is particularly stunning, I will mark up the price. If its not the best, I lower it.
- Postage + Packaging Supplies + $0.45 per mile to the Postoffice + a little bit for my time = Shipping Costs
The answer to your question is that the low priced artists undervalue themselves. Artist's, as a group, frequently lack for business sense. They think they are making $18 and have no conception of the difference between gross profit and net profit. I just found my way here from the comments at Tempest's Teapot and took a look at your etsy store. You have a fabulous eye for design. I doubt your cheaper competitors are truly turning out the same level of product. Anyway, who wants to be the Wal-Mart of the craft world?
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