Why You Should Raise Your Prices

4.19 2011

This article is not going to provide a formula on how to calculate the price of your goods. Instead lets talk about how you should see your worth + the value of your goods.

I’ve been such an advocate lately for handmade artists raising their prices.

The response I receive most often is, “Then no one will buy my product.”

I am here to tell you that is a lie.

I’m serious–someone has fed you a big, fat lie. Sure there will be lost customers, but you will gain a demographic that values handmade goods + the artists that create them.

Your product will sell, your customer will value + respect the product, and in turn, you will be able to make a living + produce new designs.

You must value what you are making. The value of what you are making is so much more than the material that goes into the product or even the time it takes to make it. It includes material of course, but should also include talent, product design + development, time spent away from family, time spent designing and developing new product, and finally time spent making, marketing, pricing, packaging, photographing, listing  + shipping your product.

Why do we feel guilty for charging what we + our art are worth? Stop it. Stop feeling guilty. Start instead, thinking seriously about running a business. And remember that running a business costs more than the price of materials. 

Stop looking on Etsy for an acceptable price to charge for your product. When you set your prices too low, you are undercutting everyone that creates handmade goods. I don’t know how as a community we’ve decided that in order to make a sale we must be the cheapest seller. It has gotten out of hand. I am continually shocked when I visit online shops + see artists giving their product away. 

If you are trying to make a living from your art + I assume you are + you should be, then your price does not need to reflect the prices of other artists. Not everyone is trying to make a living. 

However, because you are selling a handmade item, you must carefully decide how much your time + talent is worth. You should be factoring those two things into the bottom line, including material.

If you take ‘you’ out of the equation, sure then an acceptable price would be a simple formula to figure out the product value would be material multiplied by an arbitrary number.

Additionally, you should be considering a wholesale price. Could you cut the current price of your product in half + reasonably make 20 of said product to fulfill a wholesale order?

If you don’t value your work + your time, you will crash + burn. You can not continue to make high quality work for peanuts. You will not be able to grow your business + you will not be able to come up with new designs + you will begin to resent the very thing that you love doing so much.

However, if you value your work + your time, you will be able to grow. You will be able to expand your business + your line. You will feel validated when you make sales + be happy to work on the craft that you love. 

Don’t forget, your product is handmade. You took your two hands + the required tools + out of love for the craft + your developed talent you then made something beautiful + useful.

Create something that you love, value what you do + others will value it as well.

Here are some great articles on actual cost + price.

What the Craft

Glue and Glitter

To visit my moccasin shop, go here

Comments

1. kersey :

   amen! thanks for this.
2. mandiegirl :

   I've had a few people telling me this lately, and I don't think it's a coincidence that I'm burning out. :/
   
   Thanks for giving me some confience.
3. emma :

   thank you so much for this! totally needed it!
4. Jill Ann :

   You really did make an impact on me at The Beehive Bazaar with recognizing the value in my crafts. Jan. 1 I raised my prices and have sold just as much, yet made more.
5. Cynthia :

   Excellent post! I always remind folks that there is no moral obligation to make their artwork 'affordable for everyone' and thus wear themselves out. The only obligation is to make their art business self-supporting.
   I do think it is important to point out to those who DON'T make a living that they are doing a disservice to other artists when they price their work ultra-cheap because they don't need to support themselves with it. I tell them they are not being friends to other artists.
6. Kim Harrell :

   I could have written this!! So glad you posted this as I am constantly struggling to convince artists of this exact issue! Kudos to you and I will be sharing your post.
7. Tammy :

   Well said!
8. Tee :

   Really well put. I have to admit that I gasped when I originally saw your prices, but you make a great point. How long did it take you to figure out the perfect pattern, find the perfect materials, size them right, cut, sew, advertise, package, ship, etc. I'm starting to realize that a well made handmade product is worth the extra cost.
9. Suzie Button :

