Price Points

In this economy, most of us find that the good old days of great sales are on hiatus.  I sell a lot of items below $40.  Being handmade it is sometimes difficult to make quality items for that price range.  I often make these items in batches which can become tedious.  The fun of creating is lost and is replaced with repetition.

I try to finish each piece to perfection which takes time.  Finding ways to reduce labor is often essential to keeping your price down.  Many times if you are making a quality item, it is just not possible and we have to take a bit of a cut in profit to make those sales.

It becomes a question of keeping faithful to your work.  I could make these small items faster and increase profits if I were to skimp on quality, but then I would not be honest to myself and my craft.  Sometimes we just need to take what we can get and be happy that we are still doing what we love.

The economy will improve, maybe not soon, but it will.  Then the days of great sales will be back and I can make more of my Custom pieces than the little trinkets that pay the bills for now.  We just have to be patient and do whatever it takes to keep on doing what we love.