Pricing what the market will bear...

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Pricing what the market will bear...

by Barbara
(Ontario, Canada)

Bwahaha III, pewter skull, red & black feathers, sterling earwires

I'm always reading questions from people who ask how to come up with prices and here is one way: ask your customers.

I have a table every Saturday at a small farmer's market, which means I have all kinds of customers, from kids to grandparents and all up and down the socio-cultural-economic scale from people looking everything from bargains to hand-crafted gifts and are willing to pay for quality.

I'm always trying to come up with well-made, good quality and well-priced ($5 and under and for sure no more than $10) kid, tween and teen-friendly items, things they could afford to buy for themselves and as gifts for each other and for Mom! So this week I made some simple but pretty feather earrings, some with one feather, some with two. They didn't cost me a whole lot to make, but the findings are good quality silver plate and I probably rejected half the feathers in the packages as being unusable. My other fixed cost will be a gift box as they are long, dangly and fairly fragile, not something you can throw any which way into a bag.

How to price them? I asked one of my vendor pals who buys a lot of jewellery from me and she said $10 a pair, for sure. Well? for the simple earrings, I thought that was a bit too high. Maybe if I'd used sterling silver earwires and findings as I did on the earrings in the picture, yes.

I had just sold a pair of different earrings to a girl, maybe 10 to 12 years old who was shopping with her mom. Ah hah! My target audience. I asked her and her mother if they could help me. "I just made these. How much should I sell these for?" I asked the girl. She said she didn't know.

Hmm. Wrong question.

I rephrased the question: "If you were going to buy a present for your friend, and you thought she would like these earrings, what price would they need to be for you to buy them?" Immediately, the response was, "Five dollars. Or maybe six dollars for the fancier ones."

Problem solved.

Barbara MacDougall
Barabara MacDougall
artefaccio on etsy
*artefaccio on deviantart

Comments for
Pricing what the market will bear...

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Great tip for procing
by: Leigh

What a better way to find out what pricing options that you have then to ask your market. I also like how you phrased the second question to get a wonderful response.

pricing
by: Bev

I totally agree, the way your phrased the question was great. I'm going to try it out. Takes away the how much would you pay for them and brings in how much would you pay for a gift. Totally different. The first way they would go for the cheapest they could think of and your way puts value on the gift.

Pricing
by: Ricki Ayer

I know that pricing is always my biggest problem. I really like your approach. While I have set prices on my items when I do a craft show, if I see someone looking at a particular piece and seeming to back off after looking at the price tag, I try to encourage them to just go ahead and try on the piece, or if it is a pair of earrings, to hold them up to their ear and check them out in the mirror. Then if they seem to like the piece, but are still hesitant about the price, I will ask what their budget is and see if I can work something out - maybe meet in the middle somewhere. If their budget is too far away from my price - or what I would need to sell the piece for in order to make a little money, then I may suggest a similar item that may be closer to their price range. Sometimes it results in a sale, sometimes not but at least they know i tried to work with them...perhaps they'll buy something next time

"diffusion" lines
by: Barbara

Hi, Ricki,

Yes, that's been exactly my dilemma, as well.

I've adopted the designer clothing industry tactic of creating diffusion lines - similar design, but using less expensive materials - while not scrimping on the workmanship (which I point out to people who are on the fence).

For sure, getting them to touch it, or hold the item up to themselves and look in a mirror is critical!

I also tell people that I will do layaway and for most people they're very happy to do that. That's the benefit, too, of being at a market every week rather than doing a one-off craft show where you may never see the person again. In that case, I tell them I'm at the Saturday market, or we can arrange something that's mutually workable.

Barbara

GREEAATT IDEA!
by: Pam

This is a great idea. I understand the concept of "cost x 2 = wholesale; wholesale x 2 = retail", but in this economy, this sometimes simply prices some pieces right out of the market. I usually ask my family members (or whoever is around after I've made something new), that same question: If you were going to buy these for yourself or as a gift, what would you expect to pay for them? This is very helpful! But I have never considered asking customers!

I think this could be a great idea for a blog post - I think the next time I make something new, I might post photos and description of the piece on my blog (which I'm trying to get going), and ask for input. Since the blog is just revving up, maybe go onto Facebook, (where I live everyday at least a few times) and ask all of my Facebook friends to follow a link to the blog and give me input! You know how we all like to offer our two cents! :D So I bet this will work!

Thank you for the idea of asking customers - GREAT PLAN!

Pam
http://peartreejewelry.etsy.com
http://peartreevintage.etsy.com

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