Treasury Feature #5

'Looking Through Rose Colored Glass' by CalliesCraftCottage

Hand Painted Glass Vase... ColoredGlassBy... $61.00	Mixed Media Stained Gla... LowBridgeArtwo... $145.00	Shades of Purple Fused ... GoodGriefGlass $39.00	Mosaic Candle Holder- B... BeadedGlass $58.00
Flame Motion, handmade ... karmelidesigns $34.00	Crystal Ball - romantic... dominicas $24.00	Petite Vintage Earrings... ParisienneGirl $16.00	Lampwork Rose Glass Pen... KateDW $125.00
Glass by Olimpia Alphon... GlassByOlimpia $3000.00	Vintage RS Germany Rein... CinfulOldies $75.00	Recycling Glass Greetin... biancadenise $4.75	FUCHSIA hot pink glass ... abergiecreatio... $21.00
Pink Flower Lampwork Ea... GlassRiverJewe... $22.00	Brown Coral and Rose Gl... barbvegter $25.00	COPPER ROSE Glass Lea... pearlsbaublesn... $12.00	Red Rose Glass Ornament... melbecreations $15.00

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What Type of Customer/Consumer Are You?

1. Are you the type of person who can't wait to go buy the same thing your friend just bought because you think it's so cool?

2. Are you the type of person who hates big box shopping, where everyone and everything looks alike?

3. Are you the type of person who believes that the validity of an item is measured by how many brick and mortar stores that item is available in?

These questions are at the extreme positions of my thoughts today, but provide some insight into the mindset of potential customers.

Customers who want to buy exactly what their friend just bought aren't necessarily fans of handmade items. You see, handmade, by its very nature, is unique. Many items are one-of-kind. Others would be a limited run based on resources available, but certainly not available in the thousands or millions of identical items like you would find in a traditional store. If most crafters/artisans are like me, they don't want to make the same thing over and over. Once I finish an item, my creative mind is already thinking of the next thing I want to try, not thinking, "I can make that same item again and again!" Of course, if the demand is there, and it's selling, I would make it, but that is (or was) a story for another day.

On the other hand, if you hate going to the big box store, where everyone and everything looks just alike, no matter where the store is, handmade is for you! If you want that "just right" gift for someone special, Etsy has a variety of ways to find that special gift. My favorite is is the Etsy Gift Ideas for Your Friends. When you click on it, it brings up your Facebook friends, with suggestions of what they might like based upon their Facebook Profile.

The third question, regarding the validity of an item, can be a tricky thing. In the past, I have found myself in that camp of people. However, because I am a crafter, I also know that handmade can be higher quality than items mass produced. I find myself conflicted when I know I can get an item cheaper at the store, than paying for items at a craft fair, or online directly from a crafter. 

As I wrap up my thoughts for the day, I encourage you to define what type of customer you are, and start shopping accordingly. 

A Word About Pricing: Economics

Much has been said recently regarding how to properly price our handmade goods in the online marketplace. I find myself wanting to add my "two cents" on the subject. Now, I assure you, I am not an expert in any sense of the word, just an observer.

I'm sure you all know the formula but I've added a few personal tweaks.

Cost Of Goods  x 2 + selling fees = Wholesale x 2 + advertising = Retail.

Do you know what each of these terms means? Cost of Goods refers to the actual cost of producing an item, the cost of the raw materials, plus a dollar amount for the time taken to produce an item. (I won't get into the full term of Cost of Goods Sold because that may vary depending on if you are on a cash basis or an accrual basis.)

To put a dollar amount on time, we need to determine how to value our time. This is a really hard part, because most online crafters are homemakers. It's really hard to devote even a whole hour to a project with no interruptions, so calculating true time spent is hard.  I've heard $10 an hour as a minimum target to shoot for in figuring out our cost of time. At $10 an hour, you gotta love what you do!

Selling Fees refers to the listing, and selling fees of your online marketplace, as well as any payment processing fees. These need to be worked into the formula to be sure those costs are covered.

Wholesale is the sale of goods to anyone who is not the final customer, but for these purposes, it is the price which we should charge for wholesale sales. The wholesaler, being responsible for making the end sale, will want to be able to make a profit in reselling our merchandise, so the lower price allows for that. Another way to look at it is "selling in bulk". The wholesaler usually buys a large lot of the same item, bulk discounts are normal in commerce.

Advertising dollars is what sellers spend to get people to come into the store and look, or for online, click on our website, or search for our product.

Retail is the sale of goods to the final customer, or for our purposes, the price we will offer our customers. Stated retail prices are high enough to allow for sales, coupons and other marketing strategies while still allowing the retailer to cover the cost he paid for the item. Don't forget, retailers usually are paying employees and rent as well.

