CRAFT FAIR PRICING AND OTHER TIPS. ***GET YOUR MONEY***

hi guys I hope you're having a great day so today's video is all about craft fairs all about knowing your Worth and getting your money for your skill so let's jump right into it so guys here in the south the old folks have a saying taking you to church today and what does that mean that means that there's about to be some preaching going on and today's sermon for me is know your Worth and get your money and my whole purpose and having this discussion is to help you guys out there understand that you are creating art and your art your time your skill has value and you should not be underpricing it you should get your money and I am going to show you how to do that and I'm also going to show you how I price my items and how I get my money so let's talk a little bit so for everybody that's considering doing a craft fair ask yourself while you're doing it why are you doing a craft fair if you said you're doing it to give away stuff at a cheap price then what I'm about to talk about that's not for you guys if you are doing craft fairs to build your brand to take some super quality products to market and to get people to pay your price then that's what we're gonna talk about because I want everyone who continues to watch this video to know their Worth and to get their money so I'm going to share something with you guys right now and it's going to be pricing on one of my items so you'll understand what we're about to talk about today so I'm gonna bring in this item here which is the card box you guys saw me make and it's absolutely gorgeous it is a great set and it is multifunctional so when the cards are all used up or given you can place other items in this box so I'm gonna share with you guys the pricing on this particular item so for this card box I have broken down the actual cost of making it and I'm gonna share that cost with you guys so for the decorative paper that I used on this project with this which is this paper right here and the interior papers each sheet was 83 cents I used two and a half sheets of paper on this project so that's two dollars and seven cents I have a d-ring here the d-ring only cost me point zero one cents to use on this project and to make the carts I use two sheets of cardstock and that cost me thirty five cents which you really can't see here but that was the cost these brats again less than a penny point zero one you know just one cents it was really less than one sense the charms that I have here I bought these and a pack of sixty last year and when I break out the cost of using two of them on this project it cost me 20 cents my magnets which are in here I got these in a set of sixty and it cost me thirty six cents to use to my glue and my tape I used approximately twenty-five cents of glue that's a rough estimate and approximately fifty cents of tape so to make this item it costs me three dollars and seventy cents there is a conventional wisdom out there that you should take this cost to multiply it by three and that is the cost that you should sell this item for that is wrong wrong wrong because you need to bake in your time and your artistry you are an artist and you need to bake that in and you need to consider what will the craft fair market that I am taking this item to bear what cost cannot charge for this that people will pay my charge for this item is $30 i back out the 370 for the materials I net a profit of 26 dollars and 30 cents and I think that is a fair profit for this particular item you're probably thinking she has lost her mind no I haven't I know my worth and I ask my worth and if someone walks to my booth and they don't want to pay me the $30 keep walking because someone else will and I am NOT going to lower my prices for anyone because I am worth this I have put a lot of time into designing this my skill is in this my quality is in this and I want that to reflect in my profit so my profit of 26:30 it's firm because I don't barter on my prices when I set a price that is the price that I'm selling it for again you're probably saying she's crazy no I'm not and I'm gonna tell you why I'm not crazy every item that I have made this week I received inquiries to purchase these I have sold every item that I made this week everyone and I got my asking price and that happens when I go to craft fairs I get my price for what I'm asking because this is quality so I wanted to share that with you guys so as we move on in this conversation I'll share additional items with you and tell you the cost of those so that you will understand we don't have to lower our price or dumb down our price to please craft fair goers and we're gonna talk about that a little bit more here's what I think I think that all too often paper crafters sell themselves short at craft fairs why do we do it I personally think it's because we think it's only paper so we should keep the prices low again I am going to say wrong wrong and wrong you are your work you are a brand what is your skill your creativity and your time worth it should be worth a whole lot more than a couple of bucks if you are quality crafting and I believe that you are then you're creating art and you shouldn't put a low price on your artistry don't do it ask for your work price it to get your money low pricing guys is synonymous with cheap all day long you hear low pricing you think cheap that's not me being judgmental that's just the perception that's out there is it right no ma'am no sir it's not right but as they say perception is reality let's change that perception so that you can get your money and I'm gonna keep saying it get your money know your worth low pricing is not a bad thing for certain items if you're making little tiny stocking stuffers or things like that maybe you do want to keep the pricing low but if you're designing if you're creating if what you're bringing is true reusable value then you should get your money for that item and I know a whole lot of you guys out there searching the internet right now for craft fair craft ideas how to