overpriced etsy

55 replies since 20th June 2010 • Last reply 20th June 2010

holy crap thats wayyyyy to ecpensive. i like etsy but ive been a member since july and still nothing as of sales. i think it might be my poo poo photos tho,who knows. i think my stuff is fair priced idk. but 183.00 for shorts is crazy. She deff dont wanna sell that Happy

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Dessah and Lolly.bot are right - 'art' is subjective.

To me, art and craft are two things (there's a joining place in the middle, like a venn diagram).

A work created for beauty alone (let's take it out of craft for a bit... a beautiful song lyric) is purely art. Something crafted using the same methods but with a use (a very well worded public announcement slogan) is crafted with an aspect of art. There's a subtle difference- but the moment someone says I SHOULD pay more because it is 'art' I become less inclined to. To me, whilst a beadwork necklace is art (for example- just as we're talking beads, NOT HAVING A GO AT ANYONE), a single bead (unless a finely carved one) is hand crafted. I would pay over £100 for a beadwork necklace because of the design and thought in it- but I would look for the best value (handmade, in the UK- NOT sweatshop rubbish) when shopping for the bead. I can source these in Brighton for about £4 each, I chatted to the lady who makes them- she seems OK, i don't think I'm starving her...so why 'should' I pay more? Or is she less 'artistic' than those who charge more... is this just another side to the designer label coin? Pay more because the person who made this item has more brains/letters after their name, regardless of the value of the item? That works if it's a complex item like a tiara or balldress- but unfortunately with we everyday poor folk, it simply doesn't wash for 'the basics'- shorts, beads etc'.

With regards to the payment for training thing, well that raises issues. Let me give you an example. My job involves training university graduates; so does my partner's. It involves the same tasks (for different jobs)- mentoring, checking off work done against the criteria, liasing with professional bodies, coaching, delivering classroom training.

I went to a state-run (so free) school, I had a grant for university (and lived in a small, cheap-to-rent city) and my employer at the time paid for my Master's degree as it was directly related to work. My partner went to a private school (his grandparents paid a lot for this, lucky so-and-so), he had no living grant at uni so had to take loans, and had to pay £8000 for his postgrad tuition which involved living/paying sky high rent in London. He wasn't from a very well-off family though- the only 'break' was the grandparents paying for his schooling. His education therefore cost more than mine, although we now have equivalent qualifications.

According to the above, my partner should be paid more for doing the same job as me because his education cost him more. What would employers do if we went for the same job and he tried that one? Laugh him out of the room, I'm guessing. What if we both went freelance and charged? Well, who would you choose if he charged more because university cost him more (bearing in mind we have equal qualification levels, experience and references)?

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I try to charge reasonably for my items on etsy. I worry I am still "over charging" in the eyes of the consumer but you need to figure in the cost of supplies and time when making an item to sell. Most expensive thing I have listed so far was $25 for a rosary, which I felt was under priced because of the time spent on making it(plus making it makes my hand swell pretty bad!). I don't think it would sell though if I made it any higher. Happy Kind of afraid to even list it again because I don't want it to sit there unpurchased for the entire 4 months!

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I worry about the same thing. You can go to the mall here and find a pair of earrings that is LITERALLY a feather, a crimping bead, and a wire hook per earring, and they sell them for the equivalent of almost $50.00! Then I try to sell a pair of earrings made from genuine Swarovski that took about 5 hours to make... and it's a no-go.

Staying competitive-yet-reasonable is a lot harder than it seems. x.x

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way overpriced i look on etsy then make the stuff myself or get it as a commision from a cheaper etsy seller. never by what you can make yourself unless its cheaper than making it yourself
oh and @Jennifer V. your kinda selfish fair wages matter in important jobs etsy is a side job a hobby people who only sell stuff on etsy and dont have a real job dont deserve an esty acount besides often etsy is unenvironemtally friendly produced and my hand made stuff isn't

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Good crafters that deserve to make a living wage off of what they create ARE NOT the people who think they should charge more because they just bought a new set of pliers or elsewise. It's called a business expense, not a write off for "I'm going to charge way more for everything and be a total b**** about it."

Staying competitive is especially hard on Etsy. Consider this scenario:
Shop A puts a lot of time into their work and produces beautiful stuff.
Shop B copies Shop A's items with cheap materials and no effort put into the quality of the construction.
The buyer buys an item from Shop B for half the price of Shop A and it falls apart after it's worn or used once. The buy contacts Shop B asking for it to be fixed, and Shop B freaks out because "They make stuff so well that it shouldn't ever fall apart ever." The buyer should have just bought from the mild-mannered person who puts some soul and hard work into a well-crafted piece.

I have to buy new materials a lot since I make a lot of soap, but I don't charge people more and more as material costs gradually go up because I have one thing that a lot of snobby people don't get nor deserve: Return customers. And I treat them with as much respect as they treat me with, so it all works out.

A good crafter won't just make something well, they'll treat their customers well. Bad crafters might make things that are okay, but they don't treat customers or potential customers well enough to make them want to come back.

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I got called an idiot a few months back on this board for saying I have a bit of a crafty creed. But to rephrase it, I feel that some handmade items its reasonable to pay for, others are not a fair price even for labour and for some theres nothing wrong with trying to make it yourself. I mean look on regretsy, it paints a picture of the type of stuff people often try to flog as vintage, steam punk, handmade.I don't have a beef with charging for qaulity work, or with etsy or other handmade selling places however etsy sellers sometimes do over charge for what you get. for example I have a group on facebook where I advertise Jewellery I sell locally. I charge probably as much as a shop like claires would charge, allthough im not making a living of my jewellery you could argue. I think I have a love hate relationship to etsy, Love the products, hate the designer price tag. And to reply to an earlier comment
A. Im a young person, niave to the world of buisness.
B. Im not an idiot for believing that you should try and make what I probably can't afford to buy, its the world war 2 morale in me, make do and mend and such.
C. Im not happy to sink money into designer handbags, or sink money into top designer clothing. I'm still silly enough to think that making things means more than buying a designer splurge sometimes. Thats what my crafters creeds about, not rejecting other handmade sellers but aiming to include crafting in my life to try be a little less materialistic.

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You don't need to explain yourself to someone who's got a bad attitude and overinflated ego.

Supporting each other as artists is important, but not when they try to make their living off of a hobby and whine that they can't bring in enough money. When you do something for a living and actually enjoy it, it shows. When you make something only to make money off of it, you're making it for the wrong reason.

The WWII morale is a great thing to have, especially in an economy that isn't running at 100% efficiency.

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I KNOW LIKE $300 FOR A SPIKE EPAULETE (SHOULDER BLING) WHICH I MADE FOR UNDER $20!!!

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Just be glad we all know how to make things ourselves Happy
I feel bad for the poor uncrafty bastards who pay for it.

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Just be glad we all know how to make things ourselves Happy
I feel bad for the poor uncrafty bastards who pay for it.

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