Do you crochet/craft for others? Do you get orders, requests, or have a store? Crocheting takes a lot of time, and I have trouble pricing out my pieces. Any tips, for those aspiring entrepreneurs out there? For those who crochet/craft for others (out of the goodness in their heart), what do you do about particular people? Someone who wants it a specific style, shape, color, etc. I’d love to hear your experiences and any advice you have learned from crafting for others. Please share!
I have gotten a few commissions lately, and have been working hard to get them completed. All of the requests have been bags/purses and I feel like I’m beginning to find my niche in crochet. I love making purses, the projects can be as intricate as you want or as simple as you want. Plus, if your outfit isn’t flashy, a purse can bring some flair. I am all about dressing simply and adding spice with the accessory.
My boho bag has been very popular. I have two ready for delivery and one halfway done. The lining went easier, but is still very time consuming.
I am also continuing my love affair with freeform. I am in the process of making an evening bag for my mom. It is working up much faster than the first bag, hopefully I’ll have a finished purse by next week.
Like I said, I would love to hear about your experiences when crocheting/crafting for others. Have a great rest of the week and Happy Crocheting!
Crochet539 
Hi. Beautiful bags! 🙂 I very rarely sell something or get any orders but recently this app was mentioned in one crochet group in Facebook called “Craft Pricing Calculator”. Maybe that helps? Otherwise with smaller projects I have counted the hours that it takes to make it, then thought of how much I ask for an hour of my time and multiplied it with the spent hours then added the cost of a yarn. But it depends on the region, there is no way that I could sell something with the same price in Estonia as I have seen some people do in the USA. I hope that helps.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=co.uk.handmadeaberdeenshire.craftpricingcalculator&hl=et
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Thanks for sharing! I will definitely check the calculator out🙂. It’s very difficult trying to price out handmade goods especially in a global marketplace! I appreciate your thoughts!
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I only sell a small bit of crochet , mostly hats/scarves that kind of thing as it quick to make. It can be tricky to price but include for materials & labour & any other costs . Don’t under price yourself .
I had a woman querying me lately why a piece in my shop cost bla bla as it was only a bit of material ! A lot of time & effort goes into each piece & if you want something cheap n cheerful there’s always penny’s ( cheap store over here )
Best of luck !
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Great points! I have a habit of underpricing especially when I’m making for someone I know! It’s important to remember all the time and work that goes into each project. I like your answer to anyone who questions it!
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Yes and it does take time and effort doesn’t it. People don’t seem to realise this .
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This is something I’m thinking carefully about, as I’ve been asked to do classes and supply kits. Never having done anything for money before, I’m finding this difficult. Thanks for bringing up this sensitive topic!
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No problem! I think this is something that a lot of crafters wonder about. I figure, the more we share the better we are!
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My hubby always says I sell too cheap. He says to sell it for what I think it’s worth and if others question it, they are not the customers you want. Easier said than done but I like his thinking. I have given away a lot and have made requests. Selling I’ve mostly done at craft sales at the school where I work. It’s only once a year and this last one, I sold more of my dolls toys at the price I asked for. No one questioned the pricing. In previous years they did so I felt really good this last year. If I ever end up trying Etsy or my own shop, I’m going to price how I want and see what happens.
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Your hubby has good advice. It is just hard to follow this rule when I’d crochet for free! Great job on the craft fair, it proves his point!
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I don’t take orders because as soon as someone wants to pay me for a project, I lose interest in it. I do occasionally take requests from family or very special friends if I really Iike a particular pattern. For instance, I’m making an afghan for a friend right now. She is paying me the cost of the yarn, because that was what I asked. Any more than that and it becomes a job.
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I totally respect that! My dad was a good wood worker but he never sold his items (& he could have) because didn’t want to be stressed out doing something he liked. I am more entrepreneurial, although it’s always more fun making what I want 😉.
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I would love to make a business of it, I don’t know why I suddenly lose interest when someone wants to pay me for something I am making, lol.
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Ha! There’s just so much more exciting things to make 😀!
