Gayle Bair on sun 24 sep 00
Dear Liz,
I share your love of making teapots though
my experience has been only about 3 years.
I must be doing something right as everyone of them
have sold, some as soon as they were taken out of the kiln.
My problem is how to price them. I spend a long time
on them and am always in a quandary about pricing. Do
I live with making less than third world country minimum wage?
Can I charge over $100 for a teapot that is one of a kind,
intricately carved and glazed?
Do I not think about either of those questions and just charge
$65 for every teapot?
Do you have a formula for pricing them that you could share?
Am I opening up a can of worms? Should I get my fishing gear ready?
Regarding handles I like to take a piece of soft clay roll it into a
coil then holding both ends slap it on a flat surface usually a masonite
bat.
It stretches into very nice fluid shapes. I roll or sponge
the sides. I frequently use a textured surface for the last slap.
I always make extra lids, handles, and spouts. I can then mix and match.
Gayle Bair- working on 5 teapots right now... perhaps 1 or 2 will sing!
Perhaps 1 or 2 will survive! Who knows....Tune in next week for "As the
Wheel Turns"
Liz Willoughby on sun 24 sep 00
Here's some thoughts on teapots, I love making them, and have learned
more from making them over the last 27 years than working on any
other form. There are all those appendages to deal with, there is
balance to deal with, and then there is how they look and how heavy
they are.
If you are interested in making teapots that are functional, NOT a
production line, but have an aesthetic sense along with function,
work in a series of 2 or 3. I still work this way. It takes me so
long to work through a teapot, that if I try to do more, it is too
frustrating. Too much to focus on. Now I know that a lot of people
will disagree with me here. But it is how I work.
If you are just starting out making teapots, learn the basics first.
Learn how to make a spout that won't drip, a lid that won't fall out
and a handle that is comfortable to hold. Choose a form for the main
body that is going to be functional. When that is under your belt,
move on.
Handles can be pulled, made from a rolled over edge of a bowl (which
dries in a natural curve), made from a large coil, or put a fat coil
over a dowel, roll it, take the dowel out or use a thin slab, and
then roll it for a handle. Possibilities are endless.
Spouts, can be thrown, or from a slab, or from the clay over dowel method.
Think about having some continuity in your elements of design. Like
spout and handle, or knob and feet.
I like to put holes in for a strainer, JUST in case someone from the
dark ages still uses tea leaves.
Pay attention to detail. Use a good functional glaze. LOOK at the
teapot as you are making it and assembling it. It will talk to you.
Often it will tell you WHAT needs to be done to make it aesthetically
appealing.
Meticulously loose Liz
Liz Willoughby
R.R. 1
2903 Shelter Valley Rd.
Grafton, Ontario
Canada. K0K 2G0
e-mail, lizwill@phc.igs.net
Gayle Bair on mon 25 sep 00
Thanks Liz. I'm thinking that I won't
feel guilty putting a $100+ price tag
on the ones that sing!
Gayle
Snip>
Pricing one's work is always a dilemma. Especially for teapots, when
one spends so much time on them. I would say that if they are selling
SO well, then perhaps you should raise your prices. I quite often put
a higher price on teapots that are "winners". I also put aside the
ones that really sing, for exhibitions, or shows.
The problem that I have, and I am sure others have as well, is that
if you price them too high, they end up on a shelf, and not used.
And I like my teapots to be used. Mine retail between $100 to $130.
If they are exhibition pieces they might be priced higher.
Lee Jaffe on mon 25 sep 00
I really recommend finding a copy of Japanese Teapots from the Form
and Function
Series. It features page after page of teapot shapes. There is one
page dedicated
just to the different patterns of strainer holes. There is one page
of bird's-eye
views and another showing the line of lugs and lids. The book is
hard to find --
I searched for months before finding a copy and it doesn't show up in
any of the
used book services I checked -- but well-worthwhile if you can find it.
-- Lee Jaffe
Cindy Strnad on mon 25 sep 00
Hi, Gayle.
You wrote: Frequently I will really love a piece and be unwilling to
part with it so I use my special pricing system.
I think of how much $ would make it ok for me to part with it.
Ok, I agree it's not a very scientific system but makes me
feel good.>>
I know all about that 'special pricing system'. I've tried it, too,
and in my experience it's almost guaranteed to insure the pot you wanted to
keep will sell. Those extra special pots, the ones I put "ridiculous" prices
on never ever make it past the first customer of the day. (keep in mind I'm
wholesaling--I'm not talking about shows) But hey, I got my price, so I
can't complain. If you really, really want to keep it, though, best leave it
home. Imagine what you might be offered if you just wrote "not for sale".