   Your sentiments go across many fields. I am a broadcast captioner for television and this scenario of undercutting has hurt our field too! Owners of captioning firms undercut each other and in the past several years rates paid to captioners have gone from $75 to $125 an hour and more to lows of mostly $60 to $70 an hour for the majority on independent captioners. All of this while we have to maintain computers, software, phone lines and machines and certifications! Undercutting at the biggest companies has done nothing but seriously damaged our field, and so I agree! Susan
10. jojoebi :

    thank you for this, I totally agree. It annoys me to see people selling products way less than they are worth, I know not everyone is out to make money but dropping prices so low is hurting crafters that are trying to eek out a living.
11. Amy Peters :

    What an excellent article. I've seen this so much on Etsy, other blogs and artist websites. To be a professional working artist you must price high enough to keep working and make a living.
12. Katie :

    Thanks for this. I'm going to book mark it and come back and read it when I'm feeling unsure of my pricing!
13. Raynata :

    I love this. Very well said. Time, material, artistry, ideas, trial & error...so much goes into a handmade product and it's a labor of love, not cranked off in vast numbers on an assembly line. Great post.
14. noelle :

    perfectly put!
15. kitty :

    um...THANKYOU! i needed that.
16. Lisa :

    Thank you, I think we all need to take inventory of our true worth! Which I am always conscious of.
    
    Lisa
17. Azúcar :

    Did you ever hear the one about Martha Stewart? No, not that one, the one about her pies.
    
    When she first started, before the catering company, before everything, she decided to sell her homemade pies at the train station. She sold them for $3 a pie. She hardly sold any, couldn't give them away. She decided to raise the prices to $10 a pie and she sold out. It was the beginning of her empire.
18. Meghan :

    This same thing pertains to photography so much as well... well said.
19. Amy at Ameroonie Designs :

    Love this perspective. Just had a conversation with a friend yesterday about this exact thing regarding my product. She encouraged me to raise my prices a few more dollars. I realized that with my increased experience and quality work the cost of my bags has doubled in the three years I've been making them. The materials are the same, but the value I add has increased. I feel good about that.
    xoxo,
    Amy
20. Anonymous :

    As an individual that tries to buy handmade I am shocked at how cheap or totally expensive something is.
    
    I sew so I know the price of fabric and most of the clothes I buy for my children I consider 'cheap.' Seriously how to you guys eat? I look at an item, know roughly the material costs and it's selling for Old Navy/Gap prices. Value your work.
    
    Now to sound like a hypocrite, not too expensive, cause I still like to shop. I have come across the $35 bib which I would never pay, cause it's a bib. But I'm sure there is a market for it, it's just not me, and that's okay.
    
    Good luck!
    
    margie
21. sheena :

    Susan, you are awesome. Every word is perfect.
    
    also, that is aLOT of moccasins.
22. melissa marie :

    first of all, i think you're right on with this! artists' work is worth much more than the materials. unfortunately, it also means that some people (like me!) can't afford to support the artists that they admire.
23. melissa marie :

    i would like to amend my comment to say that some people can't afford to support the artists they admire very OFTEN. buying anything becomes more like a thoughtful save-up-for-it experience, which is probably better anyway.
24. rubi :

    this is such a great post. i don't think people value their products or sometimes freelance services like they should. i know i come across this problem with doing hair a lot too and when i've raised my prices i have lost a few great customers but most of my loyal ones stayed with me. i think it is because they understand the worth of what they're getting and that translates into every market whether it may be fashion, art or anything else.
25. the paper nest co. :

    Thank you! This is such an encouragement and something I've struggles with back and forth between my prices and wholesale pricing and feeling like I am just "giving" my product away because it doesn't sell at the price I think is its value because people don't understand.
26. Jenny @ Crash Test Mommy :

    A really, really smart post.
    
