REMEMBER ONLY YOU can properly and completely perform the necessary due diligence to determine your costs – this article, like all on this blog, are a starting point, not the last word by any means. While I hope it is worth more, its value is exactly the same as what you paid for it – no dollars.

Really pretty straight forward – a fair hourly wage that takes into account an honest evaluation of the level of expertise exhibited in your product.

Your hourly wage should reflect not only that expertise, but what it took for you to get there.

Your hourly wage should allow and reflect the time needed to provide a quality product.

Your hourly wage should respect your peers. I actually have little to no problem with people who simply want to enjoy a craft and share the work of their hands with those they love and value – with little recompense beyond the cost of materials.

However, when you join the world of professional artisan – you should not be the Wal-Mart price cutter driving down the fair market value of all who create with a view to selling and supporting themselves.

It might be contradictory, but I have often thought that the place for those whose primary goal is “all I want is more money to buy supplies” is that of sample maker. Today’s pattern authors and designers are constantly looking for a good sample makers but may not be able to afford the services. By hooking up with trade professionals you get what you want – patterns and materials and more often (an interesting evolutionary bit in itself) than not, recognition and appreciation for your quality craftsmanship.

There are also shops/small retailers/even wholesale distributors who may well be willing to provide materials in exchange for well executed samples – sometimes even an additional stipend even if only a “store credit” for materials of your choice.

Okay so undaunted you still want to dive into the rough and tumble world of selling your work.

At a MINIMUM – Minimum wage PLUS employer/self-employed taxes you will need to pay to state and federal government. It may vary in your home state, but the current Federal Minimum wage is $7.25 again my lazy formula is 1.5 times that number as the MINIMUM you should be including in your product price or about $10.88 per hour until Obamacare kicks in – depending on your situation, that may be a serious consideration.

For those currently collecting some form of government funds each month whether earned or an entitlement, you will want to keep in mind that you may lose some of those funds if you do well.

Anyway, if it takes one hour to fully complete the product ready for packaging for sale (packaging is part of general costs) you will need to add $10.88 today and probably about $1 per item to cover projected health care premiums or the fine.

Bottom line? If you don’t place a fair value on yourself, don’t be surprised when no one else does either.

Just as no one should be oblivious to the harsher realities of costs, one also needs to remember that there may be circumstances that help to bring balance into the life of the home based entrepreneur, no matter what they sell, their own art, or the supplies used by their artisan peers or the goods and services of day to day living beyond the realm of art.

REMEMBER ONLY YOU can properly and completely perform the necessary due diligence to determine your costs – this article, like all on this blog, are a starting point, not the last word by any means. While I hope it is worth more, its value is exactly the same as what you paid for it – no dollars.

For me, when I was asked why the challenges of working for myself when I had skills and the health to work easily outside the home?

The answer has been different at different times in my life. It all relates back to having some control on when I had to work so that there could be the time needed for the children I raised. It has never been perfect but it was always more what I needed at the time.

Today, it is about what I can currently manage and frankly, anyone who says a 90 second commute that includes the stop for the fresh coffee on the way to your desk is probably worth many of the things that working for yourself does not always allow for in the budget.

It occurred to me the other day that I never owned a pair of “designer” jeans unless you call either Lee or Levi’s as designer labels. I don’t have a smart phone, just don’t need it. We do have a tablet, mostly so I can browse the web while watching TV (stops a fair amount of discussion on the finer points in tv accuracy or where did we see that actor besides this show) I see little to no point eating in high end restaurants since most are chains and I can duplicate (and enjoy the making) the dishes at home. These are my choices, your choices can and should be based on what you want.

My decision in recent years has been to sell supplies and thus only accepting commissions that (a) appeal to me and (b) where the buyer appreciates the quality, attention to detail and uniqueness of the product and is able and willing to compensate me for that work.

These are my choices, traded for the intangible benefits of the previously mentioned 90 second commute and the ability to decide now is good time for a break to do run a load of laundry or prep for dinner or take the afternoon off and do some erranding.

Your choices can and should be based on what you want and need for a healthy balanced life. I only hope you will choose so that your craft remains a pleasure and not a burden

This is Pt 9 because I know more “things to be considered” will occur to me as time goes on and so I am leaving room for more things that come before.

As with any general business advice – if it offends you, then you are not serious about being professional.

You don’t have to agree with all I or anyonr says, you can choose to ignore or apply the hard learned lessons of others.

If you “don’t care about making a profit” – then you are not serious about doing retail business selling your craft work.

If you get upset when you add up the real costs – you may need to rethink your plans.

REMEMBER ONLY YOU can properly and completely perform the necessary due diligence to determine your costs – this article, like all on this blog, are a starting point, not the last word by any means. While I hope it is worth more, its value is exactly the same as what you paid for it – no dollars.

So let’s say, we have honestly included all the costs related to materials and supplies and that magic number unless it is a government subsidized, all function performed by 3rd world laborers is $15.

It takes one hour and we must earn minimum wage plus taxes paid by the self-employed for an approximate cost of $10.88 so we don’t need to get a job asking if you would like fries with that burger.

And, really no matter what the government thinks, it is okay to make a profit, because you would like your child to have the joy of a new book or fresh food on the table and that is what profit buys, the extras for yourself and your family… so let’s plug in a very modest 20% of the #25.88 COST

That brings us to $32.35 – You want to include postage, so call it $35 – and the order management service be it a combination of PayPal and Ebay or Esty or the even more costly services like Shopatron will be taking anywhere from 5% to 15% so it will be up to you to decide if you want to kick up the selling price.

Once you know the true cost, you can make a solid personal business decision about what is right for you. So for all the “3x the cost of materials” you now know that they are tyring to apply a mass merchadising formula to a “one off” hand crafted individually done produced products. And “what the market will bear” may well not be the same thing that you can or should consider appropriate – especially since you do not know what costs their pricing is based one.

More importantly it will be up to you to decide if you really can afford to be selling your work or may be better off finding another niche in the professional crafting universe for your time and talents.

Now is also a good time to go back and re read the note about Intangible costs. It is perhaps the hardest lesson I have ever learned in this life.

Whatever you decide, I sincerely hope it works for you.

Above all else,

Enjoy The Making

First – Last & Always

Did you ever notice the same people who get all huffy about someone else’s opinion, rushing to claim it is a flame are usually just angry because they lack the capability to logically or reasonably refute your opinion, instead they just decide you are evil because you disagree with them.

And yes this does reflect some rather boring email rants recieved today.

Fear Not, I have not given up on the New/Old Dr Who project but the recent receipt of a much better photo has created the need for a Plan B, or more correctly probably a Plan Z -and of course take care of enough business so we can continue to eat and maybe even get the mortage caught up.

Meanwhile, over the last few weeks, I have done, for our business purposes, quite a bit of “research” into Cords and threads and specially, SuperLon (S-Lon).

As part of my only have one place to update info project – the information has been placed in the Resources links at

Hope you find it helpful

Wheat

PS, with any luck at all, we should have listings for the available SuperLon (S-Lon) colors by style completed within the next day or so.