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elephantear_gw

How do you decide on pricing an item?

18 years ago

Know this has been discussed before but would be nice to get some new ideas-that is if there is any new ideas out there- Wendy

Comments (5)

  • 18 years ago

    Wendy, There's really only one way to price an item for retail sale. The cost of your materials which should include all overhead (studio rental/mortage, utilities, advertising,equipment,etc), cost of your labor and what profit you are looking to make. You also have to take into consideration any competition in your area and their pricing.
    It won't help you to know what I sell something for because I may have been making my product for longer which adds to experience, have a larger customer base to draw from, live in a upper income area or just be a better artist/salesperson/marketer than you. Billie

  • 18 years ago

    Wendy,I price my creations to sell. In other words, I create at home, so have no overhead, except for product expenditures, and I can make quite a few projects out of a bag of portland cement, a bale of peat moss, and a big bag of perlite (which totals about $35, depending on where you are). I also have items like wood stain, sealers and wire brushes. I always figure about one-third of the price should include product expenditure. So, if I sell it for $15, it cost me $5, which for some items may be true, but most of the time it doesn't cost that much. Do you see the tall birdbath in the photo. I have sold that for $30 and the people didn't "bat an eyelash". They got a bargain and I made some money. A good selling point is their primitive nature, but you don't want them to look too amateur. It's like "primitive with class". Sorry, I forgot to size down the photo, so it's a little big.

    {{gwi:68028}}

  • 18 years ago

    Those are beautiful valoson. I wish I could find such beauty for $30! Truly a bargain.

  • 18 years ago

    Thanks for the input, greatly appreciated!
    (Sorry just getting back on this have had pc problems)
    Valson your items above look marvelous-great looking stuff!
    I'm now thinking my pricing will start at $3-5 for small painted leaves on up to $15 for larger and leaf shaped bowls, bird bath $25-$30; the painting is what takes the time on these items and I have many different leaves I could sell. Cracked egg spheres with hole in back for fogger(not included)$45, these are large and takes lots of time and fine tuning, Asian Lantern $35. these items are unpainted concrete items. Have a few smallish tufa bowls thinking $20 Never thought I would want to sell any of my creations, but when the crete stuff starts to accumulate...lol even after giving many items away, friends in UK and Aussie have taken a leaf or 2 home also gone to relatives in other states so figure now is the time to sell and hopefully make space for new ideas and items-Wendy

  • 18 years ago

    Wendy, sounds like you're in the ballpark with your prices. It also sounds like you put in alot more time and artistry. When I sell fountains, I sell them as a complete package. So you might want to include the fogger in the price, and adjust the price higher. One of the local landscape places has a "crafts Sunday" and invites an artist to showcase their stuff. This is some of my stuff. It went pretty well, and they want me back.

    {{gwi:68029}}

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