Pricing Your Creations - Does "Fiber Art" Hold Value?

So You Want To Sell Your Creations

Amigurumi Grouping

By now you have taken the time to practice your craft and make a few amigurumi creations. You may have shared these on social media, gifted them, or have finished projects laying around not knowing what to do next. You may ask yourself, should I try selling these creations? Where do I begin and how should I price these? 

There are many crochet groups on Facebook, one of which is Beginner Amigurumi, and the most common theme question that is always asked is, "How much should I sell this for?".

The answer for this is never a simple one as there are many factors that go into the creations we make. The initial cost to make an item can vary depending on the cost of materials and how much time it takes to make an item. More experienced fiber artists may take less time to create items than someone who is just starting out. 

Throughout the community responses, there seems to be three common methods to pricing items:

  • Materials x 3
  • Materials x 2 + 10% of total cost
  • Cost of Materials + 0.01 per stitch

Personally, I use a combination of pricing methods depending on if I am selling the item wholesale, consignment, or at a vendor event. For example, I crochet evil eye bears that are custom for a consignment and wholesale for a local shop, House of Spiritual Vibes Botanica LLC, in Sheboygan Wisconsin. 
 
Evil Eye Bear Amigurumi


For wholesale pricing, because this is an exclusive design to the business I charge: 

Cost of materials x 3 ($2.25 x 3 = $7.05), plus 1/2 minimum service wage of WI x hours to complete ($2.55 x 4 = $10.20/2 = $5.10) for a total of $12.15 a bear

If I was selling this bear at a vendor show event I would use the following calculation:

Cost of materials x 3 ($2.25 x 3 = $7.05), plus minimum service wage of WI x hours to complete ($2.44 x 4 = $10.20) for a total of $17.25 *because this is a vendor event and to make pricing and cash handling easier I would round up to $18.00 a bear. 

Tracking Pricing

It is no surprise the amount of materials it can take to create an amigurumi product and you may be wondering, how do I keep track of all the information for my projects?

One of the simplest methods to tracking materials used for a project and the cost to make the item is using Excel.  While this may seem daunting to create from scratch, there are a variety of different templates available to fiber artists on Etsy for purchase. 

Another great tool that is useful for fiber artists is the app YarnBuddy this app is however, only available to Apple/Mac/iPhone users. YarnBuddy helps you track your knitting/crochet projects by entering in project details such as start date, yarn, gauge, hook/needle sizes, and allows you to upload photos of your projects. It can also help you count your rows and keep an inventory track of your yarn stash. 

For Android users, Row Counter - Knit and Crochet app is highly recommended within the crochet community on Facebook and has 4.9 star reviews with over 100K downloads. This app allows users to download their patterns and has hands free voice control for the counter feature. It also has direct links to Ravelry for access to other patterns as well. 

Can you put a value on the time it takes to make artwork? 

Ultimately, how you price your items is completely up to you as a Fiber Artist. There will always be individuals that may not agree with your prices. They may think you are priced too high or priced too low. 

Customers that understand the time it takes to create these wonderful works of art know that the prices are often times not high enough and will respect the value of the work. Other customers may try to haggle pricing or make comments such as, "I can get that cheaper on Amazon". 

It is important to not take negative comments from disgruntled customers to heart but rather take it as a learning opportunity. Research the market you are trying to sell to whether it be a vendor event or online on platforms such as Etsy. 

  • How do similar products and pricing compare to the pricing you currently have? 
  • Is there a demand for these products or more than one vendor selling the same items as you? 
  • Is your item display too cluttered or needs more marketing? 
Knowing your target audience is also key in situations with pricing; try to have a variety of pricing to allow for all incomes to enjoy your works of art. 

As with any craft, it takes time, patience, and practice. Embrace the challenges and learn from every opportunity. Do not be afraid to utilize the community and resources to continue to improve and do better. 


Don't forget to like and follow Crochella Creations on social media to stay up to date on the latest creations and ways to make a difference. 

Instagram @Crochellacreations    |       Facebook        |      Tik Tok      |

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Meet the Creator

Image
  Crochella Creations LLC History Hello Everybody! Athena here, the hand behind the creations. I wanted to take a moment and introduce myself and how Crochella Creations LLC came into fruition.  I learned to crochet around 11 years old when my cousin Danette "Net" gifted me a handmade crocheted halloween candy bag. I will never forget how amazing I thought it was that something could be made from just yarn. I spent a few weeks that summer at my Aunt Barb's house where my cousin Net began to teach me to crochet.  The first thing I learned to do was to make a basic foundation chain. I repeated this stitch over and over until I had used up all the yarn. Finally, I thought, maybe I should learn to turn around. From there my very first ever crocheted creation was a camouflage blanket for my step father. I was horrible at keeping count of my stiches and the first result was a "blanket" that was about the length of his truck. I learned the hard way of having to pull a ...
Read more

Fiber Artists - Amigurumi...What?

Image
Most people when they hear the word, "crochet" immediately think of blankets, hats, scarves, etc. The possibilities of creations for this craft are truly endless, but an uncommon term most are not familiar with when it comes to crochet is amigurumi . ( a-mi-gu-ru-mi ) I began my journey with creating amigurumi products in 2021 knowing only the basics of crochet and having only made blankets in the past. I have since been able to create simple items such as heart keychains, all the way to more advanced creations such as dinosaurs, clowns, and dolls.  Custom T-Rex Amigurumi What is Amigurumi?  Amigurumi is a Japanese art consisting of crochet or knitting making stuffed creations; this could be in the form of dolls, animals, or food. In layman's terms, this tongue twister of a term can be easily described as 3D crochet creations, such as stuffed animals.  This unique form of crochet utilizes a pattern of basic stitches working in rounds, to increase and decrease size, to cr...
Read more

Small Business Spotlight - The Lost Sheep

Image
  If You're Looking for High Quality Yarn and a Touch of Comfort Look No Further! The Lost Sheep Yarn Shop, located in Sheboygan Wisconsin, was established in 2017 by owner Pam Smith; for Pam, opening the shop was a dream come true,  “It’s always been at the back of my mind to open my own shop,” she said. “I had a vision for what I wanted it to look like. I wanted to be able to do classes and have a comfortable sitting area for people to sit and relax.” The shop most recently celebrated it's 5th year in business which is a huge accomplishment especially surviving the chaos since 2020 and COVID -19 when many small businesses were forced to close their doors. Her vision has only flourished over the years allowing fiber artist from all over to partake in knit along classes, needle felting, and open fiber days/nights. They continue to showcase and post different classes each month which can be found on their website .  Fiber Galore! The Lost Sheep offers a variety of differen...
Read more