price where to go how to set up your table and those are all great things to search but be careful when you're searching don't let anyone convince you that you need to lower your prices to sell your items you don't you do not have to do that and I know the prospect of creating crafts and building a sizeable inventory can be daunting it can be frightening I personally believe that you don't have to mass-produce a bunch of low-priced crafts to have a successful craft fair I just don't that's not what I do and I do very well I do very well what I do is I create collections of some well designed crafts and then I price them to reflect what I know it's worth and I'll say that one more time guys what I know it's worth I know my work and that's how I priced my items I don't ask what would you pay for this do you think somebody's gonna say well I'll pay you $30 I'll pay you $50 no they'll say I'll pay you 300 I'll pay you ten for that I put a lot of thought into an item before I craft it I put a lot of thought into the materials I'm going to use why in the world what I ever asked others what they think it's worth or what they would pay that doesn't matter they aren't the artists that set now and designed or created that piece of art they don't get a say they get a say in how they choose to spend their dollars they don't have to pay my price but they don't get a say and how I price my items I'm not going to ask public opinion of how I should price an item that's never gonna happen I and I alone decide what my items are worth just like you and you alone make that decision for yourself no one else can make that for you and no one else should be making that for you and I said it earlier guys there is an old Miss belief that you should charge three times the cost of materials nope not true not true selling yourself short when you follow that toss it out the window don't listen to that anymore not true material costs can be relatively cheap so why would I settle for cheap pricing a lot of my items I buy at the end of season and I package them up in totes so that when I'm ready to start crafting for craft fairs I'm able to pull out jingle bells that cost me nothing to use because I bought a batch of those that originally sold for $6.99 and they were 80% off so I got them for nothing why would I ever price my items based on the cost of material when you do that you're staying at your time your skill your artistry isn't worth a thing and that is wrong charge what you think your per item craftsmanship is worth my prices range anywhere from $10 to $55 for ready-made items for custom items that people order the additional cost ranges from ten to twenty-five dollars on those items I can charge these prices because I get these prices people know that my items are unique beautiful and well crafted this is the brand I've cultivated and I don't waver on the prices because I know my worth I know how to get my money and that is what I want you guys to do as well what brand do you want to cultivate one way you have to sell a dozen low priced items to match what I make by selling one of my items or do you want to command your price and get it I know which one I think you should cultivate so now I'm going to share another price with you guys and this little cutie here I only made one I actually have two orders for it so I've got to make another one this one is sold and I'll be making another one and I am going to share with you guys the cost what I'm charging for this item so let me bring this back when we find my sheep okay for this boxset I have four metal feet and my feet cost a dollar eighteen my chipboard I have 72 cents worth of chipboard in this project I have bells that are basically a penny on this project and I have decorative paper at $2.49 and then I have 25 cents worth of tape and 75 cents worth of glue my cost to make this project is five dollars and 40 cents so conventional pricing wisdom tells me charge three times that amount and set a price at 16:20 well I'm not doing that because I'm bringing a skill to this and I'm going to get what I think this is worth so my cost or my charge for this is 35 dollars when I back out my 540 I'm gonna net a profit of $29.60 and I'm going to net a profit of 2960 you guys remember I told you that I already have this one sold and I have an order for another one that I'll be making so my prices are not unrealistic the problem is we are used to low pricing our craft fairs so when we see craft items out there being sold for higher prices we think okay that's just crazy she's not gonna get that yes I am I charge what the market will bear and that's how you guys need to start looking at it and it is very important that you aren't under valuing your work your time your skill and I can't say that enough because I don't and I get my worth when I'm selling these items you know you may be sitting out there saying I wouldn't pay you thirty five dollars for that that's okay you don't have to because some else will that's the whole point don't think that just because you priced it at a higher amount people aren't going to pay you five people might walk by your booth and say she's crazy I'm not paying her that but person number six will walk up and say oh my god did you you made this are you serious you made this it looks like it should be in a boutique I'll take two that's how it goes so don't undervalue yourself if you set your standards low then you're going to get a low return set your standards high and you'll get a higher return there's one thing that we need to discuss and I am it's a very sensitive subject for some people but I am going to talk about it because it's very important if you are doing craft fairs and you aren't doing too well you really need to sit back and ask yourself why even if your items are priced really really low and still aren't selling it could be several things causing that it could be that you're at the wrong craft fair or maybe your items aren't that great or maybe your skill isn't where it should be to be doing a craft fair and that is what I want to talk