courage to create Xchange

Hi: I've done alot of different handi-crafts over the years and never quite knew how to put a price on what I've made. My latest are glass houses. They are a take off of the houses Michelle made on b'Original where she sandwiched papers between clear glass and then copper foiled the glass into simple houses.

I've used vintage and antique laces, fabrics and pressed flowers for my walls and roofs instead of papers or magazine pictures, so they are much more labor intensive. But now I don't know how to price them as I've got alot of interest as well as where I should market them. Any ideas?? thanks

I don't know if you're still around, but those sound really beautiful. I'd love to see a picture.

My "formula" for pricing my work varies. That's a lot of help, huh?

I think it's important not to under price what you do - which is a common mistake. Add up the cost for every material you use, then add what you think is a fair price for your labor. Of course, you won't be making much for your time/labor at first...but when you make a name for yourself and have some experience in dealing with people actually paying you for your art, then you can tweak your prices. A lot of times, artists/crafters feel like the price they set is permanent. It isn't! You can always adjust your prices if you feel they are too high - or worse, too low. It's tough to strike a balance between being compensated fairly - and not pricing yourself out of the market.

Another suggestion I have is to go to some of the online art/craft shops - etsy.com, artfire.com, etc - and see if anyone is creating anything similar to what you're doing. If so, take a tip from their prices. If not, great - you have something totally unique. Try to find something kind of similar and go from there.

You'll know pretty quickly whether you've done a good job at pricing - just never forget that setting a price is not an end-all, be-all. The costs of your materials may change (ie - you're selling a lot and can begin to buy things in a large enough quantity to look into wholesale buying, etc), the economy may change, you may become the next Michele Beschen - which can all impact what you charge. Feel things out, try out a couple of prices, ask your friends/family/other crafters what they would pay (or charge) - and go from there. Don't get discouraged if you sit down to break all your own costs down and find out you're only making $2 per item. Most artists/crafters don't get into selling things because they want the money...which they do...but they get into it because they feel like they *have* to create, or (like me) you make so many things, you run out of space! lol

Good luck - I hope you've found a pricing system that has worked. Would you mind posting an update, if you're still here?