So I have been thinking about possibly charging for my patterns on ribblr. I still want to keep some of my patterns to be free, but I also want to charge for a couple of them because of how much work goes into them. I’m thinking only $2-$4 per pattern that I want to charge for. I wanted to know what you guys think and how much you all would be willing to pay for a good, reasonably priced patterns! I also would like to know if it is actually worth selling your patterns on ribblr or not. Is it worth the profit you get for the fee’s ribblr charges you with? Is there actually enough traffic to be able to sell patterns? Or would it be a struggle? I only have 4 patterns up currently, but I have many more on the way. I was wondering which patterns you all thought would be good to charge for. I have a perry the platypus pattern, a capybara pattern (that is dropping really soon!), a bunny pattern, and an opossum pattern. Let me know what you guys think!
Honestly, all your patterns are really creative, cool, and pretty unique and popular. I think a good price would be around $3 but it is totally up to you! I am not allowed to buy patterns yet, so I don’t really know 
I’m just trying to help lol
Gotcha haha! Yeah, I think $3 would be reasonable. I want to charge for my bigger and a little bit more complex patterns. I would charge for my opossum, bunny, (possibly the capybara pattern?), a mushy pattern, a zom-bee pattern, and a clown rat that I am in the process of making plus a couple more :> I want to have a balance between the free patterns and the paid patterns. I just want to make sure that paid patterns are the way to go (in the sense of whether or not my shop will get enough traffic).
Yup that is a great idea!! 
Adding a Link to your shop
As for what price to choose, this is completely up to you
I’d say to do some research–what are others charging for similar patterns? I honestly think around $3 is a good mid-way point, but some might argue higher or lower. I definitely think that it’s fair for a designer to sell patterns–we usually spend quite a bit of time making them after all 
It’s nice to share free patterns, but with that we’re also giving our time. 3-10 times more time than it takes to create the project itself, sometimes more, and time is valuable (to me, anyways).
And regarding if paid patterns is the way to go–it depends on what your goal is with releasing patterns. If you do it for fun, it doesn’t really matter. But if you intend to create a business out of it where you can earn an income and potentially have your craft as a full-time job down the line, it’s a different matter entirely. As you release more patterns, more people will start finding you–especially if you have free patterns too, because that will likely bring more traffic to your shop.
I’ve yet to sell a pattern on here, but I am also still new to the site. I actually discovered Ribblr through some Youtube channels mentioning that they had bought patterns here–so I believe, given time, that it would be worth it–but as I said, it depends on your intentions and if you want to get paid for the time you devote to your patterns
Yeah, thats true. I guess it really is just about personal preference! And thats funny lol, I actually knew about you before me and you began seeing each other in the same testing groups, etc, etc. I have made your chonky elephant so many times and love it each time it comes out! 
Aww, you’re making me blush!
It makes me so happy to hear that you like the elephant pattern 
Thank you for saying that, it’s very kind!
Sooo… let me be a bit snarky for a moment, lol
Are you asking if your time and talents deserve to be compensated? Stop it, lol
Your time is a valuable currency and you’re the only one that can set the exchange rate.
Example exchange rates:
One unit of time = one unit of joy, like when you spend your time on a gift.
One unit of time = one unit of exposure, like when you spend your time to advertise your business (offering free product, not that influencer bs, lol)
One unit of time = one $/£/etc.
No matter the exchange rate, your time is always worth something.
I know that the time I put forth in patterns is worth it lol, but I’m just not sure if people will honor the time that goes into my work as much as I do. For example, people might be less interested in buying a pattern than if they would just have it for free. And personally, I would rather see people being happy and creating something out of my patterns rather than for personal profit. I mainly want to do it to make sure that my patterns aren’t stolen. Hence the fact that they are all free.
Awesome! You’ve just made a step toward determining your exchange rate!
A couple suggestions:
You could offer one simple pattern free for every more complicated pattern you post for sale.
You could offer your patterns below market value.
You could advertise in your store that a new paid pattern will be offered to followers free on a specific date (once a week/months/etc)
Well, I think there will always be a bigger interest in free patterns, and I also really, truly enjoy hearing that people love making my patterns, free or paid (what you said about my elephant pattern made me super happy).
But honestly, the thing we do as pattern designers is valuable, which is what I think @MissDaisies is strongly advocating–and usually people are willing to pay to make something they like the look of because someone else has already figured out how to make it; the pattern is a guide for makers so they don’t need to go through the same process of frogging several times, problem fixing, actually writing it down, taking project and process pictures, etc. If that effort is something you want to put out there for free, that’s up to you! But that’s likely the biggest reason why most designers charge the way they do.
Regarding the stealing part, I think most thieves avoid paid patterns and move on to easier targets (aka free), so that will probably eliminate that problem
@MissDaisies Those are great suggestions for designers with a business mindset! Maybe not so much the underpricing part, but that probably suits the hobbyist-designers, and/or could make a good start for a following! No one says that a price needs to stay the same forever! 
I think everyone has made amazing points here!
The way I’m approaching selling patterns is very relaxed. If I sell a few that’s great and if not that’s okay too. I’ve released 3 of my 4 patterns last week and made 5 sales. To me that is a lot and I’m super excited and appreciative of it. In the future I hope to do more but this is just a hobby for me.
I definitely think you can and should sell your patterns. It’s a great way to buy more yarn. 
Just have fun with it! 
I have a background in popular/fine arts (comics, graphic novels, graphite portraits, sculpture, etc.) - knowing how to value your work and dodging all those shady “exposure in lieu of payment” requests is a huge deal for me.
Learning to respond “Then do so” to “I could do that” and “I could get that free” comments was a game changer, lol
Yes; the “exposure” thing is quite rampant in author/writer circles as well, and even though a lot of people are speaking out against it, there are people who accept it so it continues
Yes, 100%! Besides, if you get those comments they probably aren’t 1-people who value your work and will support your business, and 2-they probably aren’t people you want as your customers!