Beaded Lily Amulet - $24.95
A lot of new sellers on Etsy and other online market places often post a similar question in the forums, “Are my prices too high? If I lower them will I get some sales?” Cue the unanimous answers, “NO!!! You should get paid for your time, supplies, hard work, yada, yada!” While these experienced sellers make good points, and have experience with selling, I have to disagree with them sometimes. Sometimes the new seller really IS pricing too high, especially for a new seller, with no feedback, reputation, customer base, and the competition is selling at half price. I usually get quickly knocked down for saying so, but I don’t think that all sellers should be paying themselves an hourly wage, especially not new ones. If I paid myself an hourly wage, my prices would be tremendous! As of right now, I will generally price a beaded bracelet between $6.95 to $14.95. I think that is fair price, it’s around what i would pay, and I think that it attracts more buyer who would otherwise say, “How pretty! But why so expensive?” If I gave myself minimum wage of say $8 an hour, plus supplies, my bracelets would have to be between $49.95 to $79.95. Yeah. Wayyy too much,. I think so too. call me cheap, but I too am a bargain hunter.
The bargain hunters have a poor reputation on Etsy. It’s associated with people who “shop at Wal-Mart” and “aren’t willing to pay for handmade what handmade is worth” etc. I get that. I get that something someone spent hours creating, designing, and making themselves should most definably cost more than what I would pay at a big box retailer. What I don’t understand is paying too much. For me, finding a bargain isn’t finding something cheap that is cheaply priced. It’s finding something QUALITY at a great deal. I don’t see what’s so wrong with that. Isn’t that the point of drawing in repeat customers with a coupon code and running a short-term sale? To draw in the bargain hunters?
Blue Rhinestone Bracelet - $9.95
I take pride in what I do. I love creating my own designs from my own patterns and making something beautiful that i hope someone will love nearly as much as I do. I don’t think I’m selling myself short to be able to offer my pieces to my customers at a fair price. I want individuals at all income levels to be able to treat themselves to one of my original creations, and maybe be able to afford a gift for someone else too. I do not support the belief that anyone who has low prices is only trying to out-bid the competition or doesn’t have confidence in their own work. I get a lot of fellow beaders on Etsy telling me that i need to raise my prices. While I appreciate the feedback and what I tend to take as a compliment, i plan on continuing to price as I see fit, fair, and suiting.
I know that this can be a controversial topic for some. So while I ask that you remain respectful, I would love to hear your thoughts on the subject.
