While sitting around wasting time in the middle of progress, I was reading the May 2012 issue of Traditional Home. These handmade Turkish felt slippers are listed at $45.00 a pair. Considering all the levels of input, that didn't seem nearly enough to me. While it's possible they are being mass produced in some way in order to advertise them in this nature, the stitching is obviously hand done and someone somewhere is getting paid a minor amount for considerable work.
This red snakeskin and leather clutch by Misela is $665.00. I found that interesting in a that's mass produced and my bags are handmade and so my bags should be worth at least that much kind of way but from a personal perspective - on my budget - I find that an astonishing price for an occasional clutch.
Love the colors of this Graf & Lantz tote. Not so much the price - $229.00. In terms of structure, level of difficulty, and details, there's not much there as gorgeous as those felt and leather colors are.
This Prada Pyramide bag in saffiano leather (which I have no idea if that's special or not) is $3,999.00 - a price that is more than I paid for my new appliances. My mind cannot grasp a purse being worth more than a fridge, stove, washer, dryer, and microwave combined. Maybe I have cheap taste but those appliances are going to be washing and drying and keeping and cooking for years. The purse? Maybe. More likely out of style next season.
These napkin rings by Kim Seybert look like oversized barrettes to me. They're $120.00 for four. The placemat on top with the embellished edges - $424.00 for four. Those are prices I wouldn't pay especially for setting a plate of spaghetti on top of but they do make me wonder....
... with the increase of interest in handcrafts and the number of women especially who are returning to sewing and knitting and other art forms, do you think there will be a correlating increase in the awareness of what it takes to create those works of art and will the artists start being paid something closer to what they're worth?
Talk soon - Myrna
Grateful - two hours, reading my book, alone, in a clean restaurant, with yummy food and helpful staff who kept placing another drink at my elbow. YES YES! A reprieve.
Myrna, That is always a question as to how much to charge. There is also a price point and what the market will bear and whether it will actually sell for the amount you want or what it is worth.
ReplyDeleteI had a real struggle at first with pricing my work until I finally worked things out. There are many factors involved such as time, materials cost and originality of the design. I have decided that I love what I do and need to detach myself from each piece and be willing to let it go to a good home. I maybe do not sell my work for as much as it is worth (time spent, etc.) but I love what I do and want to keep at it and each piece I sell gives me encouragement and energy to create more.
Just a suggestion: When you are comparing prices for handcrafted items you need to compare with other artists and not items that are sold commercially as there is a huge difference. I found searching similar items on Etsy, for instance, and checking what items sold and prices they are selling for is an excellent guideline to follow. These other artists have already worked a lot of that out and found what sells at a reasonable price.
I did this and found it has worked quite well for me.
Carolyn
In a word, no. People often pay for the name. Until the name becomes a status symbol, the price doesn't go up. Sounds cynical, but it's true in my experience.
ReplyDeleteI read an interesting book last year called "Deluxe: How the Luxury Industry Lost Its Luster" by Dana Thomas. In it she describes how all the high end fashion houses now make the bulk of their money by selling accessories to the masses. Items such as $1000 purses can be made in the same factories as $100 purses with the difference being the name attached to it, not the quality. There are also cases of purses being made in China with "made in China" stickers on them which are then ripped out when they arrive at say Italy, and replaced with a "made in Italy" tag with the price then jacked up 10-fold.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the previous commenter - don't compare your work with the mass-produced. The people parading around with Louis Viutton or Prada purses are in it for the brand name.
Krista