Hello!! So, I’ve been searching and watching videos on how to price crochet products. Usually, we are advised to price based on the amount of hours we take, but one YouTuber advised that we price on the difficulty of the pattern instead. Then assign a flat rate based on the difficulty. This is especially for a person who is not the type to take note of how long they crochet, which I definitely am like.
I thought that maybe I can use this to price my works (excluding the other prices from other factors like stuffing, etc.), but now I wonder…if I would for example have three difficulty levels: easy, medium, hard. Around how much should the flat rate be?
I guess this question can still vary a lot based on many things, but if anyone has suggestions on what they think is a good general price point I would love to hear it! (^_^)
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unless we are a fashion designer with a name and following, we will never make what we put into it time wise.
The lace shawl I designed (free pattern in my shop) and then knit for a friend as a comfort shawl for the loss of her 17 year old son to bone cancer (then realized a small flaw and went back to the pattern to correct it - was hard for a non knitter to see but it bothered me) I re-knit it some years later for a happier occasion, my grand daughter’s wedding, and recorded the time I spent knitting it for her out of curiosity, 45 hrs. Can you imagine what I would have had to sell it for to make up the time spent knitting it?
Old rule of thumb was cost of material, then double that cost and add it back to the material cost or triple if a more difficult pattern. There maybe another way to calculate now, but if you charge to much trying to make up your time it won’t sale. Cute items not taking too much time are easier to make a small profit on and not sell yourself short because of the time to make. Most non makers have no idea on time and skill to make. That’s my 2 cents worth anyway.
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I don’t sell my makes, so I have no personal experience with this, but I can imagine that basing the price on pattern difficulty alone wouldn’t quite work (for me, at least) because of the vastly different amount of time you take making things of different sizes. A very small make, even with a tricky pattern, usually won’t be as much work for me as, say, a maxi dress or a blanket that takes me dozens of hours even if it’s mostly just rounds or squares of the same stitches.
I think taking both difficulty and time I spent making something into account would work best for me, although, like LDSVenus says, at a certain level it becomes impossible anyway to actually “pay yourself a fair wage” for every hour as people won’t pay the equivalent of 45h minimum wage for a shawl .
You could also make tiers for estimated time in addition to those for difficulty, so that you end up having a 3x3 table for estimating prices:
Short Medium Long
Easy
Medium
Difficult
Then you’d just have to roughly estimate the time you spent making something.
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Yes, I definitely agree on how at the end of the day despite our crafts being time-consuming and sometimes even quite laboring, the value and cost of the products will end up being unreasonable to customers if it gets too pricey.
This is kind of sad, but at the same time I accept it. I guess I would just think of the times I have fun or feel relaxed crocheting to be part of the take-away for me aside from the money I would earn. It is after all, a hobby (for me) that I would rather have fun with than stress out.
I will take your advise and see if that method of pricing fits me. Thank you so much for your reply! I would just like to add that, I wish that in my crochet journey I can do something like what you did for those people you knitted for! Even though they may not realize the amount of time and effort spent on a single shawl, I bet they must have been very happy and grateful to receive it!
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You have very good points on this! I have not thought about how sometimes easier patterns can be more time-consuming than other patterns that are smaller but quite harder.
The table seems like a good idea, I will definitely check if it suits me and my work. But, of course I will take in mind also the price value that customers are actually willing to pay for. I definitely agree that if we try to price our products exactly by time and effort, it becomes too expensive for people looking to buy.
Thank you so much!
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If I make something for someone, I generally charge the yarn price + shipping price + flat fee for pattern difficulty, then generally charge between 2-3 dollars an hour. I know a lot of people say “charge for time” but in reality, most of my crochet creations are therapy for me (as someone on disability and struggles with anxiety). I know I could never make a true “living” off of most creations. For instance, I love making full sized blankets, but most people don’t want to pay the ~250 USD cost of using bulky blanket yarn.
I will say, there is a market for small, uncomplicated amigurumi. If you are planning on selling and making a decent profit margin (and most bang for buck with time) it would be to invest in amigurumi patterns. The plushie scene (as of now) is relatively hot.
To be honest, crocheting just re-funds my crocheting. I usually make back my yarn prices, with little to spare. I usually just re-invest that into more yarn. I found that shopping sales and clearance helps with that as well.
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Ooh I actually see crochet similarly to how you view it. I don’t think I can also truly run a business from it. It is more of a hobby for me, and I don’t want to lose the fun and relaxing times I have with it. But, I just wanted to try selling some of my works here and there, and see if it works for a possible “mini side hustle” (I’ve no idea what to call this lol) for me, so I can pay for more yarn (＾ν＾) , like you, and to help a bit with my family.
I think I just contradicted myself by saying it’s a hobby then suddenly saying I want to sell, however, I think I plan on selling works that I make for fun rather than what people want. This way it isn’t forcing me in any way. But, in the long run if I somehow get successful and people have requests and wants then I would have to balance it out. I definitely have to see first though if my first plan will even work.
And yes, if we are doing it more as a hobby and as something therapeutic, rather than as a small business I think that one of the greatest take-aways from it is it’s ability to relax our mind on things. I definitely love this side of crochet, and am happy that you get this effect from it!
Thank you for the advise! I will see if your way of pricing can fit for me too.
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The woman that I originally created the shawl design for and knit as a comfort shawl, was very happy to have it, and my grand daughter (pictured wearing the shawl in my shop picture) was also very pleased and was like “wow” when she found out how many hrs it took to knit. It was her wedding gift tho, ;).
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That’s lovely to hear! I hope we experience even more reactions like that! (^-^)
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