Selling your wares - part 1

So you are creative?
You are actually creating stuff?
What next? You'd like to maybe sell some of your stuff? Yes?

woman selling to man by waytobead

What are your options?

1. Friends and relatives.
Including your neighbours, word of mouth, your or your partners workplace, other places you frequent eg playgroup.

This is often where we all start.
You know you have a few items and show your friends and they are fabulously encouraging, they buy some pieces for themselves or gifts and word spreads.

And you could just stay with this - BUT it is a very limited market.
You want to spread your wings and expand your horizons.
You never really leave these first customers behind, they'll always be there and could be your best advertising.

Here are some ideas for selling your wares in the wider world and I'll come back to them indetail over the next days/weeks and maybe get some discussion going and idea sharing.

vintage salesmanship book by dustylorraine

2. Party plan

3. Markets

4. Art shows

5. B & M (bricks and mortar)

6. On-line

Feel free to share your experiences of how you got started.

Are your family and friends your best customers?

Pricing your goods

A comment by Carole last week prompted me to look at the issue of pricing our handmade goodies.

Her comment was about underpricing.

I'm sure we've all seen them - the sellers who underprice their goods.
They say "it's just a hobby" or "I dont want to make much money" or "it might affect my pension" or "I add 50cents on - that's enough" or "I'd rather sell them for x than have them sitting here unsold".

But maybe it's something we all do sometimes.
Maybe because we don't value what we do enough.

Perhaps we don't really know how to price our goods.

There are many formulae around and I'm sure we all have our own favorite.

Meylah has got a great download - 10 tips for pricing your products.

I really like this because it has a few options.
I'd be interested to know what you think.

I have a different equations for different things that I make.
I make a huge variety of things. Some use expensive components but don't take much time whereas others use relatively inexpensive materials but take forever to make!
(eg knitting and beadweaving)


Some I price "up" because people are prepared to pay more for those.
So the quicker higher profit items subsidise my more labour intensive products.

Do you have a method that works for you?
Feel free to share - I'd love to hear your opinion.