How to Price Your Crafts for Online Sales

Many people enjoy making crafts in their spare time.  Some of them want to turn their hobby into a business by selling crafts through online sales venues.  One of the most common questions about selling crafts online is how to price your crafts for online sales.

There are several things to take into account when pricing your crafts for online sales.  The following three points are a good base for determining retail prices.

The Cost of Craft Materials

The first thing to consider when pricing your crafts for online sales is the cost of the craft materials.  Be sure to include not only the obvious materials, such as fabric, beads, or wood, but also the partial materials such as thread or glue and paint.  Of course, you cannot charge your craft sale’s customers for an entire bottle of glue.  You must come up with the cost for what fraction of the glue or paint bottle you use for each individual craft.

Hourly Rate for Your Online Craft Sales

After determining the cost of craft materials, figure out your hourly or per piece rate for each craft item.  This is just part of the profit that you will get for your online craft sales.

For example, if the materials for a wooden toy cost $5.00, and it takes you one hour to complete one toy, you should add the material cost to the hourly charge you want.  That could bring the craft price up to ten or fifteen dollars.

Uniqueness and Quality in Craft Pricing

If your crafts are of exceptional quality, you can charge more for that.  Doing online research on other craft sales is a great way of determining this.  Be objective.  Your customers will be able to tell if your wooden toy is really better or worse than your competitors.  If it is markedly better, you can charge an extra amount for the craft.

Unique crafts can also be sold for more than common crafts.  Many online crafters may be selling wooden toy trains, but if you are the only one selling wooden dump trucks, you can corner that market.  Be sure to advertise your unique crafts and you will be able to price those crafts higher. 

Figuring out how to price your crafts for online sales is a vital part of any handicraft business.  By taking into account the cost of craft materials, the time it takes you to complete the craft, and how unique or specialized your crafts are, you should be able to determine the best online sales prices for your crafts.