What are you worth?

Source

 
Pricing and profit sometimes seem to be dirty words when talking about handmade goods. It's all about the urge to create, right? But what about the reality that in order to be able to create, we need to be able to sustain our business and ourselves?

It's funny--ask someone if the company or organization pays them what they are worth, and they'll probably readily admit "No! I definitely deserve to be paid more!" So why is it, when we are the ones in charge, we are so reluctant to give ourselves a living wage?

"Pricing and profit sometimes seem to be dirty words when talking about handmade goods."

I have been doing a lot of thinking about pricing structure lately. I've realized that if I don't begin pricing my creations like I am in a business, I won't be able to afford to keep creating. Making almost anything costs money, not just for supplies, but in my labor. If I am under-charging myself, I will burn out from the pace that I need to keep just to make cheaper items to sell (notice I didn't say cheaply *made*--there's a huge difference). I will certainly become frustrated, and most definitely working on my creations will become a chore--and nobody likes doing chores.

I plan on doing some research, and I will happily share my finding with you, though I know not everyone will agree with how I decide to price my creations. And that is OK. We all need to find that balance between allowing our business to not just survive, but thrive, while staying true to ourselves.

But for now, I challenge everyone to look at the hourly wage you are "paying" yourself. It may take a little bit of calculating if you haven't been breaking your pricing formula down already, but do it. See the number. And ask yourself, are you getting paid what you are worth?

Handmade Should *Never* Be Cheap

Sometimes, you read another person's blog, and they are able to so succintly say what you have been thinking, you are more than willing to let them be your voice.

I had been fiddling around with Facebook, when one of those revolving ads popped up on the right hand side of the page--you know, the ones that are supposed to be tailored to our likes?

 

 

I don't know about you, but I don't like Handmade Jewelry, or handmade a-n-y-t-h-i-n-g being called cheap. Ever.

Fellow artist, Jennifer Cameron of glass addictions, reacted in much the same way at these ads. Her response on her blog provides one of the best written proclamations for why handmade objects hold such value, why they are the antithesis of "cheap."

Like I said above, sometimes someone can say what you're thinking better than you can. Please check out her post: "Handmade Jewelry. Ridiculously Cheap." Value yourself, and value handmade.

Friday Fun Finds: 6.12.09 School's out the the Yart Sale!

Since I am a teacher, the end of the year is just as exciting for me as it is for the students! I decided to celebrate with this Friday's Fun Finds. As an added bonus, all of these items are part of the Etsy Yart Sale, so they are on sale, offer free shipping, or both! Enjoy!










Teacher's Pet by The Grace Within















Graduation 2009 by the Paper Fairy















School Day by Jennifer Dennis Potter














ABC's Learning Alphabet by Cillia Home & Hearth






















High School Musical XL Handfolded Envelopes by Good Earth Paperie

Pricing Your Art = Pricing Your Time

Pricing your art. Ugh. It's enough to make most independent artisans start to sweat and second guess themselves...how to I price my creation so that it will be bought by my customers, but still help put food on my table? And how do I price my work objectively, especially since a little piece of me has gone into making it?

I think the major issue I see with pricing is that a lot of artisans undervalue their work completely. It is easy to take the cost of materials, and know that you have to cover that, but far too many only take those hard costs into consideration when pricing their items. As a result, you begin to see a lot of nice items that are priced far lower than they should be.

What artisans need to also figure into their pricing structure is their precious time...and not always just the time of physically making the item. I may make a necklace in an hour, but it may have taken two to three hours of planning and experimenting before actually being able to make the finished product. In a business reality, I need to realise that necklace takes me three hours to complete, and I need to pay myself for those three hours somehow.

I feel that this is what separates a lot of successful artisans (i.e., they can make a good living at their craft) from the rest of people who find themselves thinking, well at least I can make back my cost of materials, but will never be able to be a self-supporting artisan. I myself have struggled with pricing my time for years. I personally now use a pricing calculator I purchased from Eni Oken, a well-respected jewelry artist. I realized that to support myself, I need to make about $20 hour before everything is taken out; taxes and social security need to come out of this amount, just as if I were at a salaried job. Once I accepted this fact, I also realized I needed to build the cost of non-materials such as Internet cost, computer costs, printer ink, etc. The only real variable in my pricing structure is now the cost of materials...if I want to make a piece that is more economical, I use less expensive materials, I don't cheat myself of income.

I'll admit that I had sticker shock the first time the calculator told me what I should be charging. It was hard to admit to myself that I was worth that much as an artist. But if I don't believe that I am worth the price, how will my customers ever believe that? I want them to know that I believe enough in my work that I am not willing to undercut myself or my art.