I took my newly knitted Oregon tote to a meeting last night and had 3 ladies ask me to make them one. I am glad to do that. I love to knit and don’t need to keep everything. I am lost on what to charge them. I was thinking of course to charge for the yarn. For my time I was thinking just to charge again what the yarn cost. This would make each bag $40. Is that too much or am I being to cheap on my time? Thanks,cindy
What to charge?
I would charge at least $60 for the Oregon Tote. I custom make them for people and charge from $50 to $70 depending on how big the bag is. I line mine with fabric which makes it look more finished. The rule for me is I want to make at least $30 on each bag.
Hope that helps!!! Have fun knitting those bags!!! 
Cindy
Don’t sell yourself short. You’re worth more than $1 an hour!
Don’t sell yourself short. You’re worth more than $1 an hour!
Amen!!
When I had my soap business I made good part time money if you just went by the net profits. I could count on 1,000 or so on a good weekend.
But really it was a full time job once you counted in making (raw prduct and shopping for raw materials), marketing (cutting wrapping product) and selling (actually being at a fair). I would end up making a mere 60 cents an hour sometimes.
How long does it take you to knit your totes? Handcrafters probably can never count on getting paid their true worth. We are all worth at least $50 bucks an hour right? Sadly no one is going to pay $260.00 for a 4 hour scarf. But you have to pay yourself more than cost of materials.
Otherwise you under-value yourself and this opens the doors for others to under-value you also.
You cant compete with Walmart or even a department store. But your work is unique - thats presicely why you dont have to compete. No store can offer the quality and craftmanship that you can. If someone is unwilling to pay you for your time - then they arent really looking for genuinely handcrafted work. Not to be harsh - but seriously, if someone says “I can get it else where cheaper” then tell them to do just that!
[color=green][size=7]DITTO!!![/size][/color]
[color=darkblue]My experience has been: People, who don’t do any sort of hand craft themself, have absolutely no idea of the time and talent it takes, to say nothing of the costs of the materials, to create something.
I’ve been approached numerous times, and when they hear my infant size sweater, bonnet and booties start at $70, they usually shop elsewhere. Those who truely value hand work, pay it.
I’d guess a bag like that would run about $100 in an upscale boutique.
You not only have time and yarn in the knitting, but in the felting process and the water, etc.
I’d rather knit a gift for someone who will truely appreciate having it, than put myself under pressure to get paid for something. You’d be surprised how “picky” people get when ther laying out[/color] [color=green]$$$[/color] [color=darkblue]for something. [/color]
I agree!
At Christmas, I went into a shop that sells exclusively hand-crafted items. If I recall, they had hats from $45-$75. Hats. They were nice, and made from quality yarn, but I’m sure they didn’t take that long. There was a seed stitch scarf with a fun fur edge that I believe was at least $45, maybe more. I posted about somewhere, but the exact amounts aren’t important, it’s the idea that if you getting hand-made quality, you should be willing to pay for it.
I don’t know if it equates, but when I did a lot of sewing I was told that I should triple the cost of the materials to come up with a final selling price. Handknits at these posh-y boutiques ain’t cheap.
Whatever you do, make sure that your potential customer understands and agrees to pay your selling price.
I’ve read that people use the cost of materials to determine the final price by multiplying it, but I never could really understand it. A cashmere scarf takes as long to knit as an acrylic one, so the cost of materials would be higher, of course, but your time is the same. 
Oh, and don’t blink when you DO get a fee picked out. Just say…I charge x.00 for it!!
I have to agree with that. And if they don’t want to pay that amount try to bargain with them, telling them them that YOU are putting your time and effort into them, and that you deserve this or that amount.
(BTW, I’m thinking that the oregon tote is huge?? :oops: )
I used to qualify by saying…Well, you know you can’t REALLY put a price on anything hand made, so I charge X. Now I say, yeah, I can make that for you…it’s 40.00 or what ever. On my yarnlandia blog(down the page a bit), is a tote that I made. WAY got jipped, my own fault, but what I learned from that, really made up for the amount of money I didn’t get, so it sorta evened out.
I learned
a) if making something for someone else ALWAYS have a pattern, don’t make it up as you go along
b)calculate yarn cost BEFORE giving a price.
c)try to have things to just sell…making “on demand” is HARD, because life gets in the way a lot for me, and if I don’t have time, I dont’ want them tapping their fingers waiting for it.