about because sometimes we do craft fairs before we have really mastered our craft and that lack of mastery shows in the quality of what you're attempting to sell guys you know if you're new to paper crafting you are not ready to do a craft fair you need to practice practice practice you really need to refine that skill before you go out and ask people to pay you their hard-earned money this is your brand and when you go to market with maybe not the best made or the best design or the best quality items you're hurting your brand wait do a craft fair once you have really mastered those skills and here's the deal a lot of times we'll make things when we're new crafters for our family and friends and family and friends can be very generous and compliments and they'll tell us how great it is but that doesn't mean that you're ready to do a craft fair that means that your family and friends appreciate what you did for them but they're not paying you for it and when you step out and ask people to pay you for it and you're not quite ready they're not going to practice practice and more practice is what it takes guys over the years I've seen pictures videos and in-person view of some crafting that has made me cringe and these crafts have been taken to craft fairs it's just not something you should be doing if you are seriously considering making craft fairs a normal part of your annual crafting history you just need to spend more time practicing you need to spend more time developing your skills you need to make sure you have the basics down and somebody should have been honest enough with these guys to say that they should have said not yet not yet I teach a lot of paper crafting in fact I'm doing some classes right now and the first thing that I asked people when they asked me if they can work with me is can you handle honest and constructive feedback because that is what I'm going to give you saying not good enough let's toss it and let's start over it's hard for them to hear at the moment but when they master that box the local pride makes that earlier unpleasant moment a distant memory one of my students calls me the I because I see every little misstep and as I tell her better that I see it than a customer so I'm saying all of this to say if you want to get the higher prices for your items your skill needs to be on point you cannot take substandard things to a crowd Fair and expect people to pay for them you cannot take things that look like they were made by a juvenile to craft fairs and expect people to give you their hard-earned money when you go to market with your crafts it should be of the highest quality handcrafted does not have to be perfect but it should be perfectly hand crafted think about that for a while being handcrafted shouldn't be something we hide behind to excuse vyas imperfections or poor craftsmanship guys that happens all the time oh well it's only handcrafted so it's never going to be perfect and you'll hear me say if sand craft it so it won't be perfect but usually it's about something so minor only I know I did it like removing two corner pieces instead of three if your edges don't line up if you're a box is crooked if the lid is too tight that's not because it's handcrafted and won't ever be perfect that's because you did it wrong don't try to sell those things to your customers your brand people it's about your brand and what do you want your brand to stand for you want it to stand for quality and you want it to stand for the highest level of craftsmanship so that you can get your money if you didn't make it well then it should not be a sale guys and I'm gonna say this again if you're brand new to paper crafting you are not ready to do a paper crafting crack there that might be hard to digest and I might lose some subscribers but it's true don't do it not yet practice practice practice and one day you will be ready and you can set yourself apart from every other table that's there now let's talk about rising again on another item so I'm going to bring in this beautiful beautiful scrap board that I made and I'm going to share with you the pricing on this bring in my paper here so on the board a chipboard by sister found chipboard from me at 899 for a pack of 25 I used one sheet that cost me 36 cents for my embellishments I have 60 cents worth of embellishments in this for my decorative paper I have two sheets of decorative paper on here and that's a dollar 66 for my cardstock I have 10 cents worth of cardstock on here take 50 cents glue 25 cents conventional wisdom would say take that 347 that it cost you to make it multiply it by three and your cost should be 1041 which would net me a profit of less than six dollars or about six dollars but I am charging for this 2250 so when I back out my 347 for my materials my profit becomes nineteen dollars and three cents and I think that that is a fair profit and why do I think that's a fair profit because I know my worth I know the quality of my items I know what I put into this and I know how will this is me so guys I'm gonna move on to another important thing about getting your money at craft fairs it is very important that if you decide to do a craft fair that you choose the right craft fair venue not all craft fairs are created equal so where you choose to show is important I have done some crappy craft fairs in my day and I'll share a story with you guys a few years back I did a craft because the friend convinced me that I should do one with her so I said okay never should have done it the location was crappy I drove by it several times before the actual event there was no promotion of it there was just a little yard sign out in front of the building when we got there to set up nothing was decorated they hadn't even set it up to even look like there was a Christmas craft fair about to take place but you know I was with her so I went ahead set up my table and you know what happened the heat went out and there was no heat in that place and it was cold so a few people with you know mosey on in stay a moment or two and then