I need marketing and pricing advice.

[MacrameByAmelia]

I make macrame wall hangings, decor, dream catchers, bags, ect. I do custom orders as well. I need help on how to price my work. And what kind of marketing should I use? I’m really new to this so..

[Twiggy]

Hey congratulations.

I am a florist so very similar business model. We both offer a final  “product” with product we purchase.

In the UK we have a minimum wage:

£10.42. Over 23

£10.18. 21-22 yrs

£7.49    18-20 yrs

£5.28.   16-17 yrs

Work out

1: How long it takes you to make 1 item or how many in an hour.

2: How much of each product you have to buy in order to make 1 item, luckily your product is not perishable. Or batch make can you make 10 catchers the same. People love “What you see is What you get” 

3: Keep your range simple or offer linked sales so they buy 3 items say.  Bag, catcher or plant holder.

4: Sustainability - is this a key thing and often costs more.

As a rule:

25% Cost goods (inc tax)

25 % Labour (inc tax)

25% Utilities - light heat rent etc (inc tax)

25% Profit (inc your IR amount)

If you are going to market on social media then take into account of your hours…

These are hand crafted items so your skill level should be more than minimum wage.  If you work from home take a reading of your electric meter & or gas meter before you start and again when you finish - see how many KWH you use when creating these items. 

[MacrameByAmelia]

One of my largest wall hanging took me 16+ hours. In us minimum wage would be $7.25. That means it would cost $116+, and that’s if I only use minimum wage. Currently I have it priced at $75. I already have seen so much price shock when I’m trying to sell my macrame. No one seems to value my time of making these unique handmade wall hangings. Maybe I’m marketing to the wrong ppl? Where can I even find ppl willing to pay this much? Is selling this stuff a waste of my time? I love doing it, but i can’t afford to keep making them if I don’t sell any. Also I hope your business is doing well 

[Twiggy]

I’m in year 31 as a florist and 28 trading. OK you then need to look at

Are there processes that can make it quicker?

The sad thing about some skills are -  they are treated as a hobby or I could do that. There is the old saying “sell it for what’s it’s worth not what it cost you” 

Does it look $500 ? if it looks like something you can buy anywhere look at the materials you use to make it look more exclusive. Just by putting a brand on something can make your product more appealing. If you’re looking at more affordable items - think about making mini versions or keyrings or smaller items- keep your -$$$$$ for shows or showcases to show your skill. 

[MacrameByAmelia]

Something else I have problems with is people can get some that look similar to mine but they’re for half the price or less because they are not handmade. Some people don’t seem to understand the difference. They just think “well here’s one for a better price. Why pay more?”

[Twiggy]

Then I would suggest you need to make your work shine.  None of my work fits in a supermarket trolley. It’s so big you can’t take it home with you - I have to deliver.  You need to show it’s hand made - offer a video of you making it from start to finish - use product that’s exclusive to you. 

[kayteeS]

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@MacrameByAmelia wrote:

...Maybe I’m marketing to the wrong ppl? Where can I even find ppl willing to pay this much? Is selling this stuff a waste of my time? I love doing it, but i can’t afford to keep making them if I don’t sell any.

I have the same problem with crochet and beadwork..... So yes, we're "marketing to the wrong people". Where are the "right" people?? I have no idea-- in theory, they're out there somewhere, but, essentially, you need a mutual friend to introduce you to them (and min wage for my area is $16.32/hr, so it's even harder to sell using honest labor charges). Or, somehow, get into a major fine crafts' show, be willing to spend $$$ to be there, and be able to "talk" to "high end" buyers. If you're doing shows... check out https://www.facebook.com/artfairinsiders , and if you can, check out Larry Berman's weekly Zoom meeting (Tues, 4PM EST) on shows https://www.facebook.com/larry.berman.56 -- the links to his website an YouTube channel are there; contact him to get the Zoom link. And because I love "making stuff", and sales are not up to clearing the inventory... I have a lot in storage, and storage space is becoming a major problem.

For now... maybe concentrate on making small, "affordable" items, a few "almost affordable" ones, and set them out in front of one of your "showstoppers". Price your "$116" one at $250 (twice wholesale)-- and add a note that custom orders for that size are "available" (get a 50% down payment).  By comparison, the $25-$75 tags on the smaller/less complicated ones will seem totally reasonable. And let people know how long the "big ones" take to make. Look into what you need to "do business" where you are-- license(s), resale certificate(s), zoning (yes, zoning-- if you "work at home" you need to check if you can have clients come there).

