3 steps to price your felted work – Part 2

Today we’re looking at what I see as the last two pieces of the pricing puzzle. If you haven’t read the first part of this series, I recommend you do so, since today’s blog post builds on the first one.

But, before we start, I’d like to address the questions I got from last week’s article. They mainly focused on how to account for certain costs. Now, I can’t go into individual cases. Firstly, because I don’t know your business. Even if you’re a felt maker, every business is different.

And it’s also a fact that different countries have different laws. So, if you feel like you can’t do this alone, I recommend you do some research, talk to other people in your area or even consult with an accountant. Getting an education on these matters is part of being in business. And so is getting a trustworthy accountant. At the beginning, they can advise you on these things, and slowly take new roles as your business grows.

But let’s get back to this week’s topic. Knowing how to calculate the price of your pieces is fundamental, but you can’t forget the other side of the equation: your customer.

KNOW YOUR CUSTOMER

You see, people don’t buy based on a pricing formula. Put yourself in your customer’s shoes. When you’re about to buy something handmade, do you really think about the number of hours and the material that went into it?

If you do, it’s just because you’re selling handmade items too. But most people don’t. I know this isn’t nice to hear, but most people don’t care that much how long it took you to make a certain piece. Instead, they buy something based on how it makes them feel. In other words, they buy based on what they perceive the value to be.

So, do you know who your customer is? Do you know what they’re looking for? If you don’t, and you think your work is for “anyone who loves felt”, you need to dig deeper. It’s important that you understand your customer because only then can you offer them something that matches their values.

Let me tell you a story. A couple of weeks ago, I visited a trade show in Lisbon that showcases handmade products. It’s the biggest one in Portugal, so there were hundreds of small businesses represented. Among all of them, one stood out to me: Pickpocket Bags. Why? Because they know their customer. And I know that because I’m their customer and their bags spoke to me immediately.

Pickpocket bags are manually made in Portugal from soft, high-quality leather. With a minimalist design, each one is unique in color, and can’t be repeated, since they’re made from pieces of leather remaining from the Portuguese shoe industry. Even though their design is simple, hidden inside the bags are lots of surprises, like special pockets and other colors and all sorts of beautifully made details.

By Portuguese standards their price is high. Actually, very high. But it’s worth it to their customer because their customer prefers having one bag that lasts them 10 years, than 10 bags that last them a year.

They have a story to tell. And it’s a story of sustainability and durability, uniqueness and independent thinking. Their customer is urban, cares about the environment, prioritizes durability, simple design, strong colors and being different. Their customer isn't interested in showing off, but values high quality, character and detail.

This is the type of exercise we all need to do. When you’ve decided which products you want to sell and you’ve calculated your prices, it’s time to look at your customer. Make sure you’re talking / selling to the right people.

Then, ask yourself if you’re doing everything you can to show them the value of what you offer. Depending on who they are, you may need to communicate things like:

• the softness and high quality of the fiber,
• the uniqueness of your process,
• the durability of the piece,
• the fact that it’s a one-of-a-kind product,
• that it’s a natural product,
• that it’s made with mulesing-free wool,
• and that it’s impeccably finished.

And, of course, it goes without saying that you need to have high quality, well-finished work. It’s important to test it for durability, and make sure you talk about cleaning and maintenance of the piece.

Also, when you think of your customer, you have to take human nature into account. Remember when I said it was easier for galleries and shops to sell my felt for 2x more than it was for me to sell for a much lower price? I used to wonder why that was. The thing is, back then, I didn’t understand the concept of “perceived value”.

Again, put yourself in your customers’ shoes, try to be impartial, and reflect on what you’d consider more valuable:

• A piece selling on Etsy or in a beautiful high-end boutique?
• An item you’ve seen repeated many times or one that is new and unique?
• A product in a messy image or a well photographed one?

This means you’ll need to invest in learning to photograph, in packaging, maybe in a beautiful booth or a well-designed website. It may mean you need to improve your felting, create your own style and learn to market yourself.

If you can’t find your customer locally, you’ll have to find new places to sell. Or, ultimately, you may even discover you need to make other products (refer back to Nicola Brown’s video and make sure your products are commercially viable).

Along with the concept of perceived value, it’s also important to understand credibility or brand recognition. Again, people will tend to associate more credibility with someone who sells in galleries, who appears in magazines, TV or certain blogs. Participating in exhibitions and getting awards in competitions also contributes to making you more credible.

I know this isn't easy. I've been doing it for a long time, and I've had plenty of challenges. But, if you want to sell your work professionally, don't let this stop you. You can do this slowly and become a little bit better every day.

You don’t need to spend tons of money either. There are plenty of free resources online teaching you about photography and design, presenting and marketing your products.

WORK ON YOUR MINDSET

Speaking for myself, I can say with absolute certainty that the biggest barrier to pricing my work right was never about not knowing the formula or even not knowing my customer. Rather, it was about not having the right mindset. In other words, not believing in myself enough.

If you have pricing issues and you’re thinking that you don’t have any mindset problems, let me ask you something. Do you find yourself saying things like:

• People aren't willing to pay this much.
• I want everyone to be able to afford my work.
• I’m competing against Nepalese felt.

Is this really true? Or is it that you don't believe in yourself enough to charge more? You may tend to resist what I'm saying. I used to resist this too, so I know what I’m talking about.

So, let’s try flipping this around:

• There are many people willing to pay a premium price for wonderfully handmade high-quality work.
• If you'd like someone to have one of your pieces and that person can't afford it, offer it as a present. If you charge fair prices for your work, you'll be able to give away some of it, if you want to.
• McDonald’s doesn’t compete against high end restaurants.

The way you talk about your work matters. If you don’t believe in yourself, do you think others will?

There will always be other felt makers selling for a lower price than you. But guess what. There are also others selling for a higher price than you. So, decide on which end of the spectrum you want to be and work from there.

Turn “I can’t charge X for this piece” into “how can I charge X for this piece?” Which customers do I need to reach? How do I find them? How do I need to present the work? What do I need to learn to be able to show my customers the value of what I do?

In closing, let me tell you that I’m writing this as much for you as I’m writing it for me 😊 There’s that saying that you should teach what you need to learn, right? 😊 I’m not immune to this. But I tell myself exactly what I'm telling you. And I'm happy to say I’ve made considerable progress.

And this is what I wanted to share with you. Of course, there's so much more I could say about the topic. But my hope is that I’ve succeeded in getting you to reflect on your approach to pricing if your intention is to do this professionally.

Feel free to email me if there’s something you’d like to share on this topic or something you’d like to ask. I would really love to know your thoughts on this.