Selling your stuff

[Jason Solodow]

Okay, I'm at the point where I would like to try selling some of my pieces. I've got an assortment of ash bowls and some bottle stoppers. My question is, how do you determine the price of an item? Most of the ash bowls are utility, but one or two are decorative. Oh yea, I promise I WILL get some pictures up here soon, as soon as I can figure out how. Anyway, your suggestions would be appreicated, as well as ideas on avenues for it. Thanks!

[Jonathan Szczepanski]

Okay, I'm at the point where I would like to try selling some of my pieces. I've got an assortment of ash bowls and some bottle stoppers. My question is, how do you determine the price of an item?

Jason -

This reminds me of when I was in college studying fine arts. We had a class about "surviving as an artist". One of the topics was pricing your work. An easy method was to add up the cost of materials. Then figure out how much time it took you to create it and mutliply it by how much you beleive your talent is worth per hour. Add these two figures together... and then double it.

For example:
12 bf of ash at $4.00/bf = $48.00
10 hours at $35/hr = $350.00
$48 + $350 = $398
$398 x 2 = $796

Of course this model is based on the whims of an artist's mind. Actually, if you subtracted the doubling portion of the formula, the pricing model isn't too bad. Of course you will need to adjust it to see what people are willing to pay for your work. You never know until you put that price tag on it.

[Raymond Overman]

A formula is sometimes a good place to start and sometimes a bad place to start. If you're just starting selling your bowls, $398 will probably let them sit on a table for a long time. A couple of formulas I've seen are:

(diameter * $10) + materials - which leads to tall vases being priced low.

((diameter * height) * quality multiplier (1.5 minumum)) + materials - which leads to a problem figuring out what the market will support and the quality of your work.

Just eyeball it. What would you pay for an item? Whose your audience? Is everything in your inventory artistic quality or utilitarian?

[John Shuk]

Since I've never sold my stuff I'm not sure. I would say that you should somehow recover the cost of material. It cost you something. If you cut up a tree then you have to think about the cost of a chainsaw and time it takes to process the piece. Then you have to set a price for your time. I remember reading that you should be careful not to underprice your stuff. I would say that you should maybe try selling somestuff and you will get a feel for what the market will bear. I think alot of people do one show and have bad luck and quit. I think you need to try for a decent stretch of time so you know whether you've given it a real chance.
good luck.
John

[Jean Holland]

Like John, I've never sold anything YET. Haven't tried Yet. However, I have been looking into myself. What I have found out is that your audience is very important. If you are going to be selling at a "Farmer's Market" or "Craft Show" then your prices need to be lower. Many people have had trouble selling in those forums. However, if the show is an "Art" show, then customers are ready to pay a little more. Then if you are lucky to market you product in a gallery, well then you in the big time.

What I would suggest is to start with what you think in reasonable for each piece and if you don't get any action, start dropping the price by small increments. BUT don't go below the amount you are will to let the piece go. I feel it is better the have a house full of your own work than to give away to those who do not deserve it (I do give a lot of gifts to friends and family).