    As a buyer, I would like to add that I am guilty of questioning the quality of a product based on its price. So artists may think they won't sell things at higher prices, but actually I am more apt to pass on an item that is listed at rock-bottom price, on the premise that it must not be high quality.
27. Sheila :

    Your thoughtful comments are spot on!
28. Kasey :

    I must say that this is so inspirational - especially for someone who is considering selling homemade goods. I think the question is always: but will people buy it? And you are so right - value is calculated in so many forms, other than numbers. Thank you!
29. Teresa :

    Thank you for boosting our confidence, my hubby is always telling me I under charge for my cards, maybe now I will listen.
30. Tiffany :

    It seems so backwards to raise my prices (sweetpinkzebra.etsy.com) just to sell more. But you make some very valid points here, especially concerning my time. I work hard to make all this stuff! :) Thanks for the pep talk; I will reevaluate what I charge.
31. Alison :

    HOORAY! Thank you so much for this post! After selling at The Bijou Market and ringing people up...I was SHOCKED at some of the prices! People were honestly GIVING things away. Which is fine...if they want to do their craft as a hobby. After the first day, seeing the pricing, I was tempted to lower my prices. But honestly I would rather give my homemade goods as gifts to people that I love, then have someone pay for it at a price that is not worth my time. We are not Wal-mart. Ok. I'm going to stop commenting before it becomes a mini post!
    kudos.
32. bechtold clan :

    I agree for the most part with everything you said HOWEVER I come from a family where my mother owned her own custom bag business for 35 years...from medical supply bags, custom, diaper bags, backbacks, etc. Her materials were best in the industry and reorders came all the time due to the quality she produced. There came a time however when many of her orders went to suppliers in China etc as they manufactured higher quantities at cheaper costs. She has had to adjust her prices for both the individual custom bag order and business to meet the demands of the market conditions, and take less profit. You cant always charge more just because you think you are worth more. There is a supply and demand and if someone wants to support the artist they will regardless of price, but if you want to appeal to a larger pool of buyers you need to be competitive.
33. [Lovely by M] Michelle :

    SO needed this and had a lengthy convo with the hubs about it last night. Here we go with greater confidence towards our prices....now if only Utah county was a little more supportive of those prices...!
34. Susan :

    bechtold clan,
    
    that is a good point + thank you for your comment.
    
    but i feel like as an artist, i should not be competing with china.
    
    since the handmade movement a couple of years ago, i feel as though most consumers can recognize everything that goes into a handmade price.
    
    True not all customers will pay, but if you try to compete with china prices at handmade quality, you will never grow a profitable business.
35. River Girls Soap & Bath :

    This is a wonderful piece and very timely. I have been in the handmade soap market successfully for 10 years, and so many wonderful artists and artisans who began with me have since left the field. One of the major reasons is constant underpricing of their work--beautiful and laborious work. I believe if you don't see yourself and your work as valuable, precious, or unique, absolutely no one else will. One of the things I have noticed recently (new to ETSY) is when persons post for a custom project (in Teams) the offering price is often insultingly low. A good example is someone who wanted a custom designed solid perfume in a nice tin for 10 dollars or less. I kept reading the request and asked myself, "Well after the natural oils and waxes, the fragrance (very expensive) and a tin AND shipping where is the profit? Never mind the artisan's time. So perhaps you are looking at a loss; never mind a profit. Ultimately, we must recognize that value is value. Demand recognition of yours! If you are willing to give away your wonderful work, there is always someone willing to take. The world has in some respects become very GROUPon-y, Walmarty.
36. Claudia@stonehouselove :

    Very true-value your work or you will burn out-i offer my seamstress more than she charges-she is excellent and truly deserves it!
37. Elizabeth :

    I am your newest follower! I loved hearing from you at Mom 2.0. Cannot wait to delve deeper into your blog!
38. Sascha :

    I have bought your mocs even though I have made leather mocs for my son myself. Why? Because a. I love buying/supporting handmade, b. you have a different look than the style I make and c. I thought the price was totally reasonable. Thank you for the post. When my son wears your shoes he gets comments. When he wears store bought China crap, what do you think? Never.
    