People always want what they can't have.
Cindy Strnad
Earthen Vessels Pottery
RR 1, Box 51
Custer, SD 57730
USA
earthenv@gwtc.net
www.earthenvesselssd.com
Cindy Strnad on mon 25 sep 00
Hi, Gayle.
Figuring out an appropriate price is really a lot of work. First, and
easiest, you need to know the cost of the clay and glaze, and electricity to
fire it. Second, you need to know how much time you spent on the pot. Third,
what wage do you want to receive. This is only the beginning.
What is your annual production? What is the cost of your kiln, wheel, and
other equipment, and if they're financed, the interest you're spending on
that loan? If they're not financed, how much profit could you be making on
the money you spent to purchase them? How much space do you use for
production, and what is the cost of that space and of maintaining it? How
much time and money do you spend marketing your work to the non-potting
world?
Finally, when you've figured all this up, does the teapot merit an
additional price increase for the intangible value of your artistic touch?
In other words, does this teapot "sing"? If it does, you deserve a premium
for the song.
After you've done all the figures (if you do--I must admit I'm still putting
it off), I very much doubt you'll hesitate to mark a price in excess of $100
on a piece that merits it. If you can't get that price, and you want your
business to be profitable, you'll have to stick to making teapots for
yourself and other forms for the business, or find another marketing
strategy.
Don't be too surprised, though, if those teapots sell anyhow. I've found
that people don't pay as much attention to the prices of my wares as I do.
I've marked up and marked up, and it hasn't made a difference. I'm not out
of line, or unrealistic, I don't think, but I deserve a fair wage for my
work. So do you.
Cindy Strnad
Earthen Vessels Pottery
RR 1, Box 51
Custer, SD 57730
USA
earthenv@gwtc.net
www.earthenvesselssd.com
Martin Howard on mon 25 sep 00
Liz wrote:-
dark ages still uses tea leaves.>
In the UK lots of us still use tea leaves, as well as herbal teas from the
garden. Many of the more discerning teas from specialist shops, as well as
some supermarkets, still use loose tea rather than tea bags.
So we are living in the dark ages? OK.
And I thought we just had more taste:-)
I would not buy or make a tea pot which did not have straining holes.
Martin Howard
Webb's Cottage Pottery
Woolpits Road, Great Saling
BRAINTREE, Essex CM7 5DZ
England
martin@webbscottage.co.uk
Cindy Strnad on mon 25 sep 00
Martin Howard wrote:
>>In the UK lots of us still use tea leaves, as well as herbal teas from the
garden. Many of the more discerning teas from specialist shops, as well as
some supermarkets, still use loose tea rather than tea bags.
So we are living in the dark ages? OK.
And I thought we just had more taste:-)
-----------------------------------------------------
Martin made me re-think the tea leaf thing, Liz. After his gentle
prodding, I decided to try loose tea, and it's very nice. Though I've
purchased a couple of tea balls, it is nice to have the strainer holes. It's
kind of a toss-up, however. They make the pot harder to glaze and harder to
clean once it's found its way into home use, but they do make it more
versatile.
The way I make my strainers may be of interest to some of the other teapot
makers on the list. I learned it from a MN potter whose name I cannot,
unfortunately, remember.
I made a little wooden "hammer" by gluing a short section of large dowel
onto the end of a strip of trim wood. I first rounded off the end of the
dowel so it's similar in size and profile to the end of a broom handle. In
fact, you could use a broom handle, but I wanted mine kept on the broom.
I hold the spout up to the barely leather-hard pot and mark its intended
sticking place with a needle tool. I then use the little hammer tool to
pound an indentation into the pot at the place which will be covered with
the spout. Using the hammer, rather than only my fingers, allows me to do
this more easily without causing the clay to crack. Once I have the
indentation nearly finished, I smooth it out with my fingers. Let it dry a
bit, then use a drill bit to make as many holes as will fit.
The idea is to increase the surface area of the strainer so more liquid can
enter the spout, more quickly than would otherwise be possible. This
obviously improves the flow. Teapots that merely dribble aren't much fun.
This method also thins the clay in the strainer area so that it doesn't take
on as much glaze, and is therefore less likely to become clogged by flowing
glaze. Of course, you still want to check to make sure the holes aren't
clogged, but the thin clay does help quite a lot.
