I was going to brighten this photo, but this is about the shade of dark magenta I’m using so decided to just let it be. 🙂
For those people interested in selling their work – or even giving it away – there is something called ‘perception of value’.
The marketing industry has done a very good job over the past 50 or so years advertising the attractions of various textiles.
For instance we all know that silk is more precious than cotton. Therefore anything made with silk we expect to be more expensive than something made from cotton.
But there is also the perception of the value of some textiles over others. People are often much more inclined to pay a higher price for something beautiful (decorative) over something useful – no matter how decorative that useful thing might be.
For example – 100% linen dishtowel woven on a drawloom with a lovely design. The price on it might be for example $100. Probably worth twice that given how expensive linen is to purchase and how long it takes to set up a drawloom and weave such a piece.
Unfortunately there are many people who will look at that price and think to themselves that they would never in their lifetime use a dishtowel that cost them $100!
That same person might, however, actually consider purchasing exactly the same textile – if it is labelled and displayed as though it were a lovely table centrepiece.
Perception of value.
There is also the issue of underpricing something that people would expect to pay more for. If you put too low a price on something handcrafted people will wonder what is wrong with it. After all ‘cheap’ is equated with poor quality.
Perception of value.
Many people just starting out trying to sell their handwovens are nervous about asking what they think is a high price. When I first started weaving the accepted wisdom was that you doubled the cost of your materials.
I knew that wasn’t right and that if I did that I would starve! Since I wasn’t willing to starve I calculated my time as being worth something in terms of pricing structure.
And then I stuck to my guns, politely but firmly not making ‘deals’ with people for lower prices. Lo and behold, there were sufficient numbers of people who were willing to pay my prices. And tell their friends, encouraging them to go ahead and invest in my work.
Perception of value.
This month I’ve been cleaning up my Art Fire store and looking at some of the new options they have. If I can get myself organized I hope to be posting some of the new work I’ve been doing this summer. However fall sales begin soon so whatever I post to Art Fire will have to be set aside in case they sell.