Pricing

[KarinK]

How do you figure out how much to charge if you are selling an item you crocheted?

[LI Roe]

Years ago, it was a general consensus that you would charge three times the price of materials for an item. However, I don't think that takes in the time put into an item into consideration.

I googled "pricing handmade crochet items" and this is what came up. Hope it is of some help.

Roe

I just re-read this and saw the link wasn't there anymore. Hope I didn't violate any rules.

[KarinK]

Thank you! Normally I don't have a problem with the smaller items I make (scarves, boot cuffs, wine bottle cozies, etc). But I recently had 2 people ask for a child size mermaid (or shark) lapgahn. My quoted price was materials x3. One said she couldn't afford it now (but maybe in the future) the other hasn't responded. I found a similar item on Amazon and they had it listed for the same price I came up with. I just wonder if I'm charging too much or people just don't realize what it takes to make a quality handmade piece.

[LI Roe]

Unfortunately, many people don't realize the time and effort it takes to make quality pieces. if your prices are comparable to others for the same type of item, I would say you are right in the same ballpark. What gets me is that while people will moan and groan over prices for something handmade, they have no problem dropping money on mass produced (fortunately, no one has figure out how to machine crochet items) items which are even more money, often because it comes with a "name".

Roe

[KarinK]

Thank you!

[mamarose22]

I have found that you never really make much money on your handmade items, if you factor in the cost of materials and the time it takes to make it. You will not even come out with a minimum wage.

[Donnalawlinc]

I had read years ago that you should take the price of whatever kind of yarn, thread, etc.,you use, figure out how many skeins you used, double that eg., (10 skeins of yarn at 5.00/skein=$50) then take 1/2 of the total price again, thus $75.00. Unfortunately, as someone else said earlier, you can't account for the time that it takes to make anything. I recently had a man ask for 6 scarves 6 feet long with 6 different colors. Knowing that I had a pattern that was easy and took very little time to make, I charged him $30/scarf. Without hesitation, he handed me a check for $200 saying it was the best money he had spent in a long time. I told him it was too much, and he replied that he has never found anyone who could do such work and make something specific for him and that the balance of the check was my tip for making them. It only too me about a week to complete all 6 of them. Of course, not much else got done except his scarves, but it was the best $200 I have gotten in a long time.

[donzgurl]

Unfortunately, many people don't realize the time and effort it takes to make quality pieces. if your prices are comparable to others for the same type of item, I would say you are right in the same ballpark. What gets me is that while people will moan and groan over prices for something handmade, they have no problem dropping money on mass produced (fortunately, no one has figure out how to machine crochet items) items which are even more money, often because it comes with a "name".

Roe

You took the words right out of my mouth. I used to make hats and scarves for my sister's dress shop using natural yarns like wool and mohair. I used those kind of yarns because her clients would pay a pretty steep price for the clothes that she made. Unfortunately, using the 3 times the price of supplies method was too steep. The kicker was that when I switched to acrylics, some of the customers said that they would never pay over $10 for an acrylic item. Many people don't appreciate the craftsmanship and love that goes into a handmade item.

[KarinK]

Thank you!