Thursday 9 August 2007

&A


a scruptiously bright pink and yellow paper quilt, 5" x 5". i'm thinking of these for the etsy shop, mounted onto white mount board for people to frame themselves. i know that the canvases are great because you don't need to frame them, so these i suppose are a bit annoying. but i'm amassing a fair collection of them and i think they'd look rather nice in a lovely house/apartment/abode. which leads me to another really cheeky question... being rather rubbish at pricing my goods (it's a subject i hate, i can feel myself getting hot under the collar typing this) could i ask you the biggest favour ever and have suggestions price-wise of what you would happily pay for these (paper quilts and the little canvases below) dinky originals? i have really tried hard finding similar sized and themed work on etsy and taking my cue from those prices, but the nearest things i can find are ATC's that are priced at around $5-10. now, i'm sorry, but i don't get out of bed for less than $11.95 per day ;) i'm sorry if i'm breaching some kind of blogging/crafting etiquette asking you this enormous favour, but it would be terrific to get more feedback. that would be it, i promise. and as an incentive to leave feedback, i will give away the little quilt above entitled '&A' to the first person out of the proverbial hat. fair deal?

10 comments:

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Anonymous said...

Right, I have had this problem and still do, now made harder as once something is sold on Etsy they remove the price, pah!

So the way I look at my stuff now and Etsy is this, I look at what I would except to get for it at a craft fair, and then charge at the exchange rate for US dollars, so for example bags I sell at £12 here at fairs are currently on Etsy for $24, which I think is fair.

Now your piece of lovelyness, well I would expect to pay between £8-£10 at a fair here, and they would be at the lower end, so there you go double it and your are away!!

Hope this helps, and you can always mail me about Etsy, I feel I'm getting the hang of it now!

Anonymous said...

I think pricing our work is the hardest part and I don't really take into account the cost of materials or my time and set the price based on what I think someone will pay. I certainly think you should ask £10 - £15, if someone has to pay to have it framed too I suppose this would effect the price from their point of view, as opposed to the canvasses which are ready to hang. It depends a bit on how long each takes you, if you spend hours sweating over each picture you'd need a bigger return.

Jan said...

This piece is positively lush!
Re: pricing, my inclination would be something in the $25.-$35. range. Since you are just starting to introduce them, you wouldn't want the price to be prohibitive. However, you wouldn't want to price them so low that they compromise the pricing of your larger pieces. If they prove to be a raging success (which I wouldn't doubt,) you could then raise the price accordingly.
Best of luck, Lucie!

Anonymous said...

I'd happily pay upwards of $20.
How's that for a short answer?

Anonymous said...

I agree - pricing is so hard. These are so wonderful. I hope you do start putting them up - and don't undervalue your work and art!

Fibrespace said...

I would pay at least £25-30, it is an original piece of art work, not available on the high street. People in the craft world appear to undervalue their work compared to 'artists'. If the creator doesn't value their own work enough to charge a fair price, why should buyers value it. I try to work out how long it took to make and charge a fixed hourly rate + cost of materials + overheads (selling fees, electricity used etc). You also need to bear in mind that if you sell to cheaply, and you are then approached by a gallery wanting wholesale prices, you've shot yourself in the foot, as most places mark up 50%. Who will want to sell your stuff if you are undercutting them on etsy! wow, think that's the longest comment i've ever made, hope it helps!

Anonymous said...

Hi Lucie, I'm Lynn, also in the UK, it's 9.33 am -kids are still asleep (amazingly) so I'm grabbing a little computer time, drinking my second coffee, and catching up on my favourite blogs.
I just wanted to say that I think your work is lovely, and to make sure that you don't underprice your stuff. There's obviously a lot of work and talent that goes into your art work, I'd say AT LEAST £30. In fact more. I particularly like the mini canvasses. Great work !
: )

lu summers said...

hello lyn...thankyou, i really appreciate you leaving a comment. there seems to be a fair difference of what people would expect to pay, the lowest being £8-10 and the highest (in a flickr mail) £35. oh good grief, i have no idea! i'm planning on doing an average to see what happens!

Jodie Hurt said...

Hi Lucie!

I think that between $25-$30 us is a good starting point, and then gradually raise your prices. I would gladly pay that or more for your work.

Francesca said...

hi lucie, this is tough and i'm also late to the party but i'm with fibrespace and lyn. i don't believe in undervaluing your work. i know it's important to sell stuff (obviously) but it's hard to judge pricing because the dollar is so weak and etsy's customers are predominantly American...what seems like a lot over there is a pittance over here. where am i going here......they should be worth at least £30 but that might be too much for etsy. i've been no help...i'll get my coat!