Because I'm Worth It

Thanks for the catch-phrase, L'Oreal. I'm temporarily borrowing it.

I'm struggling with what to price my items. I think my pricing is very reasonable -- prices I would pay  if I saw something similar.  Some of my friends think I don't charge enough. So then I go online and look around at similar items made from others and note they charge significantly more than I do. No way would I pay that much for something like that.

So it left me pondering what to do.

One of my friends, Patti, pointed out that when I see something similar to what I make, and I see the price, I think the price is unreasonable because *I* know how to make it. I know the price of the fabric or yarn, I know how to make it, so I'm skewed in thinking they're charging way too much simply because I know how to make it myself. OF COURSE I wouldn't pay those prices. But what would someone who CANNOT make it be willing to pay for it? Such a DUH yet AH HA! moment for me. Thanks, Patti!

And Rick, being the King that he is, says if he is looking around for an item, he wouldn't pick the "cheapest" one. He wouldn't get the most expensive either unless it gave him something the others didn't. But he'd be very interested in items in the mid- to upper mid-price range. If you price it "cheap", people think "cheap". And although I love making things out of scrap and upcycling fabric, therefore keeping my overall initial out of pocket expense down -- so I keep my sell price down -- what if someone wants a custom order and I have to actually purchase the fabric? Well, now I either have to charge them more for their awesome custom order, which doesn't seem right, or I have to take a loss out of pocket, and trust me, I don't sell nearly enough to take a loss like that. So... I have to consider "What would this cost me if I had to recreate it from brand new fabric?"

Another selling point I hadn't thought about: I need to point out that my items are "one of a kind",  even if the item can be duplicated. Just because I use the same afghan pattern, even if I use the same color yarn, no two are ever EVER the same. A needle size could be different. The finished size could vary. And that doesn't even include customizations I can do, OR when I'm sewing instead of crocheting and making extremely unique pieces out of upcycled fabrics. And for "one of a kind", people expect to pay a bit more.

I don't really see my "time" as something to charge for. I love doing this. I'd be doing these things even if I didn't have a shop (in fact, the shop is new. I used to only sell at craft fairs). But just because I'd do it anyway doesn't make the time I invest any less valuable. My time is worth it.

And ya know what? The things I make a worth it too, even if it's a bit more than what others charge or a little more than what I think I should charge. Sometimes we have to step away and trust those we know who will tell us like it is: Your stuff is worth more, Bren.

And who am I to argue?