Pricing Custom Crafts

Pricing custom crafts is a little different from pricing stock items for your craft shows..

Each custom craft is unique, usually one of a kind, and therefore special attention is needed when working out a price for your special order.

You need to work out the dollar/per hour you would like to make, now this is the difficult part, you want to be paid for your expertise, but you don't want to scare them and send them running for the hills either!

If you are knitting a sweater, for example, this could take days, so in this case the best thing to do would be to look at sweaters in specialty shops, and see what they sell for..and price accordingly, you need to also allow for your supplies, unless your customer has supplied you with those.

Sometimes in sewing, the customer will purchase the pattern, fabric and notions for you to piece it all together.. in which case you try to estimate how long it will take for you to cut out this pattern, sew it together, have a couple of fittings and then have a finished product.

Customers usually will pay for quality work, (of course not all of them!! there are the odd people who think you should make them something for free!).. this is your business and your time.. if you start giving away freebies, or barely make money, then it will be hard to get a good reputation for the quality of your work.. do NOT undersell yourself.. if they lift an eyebrow at your price, and you have done your research on comparible products, then "let them go" as a customer, they are not willing to pay for quality..

If its just a matter of making something you are set up to make all the time and all they want is maybe.. a different colour?.. then you do not need to ask too much more, but to make something from scratch for someone that will take your time and energy, do NOT be scared to ask for what you feel its worth!