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View Full Version : What to charge for accessories



Ayla of Duluth
05-24-2013, 01:21 AM
So I was asked to perform as Mermaid Ayla at a music and arts festival on June 15th, and I asked the person in charge if I could set up a table to sell some merch/crafts that I made, and I got the go ahead.

I'll be selling:
-White bandanas with my logo screen printed on it
-Pale blue bandanas with my portrait screen printed on it (the one designed by Azurin Luna)
-Mermaid fluke necklace pendants and keychains (about half will be painted like my tail and half will be painted random other colors)
-You know those little flower veils with the ribbons hanging off the back for kids that they sell at renn fests and such? I'm making a few of those
-Hair barrettes decorated with seashells, seaweed and pearls

I figured I'd charge $5 for everything except the barrettes which I think will be $.50 and the bandanas that will be (maybe) $10. My idea is that I really don't want to go to the festival with a bunch of ones for change, and I don't want to undersell myself. A lot of these crafts took a ton of time to make. Especially these veils. But I don't want to over charge my customers and discourage sales. So I was wondering what you all would suggest charging for each of the crafts, and even if you had any ideas for more crafts I could bring to sell at the festival. :)

Mermaid Kelda
05-24-2013, 01:34 AM
How big/time consuming were the barrettes? Cause I think 50c might be underselling it a bit. I'd say at least a dollar for those, maybe 2.

Ayla of Duluth
05-24-2013, 02:40 PM
The barrettes are just those little snap ones. I got 24 of them at the dollar store. It was just a matter of gluing each piece on, so each one only took around 5 minutes to make.

MerEmma
05-24-2013, 06:26 PM
Maybe .99 then? It has that trick of the eye to seem like less.

Mermaid Kelda
05-25-2013, 02:30 AM
Think of it this way - if you wanted to earn say $20 an hour for your work, 5 minutes of your time is worth about $1.66. Add the 4c you paid for the clip, and that's $1.70 you'd need to charge. If you sell them for 50c, you're selling your services for $6 an hour. You need to find a way to either make the things you sell really well, so you can sell them for a higher price, or make them really quickly, so you're not working for below the minimum wage (I don't know what you'd expect to be paid hourly in America, but I'd assume it'd be more than $6).

But of course, this is for a festival where you're trying to get yourself out there (and your first time doing so), so I guess it's sort of assumed that you'll sell yourself short just a little, so lots of people buy your things and you get a good reputation. Maybe once you've done it a few times and have an efficient way of making your products so you actually gain a profit from them, you can start charging higher. But the above still applies - it's a good thing to think about when you're doing this sort of stuff. If you can find a way to make them at a speed/sell them for a price you're happy with, then all the better! :)