[Twiggy]

I do think luck and gift of the gab - I was Alexander  McQueen (Lee’s florist) 1997-2004 YSL years and I do think the area you are in Bricks and Mortar wise helps. I started on a market stall in 1992 - you need to find what differentiates you and reinvent yourself every year. X 

[MacrameByAmelia]

Thank you for your reply! Your comment was helpful. It’s easier when you know other ppl have the same type of problems. The thing is my “big one” honestly isn’t huge. I do want to get into craft sales/fairs/shows and see if I can sell some stuff there. I do have lots of smaller ones from $5-$30. I sold a $50 one so I know it’s not like impossible. It’s just so hard to find whole groups of those people. I wonder if I could try farmers markets. Has any one had luck with farmers markets?

[whysprs]

I het that about finding people for beading and crochet, we have kinda run into the same kind of deal. We are testing different type of products now and seeing what sticks for the most part and figure the end of this year we will grab bag some of the old stock. 

I have seen a few formulas for price sets now in the last 2 years, the first one was from courter leather which stated

1. Cost of materials

2. Figure out your hourly rate by how much you want to make per year and divide it by the hours you want to work.

3. Mark up by 20%

The second one was from fire mountain gems

1. 3 x the cost of materials

2. Hourly rate

3. Add cost of packaging and shiping

4. Adjust for the venu of where youre selling at, basicly this was a float type deal and was the reason for number 1.

[kayteeS]

You need to know all your costs-- not just materials and packaging. When calculating costs, this is "overhead", and a percentage added to the (materials + labor).

Personally, I add it to "wholesale" calculations, and calculate it by adding up all my "business costs" for the year, other than materials and labor-- license, table fees, professional memberships/fees, storage rent, packaging, postage, printing costs, related classes/books/etc., transportation, new displays, website fees, etc. I don't add costs of utilities/studio space because those are in my house, and not exclusive business expenses. And actually, a lot of those aren't annual (like printing business cards, packaging, books). At the end of the year-- add it up, and figure out what percentage of total earned it is. The next year... that's the percentage point to add, so (M+L)x O= w/s. Then w/s X whatever commission/retail mark-up for price. 

[whysprs]

Yes that would be business costs but isnt what should be reflected in each individual piece. The parts I mentioned was for pricing your work, the rest of it is still overhead at the end of the year. I mean it is just part of running a business. Like with my handy man business I also run, yeah, I have a base rate based on insurance, cost of vehicle maintenance and such but thats split across the entire year and is based as part of my hourly rate used when bidding on jobs, its not something that bounces arround all the time, its just part of running a business vs creating pieces to sell individually.

[kayteeS]

Those business costs ARE reflected in each individual piece-- if, last year, my business costs (other than materials and labor) were 10%, then each piece this year is (M+L) x 1.1= w/s. If they were 20% of gross income, then this year, each piece is (M=L) x 1.2=w/s.

My business IS creating individual items for sale-- no employees other than myself; labor costs are for my time to "make things" which vary according to what the items are, and of course materials vary in costs. Overhead is a "year behind", but it's reflected in each price, and barring major new expenses or losses, is pretty stable. It's much easier to account for the "costs of doing business" as you go, rather than waiting until "tax time" to figure things out, and find you've been operating at a loss. 

[kayteeS]

Does your "big one" look more elaborate and/or like it uses more "high end" materials or skills to produce? What sets it apart from the $50 one? (Although... based on your pricing for the "big one", you probably need to raise the price on it).

Farmers' Markets are hit and miss-- at least around here. Most limit the number of non-produce booths, and those tend to be given to people who have a "history" with the market. Many allow MLM sales and/or resale, with the booths in with the "crafters"-- hard to compete with those if you have a product in the same category-- once upon a time, I did one of those, which was promoted as a "crafts fair-- handmade and garden items". However... they didn't get enough "crafters" and "gardeners" to sign up, so they expanded to include "any home business". Hand-made beadwork and crocheted items cost more to make, just in material costs, than the "everything $5" jewelry and imported knit hats/scarves were selling for. If they provide a booth, or you can borrow a tent-- worth a try; if nothing else, it will give you an idea re: set-up and local preferences and budgets. If you're NA-- see if there's a pow-wow near you that allows crafts' vendors (some will allow non-NA, but those tend to have some connection with the local tribes).

[whysprs]

I noticed the under priced crap on etsy comming right from temu and was why we left Etsy to begin with, it was too hard to compete with them, ibe actually gotten sales here vs there and I can controll more of whats on my site and change stock as I need and sale them.

Didnt realise that about the pow-wows, probably because we dont get them here very often at all.

We just started setting up at one of the local farmers markets and so far its almost paid for the season with several weeks to go.