Coffee and Equations

Carey Cottage has been full of kids this week. My four kids + two nephews = a lot of noise! But, the kids are all still sacked out, so I get to drink my morning coffee in peace and quiet. I have tried to put some pillows together this week, but all these kids have just kept me way too busy.

This morning while having my coffee, I received a message from another Etsy seller that my price on one of my pillows is "over the top". I sat and thought about my price on that pillow for a bit. Let's see, the itemized cost of it is - fabric = $5; image = $6; lace = $3.50; velvet ribbon and gimp = $1.50; appliques = $1.50; clusterstuff = $5; listing = .20; thread, ribbon roses and other miscellaneous parts = $1. Looks like that totals $23.70.

They say pricing on handmade items should be at least two times, and sometimes 3x, the cost to make them. That would mean I should price the pillow between $47.40 and $71.10. Since I have it priced at $49, I think the price is fair when you also take into account the time spent designing it and sewing it and photographing it and editing the photos and writing a description and listing it and packaging it and shipping it off after it sells. After all, I am sure I spent more than three hours on labor and since the minium wage here is $7.05, let's use that figure and add another $21.15 to the price which comes out to $44.85. So, after everything is figured in, it looks like I am charging a little over $4 more than the "what I put into it" total. Oh, but we forgot about the packaging and labeling costs. All of my OOAK (one of a kind) items are custom labeled and all items are packaged in plastic bags with my product logo on them. They are also wrapped in tissue paper and tied with a ribbon. And, everyone who makes a purchase receives a free gift with their purchase. All of that costs money too.

So, after thinking it over, I don't think my price is over the top. After all, you get what you pay for. And this pillow is worth every penny one would spend on it.



Until next time friends.....
CC