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Post by Snegurochka on May 24, 2015 8:11:04 GMT -8
Etsy offers this formula as a starting point for pricing: Materials + Labor + Expenses + Profit = Wholesale x 2 = Retail ( source) Example for a 3-strand pearl necklace for an SD doll (all rough estimates): materials: $9 labor: $22 (60 minutes at $22/hour) expenses: $4 (fees paypal/etsy, packaging material) profit: profit?? what's that?? LOL $9 + $22 + $4 + $0 = $35 x2 = $70 Well...I don't know how many of you have actually checked out my etsy shop, but I definitely don't charge $70 for a pearl necklace! I don't use the x2 for wholesale part of the equation because I believe it is unlikely that I will ever have wholesale customers in this industry, and this makes my pricing more competitive. The $35 price is indeed the price of the longest version of the necklace. So I think this is a good formula. Most importantly, I like that it forces you to pay yourself an hourly wage, which we artists just LOVE to shortchange ourselves on, don't we? But I don't believe art can be sustainable otherwise, not unless you are supporting yourself through some other kind of savings or income. I know it is not always so simple to price things though. A more beginning artist often has to charge less in order to make a sale. I think this is especially true for doll artists, unfortunately. But on the other hand, an artist that is more successful and well known can have a "profit" category or increase their hourly wage. $22/hour is really quite modest, especially if I pay tax on that income! And artists of a certain popularity can price themselves differently, using fine art formulas that I am less familiar with. I saw this formula too, but when I try it with my dolls, it's insane how expensive they would be!! It takes sooooo many hours to make them. So I am thinking of pricing them without the x2 wholesale markup. They're still really expensive without it, but my work is not well known at this point, so I feel strange charging more at this point. *sigh* It's so difficult figuring out how much to charge....
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Post by allurose on May 24, 2015 11:00:50 GMT -8
It is a challenge to think about how much our creations may be worth. One year ago a customer expressed interest in one of my designs to buy. I said, oh no, I could never make it without charging a ridiculous price because it was so time consuming to create. My customer pressed me for a price, which I hesitantly named, and BAM they made an order! I was shocked, I never thought anyone would pay that price. But they did without a second thought and love their custom jewelry. Now I charge even more than that for this item on my etsy.
I have had this exact experience twice now. It forces me to give myself credit for my work, and to offer at least a few of these very expensive pieces for the customer willing to pay for the work. It *is* a very wealthy hobby!
I agree, in general, that the wholesale x2 is safe to leave out for this kind of work. I think when someone is just starting it may make sense to divide by two again, then build their price with their reputation. I did this for my shop. But it depends on your presentation and your competition. I find it is very important to make it clear to the customer WHY the price is high. I often name the number of hours or type of materials to drive the point home. Then people know they are indeed buying a luxury and investing in art.
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Hasel
Senior Member
Posts: 220
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Post by Hasel on May 24, 2015 12:42:31 GMT -8
In art there is a formula which is most used on 2d work like paintings. It's hight + width x factor. The factor is something that grows, my boyfriend uses factor 3 right now for paintings and factor 2,5 for photographs. So the longer he works and better he gets and more well known the higher up the factor gets. Then you also have to take into consideration that half of this price goes to the person selling it for him because they usually ask a 50% commission, and then in the Netherlands you also pay a 6% tax over art.
I'm not sure how to translate this to 3d work, I have asked proffesionals about it but they could never give a good answer. I tried making a formula based on the measurements but I'm not sure if it works well. I now have this formula
hightxwidthxdepth :10 x2 +6% tax
Which would make an Aebele statue 2544 euro If I'm done with the statue of Esmée, who's a todler so it's about 25 cm high the price would be: 795 euro Which is a pretty big difference with the Aebele statue... so my formula isn't very good yet :s Anyone has any idea's how to perfect it?
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Post by bibarina on May 25, 2015 4:49:10 GMT -8
Hasel, smaller doesn't necessarily mean less work. This is a tricky one- how about evening out the price between the different size pieces, so that perhaps you make a little less profit on the larger ones and a little more profit on the smaller ones?
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Post by allurose on May 25, 2015 6:41:11 GMT -8
I agree with bibarina. Making things smaller is actually MORE work when you get into the miniatures range. In a painting it makes sense that if there is less surface area to cover with paint, then there is less work. Not so with a doll. The work must be much closer to equal and the skill required for painting a small doll is greater.
I do like the factor part of the formula.
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Hasel
Senior Member
Posts: 220
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Post by Hasel on May 25, 2015 7:00:38 GMT -8
The problem is that buyers don't necceseraly understand the smaller = equal or even more amount of work part. They see something smaller and naturally they think it's going to be less work so cheaper. My bf has that same problem with his paintings, some idea's take only a couple of days to make and others take weeks or months :s
So thats kind of something you either have to ignore and just price things based on what you feel is right or accept and think about making something beforehand (and thus making time based/labour intensive choices while working) and accept >.<''
It's really hard for me as I kind of want my work and their price to be understandeble and explainable.
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Post by allurose on Jun 11, 2015 10:18:56 GMT -8
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Post by kamia on Jun 11, 2015 11:38:47 GMT -8
Forums like these definitely go some way to showing buyers the work that has gone into the creation. I know seeing WIP pictures and reading about the process helps me understand the love, time and effort that goes into these pieces ^^ Whilst just showing a finished product is nice, it seems less real and like the road was an easy one to follow! Especially in relation to dolls I love to see the development of the doll as it only adds to the value of the artistic piece for me.
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Post by merrijane on Jun 12, 2015 23:52:12 GMT -8
I recently read a really interesting blog post from The Pale Rook pertaining to this subject. While it doesn't provide a formula for artists to price their work, it does give some useful insights into the way in which artists often devalue their work and even feel guilty for charging what it may be worth. The article is quite long, but here is the link for anyone who may be interested in reading it. thepalerook.wordpress.com/2015/06/05/artists-statement-part-two/
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Anna
Senior Member
Posts: 143
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Post by Anna on Oct 31, 2016 2:51:03 GMT -8
I enjoy work in progress photos, they add another layer of anticipating the result. I am an artist and I work in lots of different mediums, from felt, clay to welding steel sculptures. I find pricing some work, ie: carving precious stones very tough, if I want to sell it. The hours and the material, make it out of a lot of folks price range. So I would be guilty of devaluing what I do. Though I am getting better.
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