I received a great question on how to price weaves and I’m always hesitant to give advice on this because honestly I don’t have a perfect answer myself. But I thought it can be helpful to others if I just talk about my experience which can be used as a starting point.
Along with this blog where I teach things I’ve learned about weaving, I also sell some of my weaves on Etsy. I like using that platform to sell my weaves, but whenever I’m listing a weave I’m hit with that dreaded question of how to price it.
I would love for anyone who wants one of my weaves to have it, but I have to find that balance between pricing it enough based on materials and the time it took to make the weave and having a price that isn’t too high.
Here are some of the things I consider when pricing my weaves:
- I’ll look around at some other shops that are selling weaves and get a general idea of what weaves are selling for. This is a really good starting point, but more needs to go into your pricing.
- How large is the weave? I have grouped a lot of my weaves into size categories, which also helps me set prices for them. Usually smaller weaves take less time to make. This isn’t always true, but this helps me categorize most of my weaves into pricing tiers. If I do come across a weave that is smaller, but took more time because it was a very complicated design then I’ll make note of that when setting the price.
- Which leads me to, how complicated is your weave process? Are you weaving quick rows of large yarn or are you weaving intricate pictures, changing colors often? This should go into consideration of your pricing.
- What materials are you using? Are you weaving with very expensive or unique yarns that are hard to find? The materials you use can drive up your expenses and should be considered when you’re pricing your weaves.
- What is your level of experience? This is a very personal question, but it should also be considered. Those just starting out will not usually have the experience to weave as well as they will be able to with time. Although this is not always the case, some people just have a natural talent right from the start and can weave high quality work. This is just something to consider when pricing your weaves, it might make sense to start with lower prices as your just starting out and then raise them as you develop your skills over time.
- Always be open to experimenting with your prices. Start at what you think is fair and then make changes from there such as lowering your price if you feel you aren’t selling enough or maybe raise your prices if all your work sells out super quickly. But don’t fall into the trap of underpricing your work, because the price has to make sense for your time and materials expenses.
- Don’t forget about packaging! You’re going to need to spend some on the packaging of your weaves when someone does make a purchase. This can include packaging you mail your weave in, packaging you might wrap your weave in, any cards or notes you’ll send along with your package, etc.
There is also a good article on Etsy that gets more into the numbers of pricing your work. I think this article is also helpful to get you thinking the right way about pricing.
Hopefully this is helpful to get you thinking about all the factors to pricing. Just make sure you value your time appropriately, you don’t want to under price yourself, but you also don’t want to over price and sell nothing. Finding that balance is the hardest part.
I would love to hear if you have other advice or thoughts on pricing your work. I love to hear how others deal with this.
Happy Weaving!
Kate
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