Beginners Guide to Marketing Your Crafts

There comes a point in time where you come to the realization that in order to make more room in your studio or craft area you will need to part with your creations. You have covered all the major holidays, birthdays, and anniversaries. You have even made up a few because your sure that somewhere in this whole wide world, some one is celebrating something and you present your craft as a gift to any available family member. If this is the case, you may want to consider selling your crafts.

This can be a scary task at first, because you're putting your self out there for public scrutiny of your creations when you start to sales in person. But you can do it, and the rewards are far greater than the Butterflies in your tummy. It just takes a bit of planning, time and motivation to do it.

The first thing you need to look at is what you have to sell and what price you want. It is good advice to take the time and see what others are charging for similar work and how they are presenting the product. This will give you an idea as to what the current market is like and will help you decide how to display your wares. You will find both ends of the spectrum in pricing while out looking. Some will be overpriced and often this is due to the artist's personal attachment to the piece or you will find work that is way to low and often indicates an artist that is either just starting out or simply just wants to sell something.

Try to find a happy medium with your idea of pricing. A good formula that has worked for me is taking the price of your materials needed for the piece and then double that amount. This is my base price and if a piece is more time consuming you add a bit more. For example; $5.00 in materials, then double it to $10.00. If it took you a bit of time add a few more dollars. But keep in mind while pricing the item, what you would pay for this if you were the buyer. If you could find similar items, such as a pair of earrings for $7.00 made with the same type of stones, as a consumer would you pay $15.00?