Cindy Strnad
Earthen Vessels Pottery
RR 1, Box 51
Custer, SD 57730
USA
earthenv@gwtc.net
www.earthenvesselssd.com
Gayle Bair on mon 25 sep 00
Hi Cindy,
Great advice! Now I have to take a hard look
at what you have said! Perhaps I will make
the teapots for me and just display them with
the prices they deserve. The person who is willing
to spend $100+ will be someone who hears the song
it sings.
To ensure sales I'll make items that sell well in the
$10 - 40 range. I have noticed from one month at the local
farmers market that the pricey pieces are usually impulse
purchases. Saturday a woman bought a mosaic wall art piece
for $95. She was not a "local". She was visiting
and waiting for her son who was in a tennis tournament.
She saw the piece... it sang to her... she bought it!
Frequently I will really love a piece and be unwilling to
part with it so I use my special pricing system.
I think of how much $ would make it ok for me to part with it.
Ok, I agree it's not a very scientific system but makes me
feel good.
Now on the other hand I have lowered the price for some people because
they connected with a piece but couldn't afford it. Yes, I'm nuts,
but I do see rewards. I love to see the joy when someone hears the
song and tells me where they will put the piece and how happy it makes
them. Fortunately for me, as you probably can tell, I do not depend on
my pottery sales for survival and I can take these luxuries.
Last November I did a show that had a poor turnout. One of the
people there was a jeweler. The show was a bust she didn't
sell one piece. She loved one of my teapots. It was a second. I
explained where the flaw was and gave it to her. She was elated.
She came to the farmer's market last week and bought a $65 plate.
Recently I decided to retire several pieces that I love and
would not feel good parting with no matter what prices I put on them.
Some day I may be able to let them go but not now. They are
early pieces that still sing to me and I am happy to listen.
Thanks Cindy, for making me take a hard close look at the way I operate!
Gayle Bair-always listening for those pieces that sing!
Snip>
Figuring out an appropriate price is really a lot of work. First, and
easiest, you need to know the cost of the clay and glaze, and electricity to
fire it. Second, you need to know how much time you spent on the pot. Third,
what wage do you want to receive. This is only the beginning.
Snip>
Liz Willoughby on mon 25 sep 00
>Dear Gayle,
It sounds like you are smitten with teapots too, and it sounds like
your customers are as well. It's a shot in the arm.
>
>I share your love of making teapots though
>my experience has been only about 3 years.
>I must be doing something right as everyone of them
>have sold, some as soon as they were taken out of the kiln
Pricing one's work is always a dilemma. Especially for teapots, when
one spends so much time on them. I would say that if they are selling
SO well, then perhaps you should raise your prices. I quite often put
a higher price on teapots that are "winners". I also put aside the
ones that really sing, for exhibitions, or shows.
The problem that I have, and I am sure others have as well, is that
if you price them too high, they end up on a shelf, and not used.
And I like my teapots to be used. Mine retail between $100 to $130.
If they are exhibition pieces they might be priced higher.
>My problem is how to price them. I spend a long time
>on them and am always in a quandary about pricing. Do
>I live with making less than third world country minimum wage?
>Can I charge over $100 for a teapot that is one of a kind,
>intricately carved and glazed?
>Do I not think about either of those questions and just charge
>$65 for every teapot?
>Do you have a formula for pricing them that you could share?
>
>I think it is a good idea to go out and look at the prices of
>teapots in the shops. Some of those teapots are in the $100.00
>range. And most of them don't pour well. I was just on a studio
>tour, where the public come into your studio and showroom. I must
>have had 5 customers in there complaining about commercially made
>teapots, and how badly they pour. So, I would fill up my teapots
>with water and show them that they don't drip. Wonderful. Sold
>some teapots.
Would love to go fishin'
Best,
Liz
Liz Willoughby
R.R. 1
2903 Shelter Valley Rd.
Grafton, Ontario
Canada. K0K 2G0
e-mail, lizwill@phc.igs.net
John Baymore on wed 27 sep 00
I really recommend finding a copy of Japanese Teapots from the Form
and FunctionSeries. It features page after page of teapot shapes.
I can add my recommendation to Lee's for this book. Excellent reference
book.
Best,
..................john
John Baymore
River Bend Pottery
22 Riverbend Way
Wilton, NH 03086 USA
603-654-2752 (s)
800-900-1110 (s)
JBaymore@compuserve.com
John.Baymore@GSD-CO.com
"Earth, Water, and Fire Noborigama Woodfiring Workshop August 18-27,
2000"
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