Crafty/Etsy Musings

[jennythereader]

What do you guys think of the name "The Reader's Creations"? The url would be "thereaderscreations.etsy.com"


Or maybe "A Reader's Creations"? That url would be "areaderscreations.etsy.com"

Neither is in use at the moment. Any other suggestions?


Another issue is my pricing structure. This is the formula I came up with:

([(time x wage) + materials] x 2) + etsy fee = selling price

Terms:

Time: amount of time it takes to apply the color layer, doubled (it's hard to time the glue layers. They're lots and lots of 30 second chunks.)
Wage: $6.00/hour for now. I will adapt this number.
Materials: The cost of the item I'm covering + $0.10 per square inch to be covered (rounded).
Esty fee: $0.20 per item listed, plus 3.5% of the price when an item sells.

For example: A picture frame that took me half an hour to cover, has 19 square inches of surface area, and cost me a dollar would sell for $18.63. I'd probably round that to $18.00 or $19.00 even.

Does that seem like a reasonable price? Am I over thinking this? Are you guys sick of me asking for input yet?

Comments

[jarien.livejournal.com]

6th grader test... I read that as "reader's secretions" first, with my tired brain and tired eyes. Can you pop in any underscores to separate the words?

What is the extra .10 per square inch? Glue materials?

[jennythe-reader.livejournal.com]

Good point about the name. Etsy recommends keeping names simple, so I'd like avoid underscores if I can. I'll keep thinking on it.

The extra .10 is for the paper or fabric being glued on, the glue itself, brushes, and any other supplies.

[gwenlianna.livejournal.com]

If that's a reasonable estimate of the time it takes, then yes. You aren't over thinking it. You are trying to solve the issues before they come up. You probably need to use the formula to get a ballpark idea. Would you buy a similar item for that price? If the answer is yes, then the price is good where it is.

http://www.mygrannysatticantiques.com/html/garden_decoupage_picture_frame.htm

These people are charging a bit more for a similar type of product, but they are doing custom work as well.

[jennythe-reader.livejournal.com]

The half hour was a rough estimate of how long the one I did last night took. I'm actually going to time the next thing I cover. That will let me make a more accurate estimate.

I'm thinking about doing custom work, but will probably wait for that until I have a reasonable amount of stuff to post.

[curlyeric.livejournal.com]

I would build a little more into the price since not every site charges the same listing/percentages and it's easier to go down than up once you've established. Even if you tack on another 25% you have some flexibility to come down without killing what little profit you are making. In the end the real wages will be (income - expenses) / ( time to make + time to sell ) and you should not underestimate the marketing end.

[jennythe-reader.livejournal.com]

Basically the formula is "double the cost of making it, including my time, plus the cost of selling it."

It seems like that gives me room to maneuver on prices, without losing too much profit.

[curlyeric.livejournal.com]

I know, and I'm saying you should go higher. You can always come down.

[jennythe-reader.livejournal.com]

Eh... look at my next post, in which I actually run my formula on the project I worked on tonight.

[(Anonymous)]

your formula seems rational. however Whenever you start a production process it is slow and as your buisness progresses your speed should increase therefore the time = money equation is flawed.

You should base your charges on the market and, if you can afford to, then charge less than the competition. They have already done the math. You dont need to. They already know what they can charge, dont waste your time thinking to much.

You do need to figure out what income you are willing to accept for the time you are going to invest. However this should only affect your choice to start the .com or not to. It should not affect your selling price. Your equation seems to make sense for your personal value of the work but does not seem to reflect the market.

Another thing is that a 40% mark up is standard in most retail stores from the wholesale price

[jennythe-reader.livejournal.com]

I don't think I'm going to speed the process up too much, other than becoming more efficient at transitioning from one task to the next.

The problem with pricing by the market, is that there doesn't seem to be a "standard price" for the sort of thing I'm making. The prices at Esty.com (http://www.etsy.com) for a decoupaged trinket box range from $3.00 to $60.00. Picture frames have an even wider range: $1.00 to nearly $100.00.

That anonamous comment was your brother Bobby

[(Anonymous)]

I keep forgetting to sign when I post

Re: That anonamous comment was your brother Bobby

[jennythe-reader.livejournal.com]

No big deal. Get a livejournal, and then you won't have to worry about it. :-)

[nounsandverbs]

You're not overthinking -- you're thinking. You're basically looking to start a side business, and you want to know if it'll be worth your investment. As we've already discussed, you'll have to put in lots of unpaid time anyway just to publicize this venture, so you want to make sure what you're selling is priced fairly. I think the formula you have works fine. You can always make adjustments later -- better to adjust down than up.

[jennythe-reader.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the reassurance. I'm always a little paranoid about thinking about things so much that I talk myself out of doing anything.

[nounsandverbs]

Call it "taking a methodical approach." :)

[jennythe-reader.livejournal.com]

:-) I try to be methodical, it just sometimes crosses the line into obsessive.