Pricing your craft show items correctly, and so that you make a decent profit is paramount if you are going to be successful in this industry. So how do you make the most money from your craft show items, and still have them fly off the shelves because they are a great price. Read on to find out!
In order to at least decide on your initial price structure you may want to follow a mathematical formula for arriving at the most favorable retail price:
production costs + overhead costs + selling costs + profit = best price
Production costs include cost of materials and labor; overhead costs are rent, utilities, insurance, professional fees; selling costs may be show fees, traveling costs and marketing expenses; and profit is why you went into this as a business in the first place!
If you're not comfortable with numbers, get help from a savvy friend or your bookkeeper or accountant if you have one. Or maybe ask another crafter how they arrive at their best price. Since you need to keep track of your expenses anyway, you will have the figures needed to fit into this equation, so after you do it once, you'll get the hang of it. Figuring the production costs for one item may be difficult, so if you need to figure it for 10 or 12 items, you can then divide at the end to arrive at the price per item.
This formula is a good place to begin if you're just starting out. Whether you're selling handmade sewing or quilted items, pottery or paintings, you have all the elements of the equation to factor in. If this is just too complicated for you, then price your items as close as possible to comparable ones until you become more comfortable with determining your prices professionally.
After you determine a starting price, compare it to similar items on the market and test it at your next show. If you find you have to reduce your price, that also means you need to reduce some of your costs if you want to keep the same profit! You may be able to cut down your overhead by sharing a studio, or you may cut your production costs by using family members instead of paid employees, or apprentices as previously mentioned. Again, there are always several variables involved in setting your retail price.
Pricing should be a strategic marketing move and not hit or miss, since it's so crucial for success. Your primary goals factor into how your price your products. Although profit seems like the obvious goal in selling your crafts, initially you may want to price them lower just to get some reaction. Or you may be moving out a discontinued item and are pricing it at a sale price.
You might choose a higher price because you want to impart the image of higher perceived value and limited supply, while attracting a higher-end customer. Prices may vary based on supply and demand, at different times of year, when costs rise or for the release of new products. Keep an accurate record of all your price changes so you can monitor results.
If you still find your items are not selling at the "right" price for you perhaps because you're competing with vendors who are selling less expensive products, you may want to consider a different quality show. If customers are willing to pay a few dollars for cheap jewelry rather than several dollars more for your higher quality costume as well as gemstone jewelry, you probably don't have the right customers for your product. People who know quality will pay for it. If you believe in the quality of your product, don't sell yourself short by pricing it too low. You'll just have to keep experimenting to find shows that attract the kind of customer you're looking for.
Natalie Goyette shows you how to make your craft show business profitable in her best selling ebook: Craft Show Success Secrets. Visit her site: [craftshowsuccess.com parked domain].
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