Tuesday, May 5, 2009

Dirty Deeds

I certainly took it a bit slower yesterday. I did so in an effort to fully eliminate that nasty back/shoulder pain I told you about yesterday. It appears to have worked as all I'm left with currently is a slight soreness of the kind you might get after carrying a large bag on your shoulder. That doesn't mean I didn't do any tatting yesterday. I finished up my 'As The World Falls Down' mask early in the day. As I finished wrapping the wire with thread, I came to a conclusion. This mask and it's bejeweled sister are under priced. Since I created them, I have designed several new pieces that are priced higher because I thought that they took longer than the masks, but that's just not true. These two masks take a ridiculously long time partly because there are so many different elements that I need to take a break between creating.

So I did the deed, I raised the prices on the masks. Not all of them, the newest masks are remaining at their initial prices. The design for those is quite a bit more straightforward. In fact as I discussed the price change on etsy I toyed with the idea of doing an instructable for those. It was pointed out to me at that time that I have enough to do right now, which is absolutely true. So, that task can wait until after the summer and all it's inherent events, Maker Faire, house buying and the moving that goes along with it.

I did also work on a pair of Victorian lace cuffs though I couldn't finish them. Again I was reminded that some things take so much longer than their price reflects. I was so conscious about overpricing goods when I first made them. This was mostly due to other cuffs made with manufactured lace costing so much less. I need to constantly remind myself that tatted lace is very different from machine or even crochet lace. So again I raised the price a bit. I truly hope that I haven't bitten myself in the rear with this move. I hope that my smaller pieces with their smaller price points can help maintain sales. Attempting to buy a house this Spring has really got me focused on making sales to build up our cash reserves. We are trying to buy the only home we will ever own, rather than a starter home and obviously that move makes even my meager tatting earnings important.

Well this post has been a complete downer and for that I apologize. I will try to have something more entertaining occur today for tomorrows. Though in reality I'm just gonna finish up those cuffs and keep trying to get everything listed in the store to be ready to ship, so don't put any money on it.

6 comments:

Ashe Mischief said...

It's absolutely good that you've raised your prices! As your skills go up, the intricacy of pieces, and your popularity gain, you need to cut out the "introductory prices" more and more. Your work is beautiful, detailed, and you should absolutely charge for them what they are worth.

SarahKelley said...

I'm also not downed by this post, but rather encouraged that you're closer to charging what your work is worth! It's great that business is at the point where you can do that a bit more comfortably. I'm excited for you and proud of you:) And I wish you the very best of it!

. c h o k l i t . said...

Not a downer at all! I agree that you're on the right track here.

I've actually been considering dropping my prices to encourage sales since it's been so slow, but then I remember how long each item takes of my life, and how costly my raw supplies are, and I just can't do it.

Your time is incredibly valuable, and your beautiful goodies are worth it!

And uh-oh, I better snatch up a VooDoo mask before the price goes up... ;-)

Unknown said...

good on you for raising your prices. the time it takes and the skills you own to make those intricate masks and necklaces are all worth the price hike.
I always think the price of hand made products reflect the maker's view on their pieces.

Holly said...

Ohhh so cool! Lovecraft is amazing. And it's a beautiful tattoo! My tattoo is symbols as well, and describing it to people is just too difficult. Maybe I'll explain it on my blog as well, I'm inspired to now ;D Thanks for sharing!

Ashe Mischief said...

Twitter is down, but I wanted to share this with you... http://www.wetseal.com/catalog/product.jsp?categoryId=111&subCategoryId=453&productId=19967#ClosePopup

No dye necessary! (Now why doesn't the black come in the plus sizes?)