carrie jacobson on fri 26 oct 01
Greetings - In terms of pricing, I'd just like to say this: You can't have
it both ways.
There has been much talk on this list about how bad it is to underprice your
work... how detrimental to the health of the clay community as a whole, and
to other artists/craftsmen specifically at sales, fairs and the like.
That makes sense. But now, criticism for pricing equally.
To me, a fledgling potter, it makes sense that all our work should be
roughly in the same price range. For my own self, my own ethics, I have
taken that to mean that if the going price for mugs in my area is $14, I
should probably become skilled at making a $14 mug before I start selling my
wares. If I would only pay $8 for a mug I make, then I'm probably not ready
to go out there.
We have to start somewhere. If experienced potters are going to get annoyed
when we undercut their prices, and going to get annoyed when we price our
stuff at an equal level, well, there is no sense in that.
Markets have a remarkable way of weeding themselves, in the long run.
Best,
Carrie Jacobson
Big Hill Pottery
Bolsters Mills, Maine
Dai Scott on fri 26 oct 01
>Carrie said, ".....if the going price for mugs in my area is $14, I
>should probably become skilled at making a $14 mug before I >start selling
my wares. If I would only pay $8 for a mug I make, >then I'm probably not
ready to go out there."
You've got it, Carrie! This is the most logical summation of the whole
pricing question that I've heard so far. Congratulations!
For those who can't yet make a mug they figure is worth $14, but still
want/need to be out there with their product, I suggest start with selling
to friends and relatives, then graduate to small school bazaars, etc., that
the $14/mug potters don't frequent. This way, you still get that public
feedback on your pots that is so necessary (if you actually want to make
some money at this), and you get to recover some of your costs, allowing you
to buy more clay, etc. Just MHO....
Dai in Kelowna, BC
"There is no right way to do the wrong thing."
potterybydai@shaw.ca
putitinink@YAHOO.COM on mon 29 oct 01
Well said. With one point that I'd like to make -- choice of venue.
I'd like to get experience in doing booth sales, but there's just no
way I'm going to try a juried craft fair with a $400 a day booth fee
until I feel much more comfortable in selling my pottery. Gotta get
my feet wet somehow. ;)
I won't take my (lesser-priced)work to the more upscale *Art* shows,
I'll stick to the local fairs and fundraisers. In other words, the
other booths at the type of sale that I've participated in are not
selling high-priced art, they are selling items more in the range of
their audience. People are there to support a school or a cause,
entertain the kids, enjoy the day, not necessarily to buy fine
artwork, and therefore, I price my work accordingly. If anyone were
to charge the typical prices that established potters charge at art
fairs (even though the quality merited such prices), I somehow doubt
that much would sell in *that* particular environment.
I don't feel that I am *undercutting* anyone with my prices because
*real* potters (;P) don't seem to attend at the type of sale that
I've been attending. I may not charge $18 for a mug (as many do in
this area), but my $12 mug is still worth selling. On the other
hand, I *won't* go to the fancy art sales trying to sell a $10 mug
where other potters are selling their $18 mugs. When I feel that I
have both the quality of work *and* the experience in doing sales
that warrent trying out an art fair, then I'll give that a try and
price accordingly, more in keeping with the prices charged by more
experienced potters.
Perhaps you could say that I should skip these type of fairs
altogether that many here evidently look down upon, but for me, I
feel it's worth it. I'm getting good ideas and experience withOUT the
risk of throwing away an expensive booth fee. Yes, I *could* charge
competitive prices (like $18 a mug) for my work and probably still
easily sell at least enough to clear the low booth fee at these non-
artsy (what can you call it?) fairs, but I'm looking at these venues
as the *training wheels* version and I'm really not looking to
justify time spent versus sales income at this stage. Jumping head-
first into the art-crowd type fairs with high booth fees with little
experience just isn't my cup of tea.
I've only done a few sales thus far, so no, I have no intention of
continuing this type of fair endlessly by any means. But as a way to
get started, it seems a reasonable trade-off to me.
Cheers,
Sue
<<
Date: Fri Oct 26, 2001 7:23 am
Subject: pottery pricing
Greetings - In terms of pricing, I'd just like to say this: You can't
have it both ways.
There has been much talk on this list about how bad it is to
underprice your ork... how detrimental to the health of the clay
community as a whole, and to other artists/craftsmen specifically at
sales, fairs and the like.
That makes sense. But now, criticism for pricing equally.
To me, a fledgling potter, it makes sense that all our work should be
roughly in the same price range. For my own self, my own ethics, I
have taken that to mean that if the going price for mugs in my area
is $14, I should probably become skilled at making a $14 mug before I
start selling my wares. If I would only pay $8 for a mug I make, then
I'm probably not ready to go out there.
We have to start somewhere. If experienced potters are going to get
annoyed when we undercut their prices, and going to get annoyed when
we price our stuff at an equal level, well, there is no sense in that.
>>
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