    I posted about the insole I put in your mocs, which I lalalalove so much that when he grows out of them I will truly weep. I gave you mad props about my love for these shoes. It is borderline creepy.
39. Anonymous :

    Suggesting that those who price at hobby levels do a disservice to those trying to make a living is unfair. Since when did the handmade business decide forming a cartel was the best way to control prices?
    
    A product is only worth what a ready, willing and able buyer will pay for it, not necessarily what the seller believes it to be worth. Maybe some handmade goods could be sold for more, but in general the homemade market has a long way to go in quality and originality before more should be paid by anyone.
40. annie (the annilygreen one) :

    anonymous, i think it's clear that the point she's trying to make is that you have to price high enough to stay in business, and soooo many handmade artists i've seen are not doing that. it's easy to forget all the overhead that goes into your products. you can't just charge a million dollars because you want to, but if you don't charge enough to cover ALL your costs (even less obvious ones), running a handmade business will not be worth your time....even if it's just a hobby.
    
    you're right that the product is only worth what people will pay, but i'm grateful to susan for encouraging artists to be a little more confident about the fact that there are those people out there who will pay what you need to stay in business and it's worth a try to find the right price for your goods. it's not forming a cartel....it's building a brand and having respect for what you make and expecting customers to feel the same way.
41. dawn :

    thank you so much for sharing this article! it couldn't have come at a better time. i will currently be bringing in samples of my work to a store with a possible order + i've been fretting about what prices i should charge.
    
    i (guess i'm not alone in this!) tend to undermine my worth as an artist/creator. funnily enough, i'll gladly pay extra for an artist's work that i like reasoning that they've pored their heart + soul into it and is worth more in many ways than a factory produced item.
    
    so, thank you for affirmation! i should be extending those same thoughts + beliefs to myself!
42. Bonny :

    Suz. I'm way behind but totally needed to hear this. Thanks a ton and congrats on all your new developments!
43. Eva / Sycamore Street Press :

    I AGREE!!! Good for you for saying it! And it's true, we're all in this together, and if we undervalue our own work, we are, in a sense, undervaluing every other handmade artisan's work at the same time because people will start to expect us to work for free. I love Etsy, but this is my main problem with it. Sometimes people will be a hard time for our prices, but I don't think we need to apologize for paying ourselves a living wage.
44. Eva / Sycamore Street Press :

    Whoops. I meant give us a hard time... not "be a hard time".
45. Eva / Sycamore Street Press :

    p.s. Of course the handmade goods have to be very well made and special and worth the higher prices. And Susan - yours definitely are!
46. Vintage is for Lovers :

    Just the post I needed to read today! {make that this year and every year here after, for that matter} you are absolutely correct. The more we value our art, the more our art will be valued by others. It always starts within. You rock! Thank you so very much! xo Samantha
47. Kaila London-TD Allen :

    Can you say what a post? I absolutely loved it! It brings you back to reality and makes you asks the question, what is it you really want to do? Be serious and make a living or just play? I have often had this dilemma myself and have read many articles on this, but as I become custom to this world of blogging and meeting wonderful people along the way, I say always have a plan A, B, and C and if you have to fall back on that B or C to make a living, you really should value yourself and what you make. This is the best I have heard this explained....in plain simple to understand English! Thanks! Kaila London
48. Ultimate Cake :

    Thanks! Always great to read about craftsmen who DO value their work and their time.
49. Stacey@A Sort Of Fairytale :

    great post...thank you! now i must go and raise my prices...
    maggiejanesvintage.etsy.com
50. Heidi :

    Well said. Thanks for the reminder. I spend HOURS hand painting my signs, and pricing it more difficult than anything!
51. Danielle :

    Thank you so much for this article. I am a knitter and dabbling in other arts. I often keep my prices low because... "No one will buy it if the prices are higher." ... Your words have helped me! Thank you!
    btw, your blog is VERY helpful! I am thankful to have found it on pinterest!