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I sell and it’s not easy, especially if you want to make it a business. I have a website and fb page and most of the time I struggle to get my pre made stuff sold but get more private custom requests. I think it’s important that you know what you want to sell. Before you even go with pricing. Define yourself, crochet has so many things to make and its important you don’t just throw hundreds of different things at people because they don’t know where to start. I now focus on soft toys and started to make baby clothes, with the odd blanket. If you see your bags are a great item and sell them focus on things that do well for you – now the most important is pricing. Its easy for people to say add the total of materials, plus the time it takes and add the wage for yourself. Sadly I don’t believe it works that way because a specific audience or type of customer will always shop. No way shape or form should you under sell yourself!!!! Because hand making something takes a long time but remember would you buy a handmade bag that totals up at 150? As long as I make sure my costs of supplied are covered and then some because if your starting out and are really recognised as a crochet designer your high prices might or won’t appeal. Once you’ve found a comfortable zone and price area you want to be in – it may well be you want to be target those who are willing to splash then that’s when you can make adjustments. I’m no way a business expert but this is coming from experience. I know that if you sell at craft fairs a slightly higher price it will sell but at stuff like family fun day fairs or Christmas fairs people will be looking for a bargain. It’s not always this way because some people don’t and never will understand the time, the sweat and tears that goes into making handmade items and that’s the reality. Sorry for the long post xx
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All good points. I agree that finding a specific niche is important. I have tried to sell everything and all it does is make my shop/booth look messy. Finding a niche has been 5 years in the making, but I finally have some clarity! I also agree that until you’ve established yourself, coming up with a fair, but reasonable price is important! Thanks Rebecca!
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Pricing is so difficult! I have done alterations once in awhile, and I finally came up with $30/hour for actual hands on sewing and ripping, once I had worked through how to do it in my head. That seems to work for alterations, which frankly are usually friends. I don’t feel I’ve undersold myself that way. Custom work is harder to price. My advice is to negotiate up front. Do your homework, and have an idea how much time you will invest, the ballpark it on the high side, but as more of a starting bid, giving the customer the option of countering. You don’t have to take the counter bid if it’s too low, but it still provides info about how others value a custom project. That will give real info that might help you find an acceptable price point for you and the public.
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I usually underestimate the time it takes to make something. I agree, ball parking custom work on the high side and leaving room for negotiation is a good idea. Thanks!
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I’ve only had a couple of commissions so far, and if this is the way they all go then I really prefer surprising people with crochet rather than trying to meet their expectations. Especially when they say they don’t mind about the colours, but when you show them your choices they hate it!
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I’ve definitely had that experience! Good luck!
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I have only made things for family and friends and have either given it to them for free or for just the price of the yarn. I have been wondering if I should or could start selling items but the pricing thing is what really throws me off too. I know that we all should be paid fairly for our labor but then I think – well if I pay myself $10 an hour (which is minimum wage here in CT) plus the price of the yarn – I think that my prices would be too high. Maybe someone would buy it eventually but maybe they wouldn’t and then I wouldn’t be making any money at all. I also find it hard to consider crocheting as work. I love to crochet and the thought of making any profit at all seems good enough for me. Even though I’ve found my “crochet voice” it’s more about confidence and design concepts. I still am all over the place with what I make, so no niche for me yet. If purses is what you go with – and you make beautiful purses by the way – you should research what everyone else is charging to try to gauge a fair price. I can see your boho bag selling really well – it’s gorgeous! 😀
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Thank you! I think pricing is tricky no matter how you look at it. My boho bag has been selling and I worried that I underpriced it. Luckily the more I crochet it the easier and faster it is to put a bag together, so my time is better paid as I go. If that makes sense. I think that’s why custom orders should always be marked up, it always takes a lot more time the first time around.
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Oh that makes perfect sense Brenna! I didn’t even think about that. Custom should always be marked up – as well as a fee for expedited delivery if anyone needs something before a certain date. And if you sell your free form bags those should be much higher priced for being one of a kind bags. Thinking of selling things is scary but super exciting too!! 😀
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I have a store and use a basic formula to figure out pricing, but it’s one of the hardest aspects for me. I used to make knit baby blankets when I first started and will all the labor that went into it, the prices seemed too high for people. So I stopped making them and gave away the remaining few to people I knew. Don’t under value your labor, it really is a labor of love to make products by hand. Good luck!
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I agree! I am starting to ask a fairer price and I’m finding that people who appreciate handmade will pay for it. Thankyou, and thanks for following!
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It’s really hard to make money from your own creations. More often than not we actually lose money, especially when you invest in good yarn. My mum sells a lot online and most of the time she tries to cover the cost of the material +add a bit more on top. For example recently I made a blanket – it took me over 300 hours to make so if I had to sell it for profit it would need to be in the thousands. However people would probably pay no more than £150 for it. But that’s ok, I don’t make them for the money but to make people happy 😊
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You are very right. Most people don’t understand the time it takes to create something by hand. I am realizing that the stuff I make to sell has to be done in a reasonable amount of time. What I make for myself is totally different because I get to keep it. Custom work is where things get tricky.
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