I love crocheting. It’s so fun and satisfying. It feels GOOD to make things out of yarn, with my own two hands. I’m obsessed with all the colors I get to use (and buy). My friends keep telling me my stuff is amazing. I can make badass stuff that I KNOW people will want to buy. They will buy it, right? As long as it’s priced right?
Maybe I should knock off $10. That price feels better, maybe more realistic. People won’t complain or turn away from that price. Let’s see if I sell more now.
(meanwhile, your shoulders slump and your stomach falls away from your body as you realize you’ll have made $5/hour on that beanie…)
Oh STOP doing this to yourself!!
I know, I get it. Your products can’t be too expensive, or no one will by them. Your products can’t take too long to make, or they will be too expensive.
So, there is a sweet spot of products. A scarf will probably never be in that sweet spot.
You need to figure out which products fit into both of these categories: which products you can price at a rate you like, but that don’t make a customer turn away.
If you don’t do this, you will never feel fully gratified with your business.
Yes, you can still make a scarf! But it doesn’t have to be a part of your business inventory! I LOVE making beanies. They bring me a lot of joy to make. But when I plug the stitch count into my pricing calculator, it tells me I should charge $60, which *most* of my customers aren’t willing to pay. So instead of undercutting myself in my business and lowering the price, I just make them and donate them to charities. I also give them as gifts to friends and family. And then I make other, different things to sell. Everyone wins!
Here are some tips so you can stop undercharging and start thinking more like a business owner:
- Make your things smaller. Just downsize a little. And a little more. And keep going until it becomes a problem, then go back up one size.
- Figure out how to make your things faster. Think about what non-crochet detailing you are doing and if it’s worth that extra cost to your customer.
- Use thicker yarn.
- Make small things.
- Make tiny things.
- Make three leaves instead of five.
- CHEAT and get a whole list of already-successful products that I can (and do) charge $30/hour for. With patterns. You might still have time to whip these up for Christmas markets because they are FAST patterns.
Yes, there are *some* larger or more detailed items that will take you a long time, and you can charge a few hundred dollars for them and people will buy them. I usually only have one or two of those in my inventory at any point, like my $198 gorgeous drawstring backpack (pattern coming soon!).
But not blankets. Never blankets. Let your very patient and dedicated grandma make the big-ass blanket. It brings her joy.
And if you’re not using a calculator yet to price your items, for the love of yarn USE THIS ONE. It will blow your mind. Then it will save your business.
There’s more where that came from, love. Get all my FREE crochet business advice here!