SpoiltPig jewellery is all going to be re-priced by the end of April.
I wish I could say its now all FREE but erm…nah, that’s not how it works :(
I’m not sure how much anyone’s interested in the ‘details’ but I figure I should be as transparent here as possible.
Currently, I don’t pay myself for my design work or the time it takes to put that idea to paper(many long hours cursing and swearing at photoshop and tearing up sketchbooks) or the time it takes me to promote, list and write item descriptions, the cost and time for promotional materials like flyers and business cards, travelling to and working all day at markets in the freezing cold, the cost of market stalls in the first place…this list goes on forever.
From the very beginning, I’ve been paying myself minimum wage for the time it takes to ‘make’ each item and then y’know, adding materials costs and rounding it up or down to the nearest quid. It’s not even the current legal minimum wage…I’m lazy at maths so when I say minimum wage I mean a FIVER p/h.
I’ve managed to keep it going this far with LOTS of help from lovely, awesome friends who’ve donated time and tools to help me. I don’t have to pay for professional jewellery shots or expensive programs, I didn’t have to pay a web developer and I currently don’t have to pay for web hosting, all down to their generosity. These people deserve to be paid though, right? and I’d like to start doing that at some point this year…and maybe start earning a proper wage for myself too.
Folksy, the UK based site that I use to sell my work through are coming out of beta mode on the 1st May 2010 and as such, will be introducing a teeny 5% commission on my and everyone else’s sales, so I figured that’s as good a time as any to re-launch SpoiltPig with some more realistic prices.
I hope this doesn’t piss anyone off, I hope that all my lovely customers will stick with me and I’m more than willing to answer any questions anyone might have and explain commission and fees in more detail if needed/wanted.
I dont think thats unreasonable at all. You should pay yourself and others for the time. Good luck.
Sounds totally fair- besides you should work in a wholesale price on top so you can sell to shops and they can sell at your retail prices anyway :)
Good luck!
oh :( That’s the one thing I’m COMPLETELY unwilling to do. I know other sellers and my bestest friends will think I’m being stupid and naive but I’ve turned down stockists all over the country because I just plain refuse to allow someone else to make more money from my work than I do.
I think it’s ridiculous how much is expected of the original designer. Supplying at half the price you charge in your own shop, just for someone to add a 2.5-3 mark up, essentially meaning that they make sometimes TWICE what you are, for your own work? And customers are having to pay up to 3x the amount that the original artists will ever see? It’s all too horrid for me. I think everyone deserves a fair wage but I’m a grass roots, nae hefty profit margin, kind of gal.
I understand that these stockists have overheads just like the rest of us but a 2.5-3 mark-up on the items that take up the least space and the least effort to sell(it’s hardly in the same category as clothes where you need lots of hanging space, dressing room space and a shop assistant to help with fitting, finding sizes etc) is just depressing.
I think YOU the designer, maker, the one who did all the hard work, deserves way more recognition/payment than anyone else involved in the retail process.
thanks for the v.positive comments! x
I think its perfectly reasonable, continue doing what you’re doing x
I think you’re totally right! I have been thinking about this myself for a few weeks and although i don’t see myself as a great designer yet and i mostly do my crafting as a hobby, It is still very time consuming & requires a lot of promotion and money etc…I think it’s hard to compete sometimes when people are selling similar things for next to nothing x
I think you are completely right to question your minimum wage pay. I often knit and crochet cute thinkgs to sell. My work is a really high standard and I know my designs are individual. My hubby goes mad with me for selling them far too cheaply. Only he knows how long it takes me to make them. I know he’s right, but I don’t think anyone will pay the actual costs, especially if I charged £10 per hour. So instead, I’ve started to write up the patterns and publish those instead. That seems to work better and I’ve even had them published in magazines, which is great.
Good luck with your pricing and make sure you give yourself the wage you truly deserve. Lynne xx
I think it was Woody who got me thinking about my prices and all the add on bits we forget about. I was then directed to someone’s spreadsheet, free to download, which helps you work out what your costs really are. It made me realise I’m working for peanuts! You (and I!!) must charge a sensible amount for your time and overheads, even if someone told me at a fair that they didn’t expect handmade work to bear any relevance to the Min Wage, after all we all have jobs (do we?) and this is just a hobby (is it?). I’ve still a long way to go. I think there’s a link to the spreadsheet on Folksy forums, but email me if you want me to dig it out for you.
It’s strange how I’ve always known about all these little extras but till recently, when I realised just how much I’m getting for ‘free’ from friends, it never bothered me. I’m quite happy getting paid that little bit less to do a job I LOVE but now I just really want to make sure the shop can stand on it’s own and pay all the other people who help make SpoiltPig tick along smoothly.
Thanks for the offer of the spreadsheet but I’ve got one already :) I just need to tweak it a little to create the new prices!
Do not feel guilty about upping your prices! Look at Woody’s blog for how to price, with a profit!! I’ve had to up mine too because of Folksy coming out of BETA, but my view is you make hand crafted items, not homemade…. your stuff is amazing! People will still buy from you!! Have faith in yourself x
I’ve seen that blog and it’s not exactly suitable for me, it’s not the route I’m taking my work down ;) You’ll see my mini rant about wholesale and profit up there^
I’m aiming for something in between. I don’t mind a minimum wage, I don’t want ‘profit’, I just want to make that wage properly and be able to pay all the people who’re currently keeping me going with pure generosity.
Far from apologising, in my opinion you should be kicking yourself for your earlier charitable enterprise ;-)
If you don’t value your own work, why should anyone else? I think it’s great you’re going to be putting yourself on a more professional footing.
I always quote Lupin at this point (and she almost always discovers me!) When I was struggling to understand how I could price for my time without restricting myself to only selling to royalty, she said I should remember my buyers don’t have to be from my own income bracket – and it’s true.
Completely reasonable, that’s all I’ve got to add!