they leave because it was freezing amazingly I managed to sell three things but then I just said okay I can't take this I have to leave as two coals I packed my stuff up and I left so I have done some crappy craft fairs and that has helped me to become way more selective in how I choose my craft fair and here are some things that you need to look for when you're choosing to do a craft fair don't just do it because everyone else is doing that one is it right for your item and here are the things that you should be looking at where is the fair how long is the fair been in existence is it indoor outdoor what will the booth or the table rental cost be is there electricity provided how many days is the fair how much traffic does the fair historically generate that is very important because if the fair generates just a small amount of traffic don't waste your time on it you need to go where people are that's how you sell your items go where the people are another important thing who are the other vendors pay close attention to this one guys if it's overrun with one particular craft style let's say 80% of the tables have been rented to paper crafters that's too much and you don't want that much competition you don't want it just to be a paper crafting craft fair you want to see other styles and other crafters in there and you also want to pay attention to whether or not most of the other tables are commercial vendors and I'm not going to name any of those commercial vendors but you know there's a particular monogram bag vendor that's always at craft fairs you want to make sure that that's not what that Faire is all about if it's handcrafted most of the items there should be handcrafted so that you have a fair shot at being able to sell your items and then how is the Faire promoted is there a website are there signs out front do they have balloons and everything saying crowd faire coming is it a well-known Faire make sure that it's not just some fly-by-night Fair that was set up because the traffic won't be there and if the traffic isn't there then the money isn't there and then another one that is of interest to me is whether or not it's a juried versus a non juried craft fair if it is a non juried craft fair you can just purchase a table and you know go to town selling your items for juried craft fairs those are a little bit more selective you do pay probably more than likely you're going to pay a higher cost to participate and there is a selection group that will you know look at your items you'll have to send in something or send in pictures they'll look at your items and they'll say yes we would love to have this person in our craft fair and the one thing that comes out of that is because they are so selective they tend not to choose to many of the same type crafters so you have a much better shot of being a standout because you're not competing with 1213 other paper crafters you may be competing with two or three other paper crafters and you know what if your skill is right if your skill is tight you can take them no competition at all so I am going to share with you the cost associated with my final item and that is my 4x4 notepad set so in this little item we have three and a half sheets of paper at two dollars and ninety cents a sheet we have our embellishments at 40 cents we have lace at 17 cents glue at 25 cents tape 75 cents and sticky pads at 10 cents because I was able to find these at a huge sale at old-time pottery last year so my total cost for this rounded up is four dollars and 58 cents so if I again if I went with conventional wisdom and I priced this at three times the cost I would only charge $13.74 for this for this boxset I'm charging 30 dollars and when I minus out my 4 dollars and 58 cents my cost is $25 or my profit is 25 dollars and 42 cents and I make that profit this isn't me blowing smoke guys this is me sharing with you how I truly priced my items for sale and how I get the money for these items and you don't have to mark up to the levels that I'm marking up if you don't want to but I would say markup because items are being sold too low and I'm gonna keep saying this you guys are worth more than that and you need to know your Worth and you need to ask for what you're worth and you will get what you're worth some won't pay it some will it is as simple as that so I hope that you found this a little bit helpful in helping you how to decide on how to price your items versus how not to price them how to select your craft fair venues because those things are important and then also making sure that you are ready to do a craft fair and if you are ready and you know that you are crafting at the highest possible level and that your craft can't be touched by another crafter at that craft fair then go to market go to market and get your money because you're worth it so I am going to do another video and in that video I'm going to give you a quick glimpse of how I would set these items up I'm not going to set up a whole table because I don't have the room to do that and I don't have all the items to do that either so I'm going to set up just a small snapshot of how I would position these items on a table to draw that eye into my booth and once I get them in the booth guys I've got them once they make it over to my booth I've got them that debit card is coming out that credit card is coming out that green is coming out I've got them so that should be your goal quality crack fearing and getting your money is your goal and how do we get our money we know our worth it's that simple so I hope that this has been helpful I hope that I have not stepped on any toes I hope that I have not offended it's possible that I have that was not my intent my intent is to educate and help help you guys get your money so y'all have a great day happy crafting and we're gonna chat later [Music]

Channel: The Posh Paper Lady

Views: 58,520

Rating: 4.9368796 out of 5

Keywords: craft fair pricing, craft fair tips, get money

Id: mdRAtWyPcA4

Length: 32min 32sec (1952 seconds)

Published: Sat Jul 06 2019