Ruffle Scarf-o-Rama

I finally found an item that I can craft in 30 minutes or less, making the labor cost minimal. Honestly, when you buy and sell handmade, labor is almost always going to be the sticking point. The formula recommended is (labor cost per hour)x(hours to make)+(overhead)+(materials cost)=cost per item. Multiply cost x 2 for wholesale, multiply wholesale x 2 for retail. A lot of crafters out there sell at or below cost. I'd venture to say most do, because they are trying to compete with mass produced items. It's OK for a hobby, I guess, but it really doesn't make sense to sell if you're not going to charge a reasonable price. It's essentially giving your time away for free.

For example. Each coaster I make takes me 2.5 hours to physically make it. That doesn't include time I spent creating the pattern, or time I spent photographing and listing the item, packaging and mailing the item (not shipping costs, just my time), or money it costs to list and sell the item. Minimum wage in my state is $8 per hour. A skilled artisan should make more than that, but we'll start there to begin our formula. For now, I'll add a half hour of time and 20 cents to my overhead, which is the cost to list an item on Etsy. There are more fees involved, but it's hard to calculate them out in advance since they are a percentage of your sale price.

3 hours times $8 per hour is $24.
Plus about $1.50 in supplies
Plus that $.20 in fees
So my cost should be $25.70 for a single coaster. Wholesale should be $51.40. Retail should be $102.80. That pesky transaction fee is 3.5%, so it would add a cost of $3.60 up front. Which bumps my cost up to $29.30, so wholesale becomes $58.60, and retail is $117.20. That $3.60 becomes $4.10 and I am sure there is a formula which would help in this situation but I didn't feel like doing the algebra. You get the point, though. My eventual retail price comes out to $119.52. Cost including labor is $29.88. For one single coaster. Even if I sold at cost, with fees it comes out to $26.63.

Want to guess what I'm listing my coasters at right now? $25 for a set of two. Not sustainable, but again, this is my hobby. I'm not thinking about scalability in this case. I make them slowly, and I sell them slowly.

On the other hand, these cute little ruffle scarves are fast, fast, fast. Price for the yarn has ranged from $4-$6 or more. But check out the formula:
1/2 hour times 8=$4
Materials=$6
10.20 cost, 20.40 wholesale, 40.80 retail. After jumping through all of the fee hoops I get $47.44 retail. I'm currently selling them for $20, but at least $50 for a scarf isn't unheard of as a concept.

So. I found some grab bags of four skeins each of neon colored ribbon yarn, to start with. I made these 4 and a purple one, and am considering getting some more in neon yellow.

Next, I got some sporty colored yarn, two different types.

Then I found the glittery holiday type yarn, which has been my favorite to work with so far.

Lastly, some purples. Meant for people who like purple or red-hat-ladies. Either/or. There's a whole crew of them who go to Baker's Square on pie day. I'm thinking of crashing sometime. I've been wearing the multicolor purple one around just as a test, and I love it. I still have it listed for sale as I have materials to make a new one immediately if I get an order.

Anyhow. Yes, I know my product photography is worse than ever. It's a space/light/camera issue. I hope to have it sorted out soon. Next time: adventures in needlepoint.

Back in Crafts

In the last couple of months, I've been busy making new coasters and scarves. More specifics on them in a later post.

I made the decision to attempt to clear out my backstock of crocheted items made (mostly) prior to 2011. All the old scarves and baby blankets are on a steep clearance (think 75-90% off) while they last. Luckily, they had all been carefully stored in a dust-free location, so they are all as fresh as the day I put them away. I'm at a point where I'm kind of done experimenting with specialty fibers, at least in non bridal crochet pieces.

Then, business being business, I had to up the prices of my coasters. They still aren't where they should be, for the time I put into them, but I think they are still reasonably priced for what they are. They also seem to last forever--my first one ever has been on Dan's desk at work for 7 or 8 years now. All it needs is quick rinse in the sink whenever something gets spilled on it, but other than that, it's just holding on and looking great. I realized though that by pricing at a bare minimum, I can't ever offer discounts. And I love a good discount! So I immediately put up a 10% off coupon. Good through Christmas. Details in every listing.

I finally got on Instagram, which has been fun. I'm still sharing it all on Facebook, too, but it's fun to tap a potentially new audience. I'm still working on remembering to hashtag things properly. Photography is still my nemesis. Considering recruiting a few friends as models and photographers to get better product photos for my new line of scarves. More on that next time.

Coming back?

Tap. Tap tap. Is this thing on?

Ahem. It's been awhile. I had about 7 draft posts partially written, and I just deleted all of them without even reading what was there. Suffice it to say that I was stuck. Slowly, bit by bit, I've been coming back. And I think I'm finally ready to write again.

Sam started Kindergarten this year. It's full day in our state, so he is gone from 9 to 4 every day of the week. I'm slowly getting back on top of my housework after a difficult summer. And, I'm back to crafting regularly as Auntie Mel. More about that next post.

In the meantime, here is Sam in his Halloween costume. He was Toad from Super Mario Bros this year.