How to Price Your Crafts

It's tricky to know what to charge for your one-of-a-kind crafts. Here's a simple guide of issues to consider when pricing your handmade wares:

1) Consider Cost of Materials

How much did it cost for you to create your crafts to sell? Keep close records of materials costs and be sure to not charge less than the cost of materials; if you do, you will be losing valuable money.

Try to keep crafts as inexpensive as possible- aim for as close to 100% profit as you can.

Internet catalogs and buying in bulk limit the cost of your materials. Remember: the more you buy, the less you pay. But also remember that if you buy way too much of something, you'll be losing money as well.

2) Consider Time Commitment
How much time did you spend making each craft? Time is worth more than money, so always take your time commitment into account when pricing your items. Keep in mind that the U.S. minimum wage is currently $5.15 an hour, so you should be making that (and hopefully much more) per hour that you work on your craft.

3) Consider Where the Profit Will Go
Are you keeping the profits for yourself or are you contributing them to charity? If you are making your craft to raise money for a specific organization, you can often charge 2 or 3 times what you would charge if you were just earning individual income. If you are, indeed, participating in a fundraiser, be sure to publicize your charity and your craft with posters and ads to get the optimum customer response. Try your church or neighborhood newsletter for free advertising space. Often simply mentioning that all proceeds of your craft go to charity will attract customers.

4) Consider the Demand for your Crafts
You can charge much more for Christmas crafts in December than for Christmas crafts in July. Be timely with your creations and you can charge more based on seasonal demand.

5) Consider Skill Level
How much skill did it take for you to create you crafts? Could anyone create your crafts, or do you have unique artistic abilities? The more talent it takes to create a craft, the more you can charge. A Mona Lisa will always make more money than a commonplace sketch.

I hope this list of things to consider when pricing your handmade crafts has given you a better idea of what to charge! Happy Crafting!