The Cost of Handmade

[MakinTheBestOfIt]

It was the comments that really got me going.  Talk about 5 different sides of an argument.  Anyways, you all know how I feel about handmade, but Andrew still has to remind me constantly to price my work fairly so that I am not working for pennies an hour.  We are almost trained to think of crafting as cheap...but if you go to a gallery and buy an "artisan" piece you expect to pay high prices for it.  Maybe we need to start referring to ourselves as artists rather than crafters if only because we can't expect the public to see us as artists if we don't see ourselves as such.

I had not read the comments before - heck I hadn't even looked at the blog the 1st time I replied to this. - but wow the comments are all over the place!  I think one that I liked the most was an answer to "how long did that take" Ans: " between 1/2hr and most of my life" something to that effect -  that is so true in many respects.  Someone suggested putting time spent and material amt  on the price tag - interesting idea - anyone ever try that???

I saw that and honestly am thinking of trying it on the jewelry pieces.  Maybe not the hours spent but at least the silver weight which will fend off at least some of the comments when they find out what the cost of silver is per ounce.

[LisaE]

It was the comments that really got me going.  Talk about 5 different sides of an argument.  Anyways, you all know how I feel about handmade, but Andrew still has to remind me constantly to price my work fairly so that I am not working for pennies an hour.  We are almost trained to think of crafting as cheap...but if you go to a gallery and buy an "artisan" piece you expect to pay high prices for it.  Maybe we need to start referring to ourselves as artists rather than crafters if only because we can't expect the public to see us as artists if we don't see ourselves as such.

I had not read the comments before - heck I hadn't even looked at the blog the 1st time I replied to this. - but wow the comments are all over the place!  I think one that I liked the most was an answer to "how long did that take" Ans: " between 1/2hr and most of my life" something to that effect -  that is so true in many respects.  Someone suggested putting time spent and material amt  on the price tag - interesting idea - anyone ever try that???

I saw that and honestly am thinking of trying it on the jewelry pieces.  Maybe not the hours spent but at least the silver weight which will fend off at least some of the comments when they find out what the cost of silver is per ounce.

I don't really think that putting those details will make a difference.  Someone either appreciates handcrafted and one of a kind and is willing to pay a premium for it, or not.  We will never appeal to bargain hunters.

[Chainmaille By MBOI]

LisaE just wrote a post and I put it up here  http://handmadeartistsforum.com/pricing-handmade/ for those who want to comment

[Dragonclaw]

Well stated Lisa... The site would not let me leave a comment on the blog There is also the expense of (and time spent) at shows. setting up and being at the show to sell your art...

[LisaE]

Thanks Matt.

[lisianblue]

Great post Lisa - love the comments too!~

[LisaE]

Great post Lisa - love the comments too!~

Thanks, the topic even inspired me to write my first blog post.