While this formula tell us what we should be charging, economics may dictate otherwise. You see, I seem to remember in my college Economics course, this line graph with two intersecting lines. One line was called supply, the other demand. Supply and Demand (and their neat little graph) show us the price that the market will bear. If the market is flooded with an item, for example 200 pinto beans priced at $1 a bean, and there are only 20 people who are wiling to buy a bean at $1, the seller will sell $20 of beans and have 180 beans left over. The seller wants to sell all 200 beans. 50 people are willing to pay 75 cents for a bean. If the seller sells 50 beans at 75 cents, he has sold $37.50 of beans. He has sold more beans and received more money.

Supply side economics are a little harder to understand in the handmade marketplace where most items are unique. We aren't usually dealing with thousands of items, or even hundreds. Supply and Demand (mostly demand) still plays a role though. If no one wants our product, it still won't sell, but here might be more people who would buy it at a lower price.

This is a place where I'm struggling as an online crafter. I've sold a few things of several types of things. I've sold more at my current price points which are in fact less than wholesale. Unfortunately, at that price, I can't afford to advertise to get more traffic to my shop. The longer it takes me to get a sale, the more times I have to renew my listings, which then adds to the cost of my goods. Should I then raise the price every time I renew? I haven't yet, I keep thinking if it didn't sell at $x, then it surely won't sell at $x.20.

While I haven't solved the pricing problem, I hope I have given you some food for thought! Please chime in with your observations as well.

A Gardening Metaphor

Having just spent an hour digging out dandelion from the yard, I started wondering why I fight with nature every year over them. They are quite a pretty flower, the greens are even edible. They bloom all summer long. Why do I dutifully dig them out every year? After all, there is a quote at Nick's Garden Center that says "A weed, is just a plant out of place." And for xeriscape gardening using native plants and flowers is how they keep water usage down.

Then I remember the morning glory in my yard, you know, the wild kind, the one that is called field bindweed. The first spring after we moved in, that spring sixteen years ago, I saw morning glories coming up. I had heard that they were bad, and I shouldn't keep them, but they were so pretty.

Unfortunately, by fall, those pretty vines and flowers were climbing up my vegetable garden plants and choking them out. Still, I thought, if I could just confine them to one part of the yard, I could enjoy their beauty without the risk. I'm hearing laughter in the background, I'm sure of it. Those of you who are more experienced than me at gardening know better. Once weeds get established, it's a forever fight. Now every year, I have to pull the morning glory. That still doesn't kill them, they have a web of roots that can go clear across the yard and pop up somewhere else. The only way to truly kill them is with roundup. Pulling them up is just a temporary fix. But roundup is so chemical, and so final, and so easy to spray on the wrong thing.

And then there is the thistle. It's pretty easy to know that one is a weed, it's not that pretty, and it's prickly, some more than others. I think we have three or four varieties in our yard. Did you know it is a floral symbol of Scotland? There is a legend telling how that came about, having to do with the prickles and defense of the kingdom, of course. I suppose I could justify leaving the thistles alone as a perimeter defense mechanism, but I think I'll leave that to the roses.

Did you know that spraying roundup on dandelion and thistle isn't enough? The plant will still go to seed as it is dying, to afflict and torment man for another season. You have to dig it up, put it in the trash, then spray roundup on the leftover root. So much work! 

I feel that somewhere in this experience is a metaphor for life. It's easy to let bad habits take root in our life, sometimes they are so enticing, just like the pretty flowers. Digging them out is a lot of work. Older, more experienced people will tell us to avoid the bad habits to start with, just like the older gardener had told me that morning glory was bad. Young people think the old ones are old fashioned, and judgemental. Really, it's just because they are older, have experienced more in life, either personally, or by the observation of others. 

Young people, like young gardeners, seem to have to experience things for themselves before they will believe what they've been taught. And so, sixteen years later, I'm still fighting the fight with dandelion, morning glory, and thistle. It would be much easier just to let things be, rather than continue the fight. But I don't want my garden to become overwhelmed. I just hope that my children won't take that long to learn the lessons of life.

Treasury Feature #4

'I'm seeing Red!' by CalliesCraftCottage

In honor of Valentine's Day upcoming, I've included items that have the color red in them.

vintage 70s cherry red ... ramblinvintage $33.00	Ruby Red Glass Vase l C... UneekGlassFusi... $48.00	Ruby Red Jewelry Organi... bluebirdheaven $116.00	Carnelian bezeled drop ... BrioBaubles $26.00
Red and black silk pill... designhutusa $19.99	Sale Red Bicycle Neckl... PoxieJewelry $16.00	KINIES Ruffled Waist Pu... Kinies $38.00	Burgundy Braided Purse ... mrsginther $49.00
2 bicycle pint glasses,... vital $21.00	Heart Applique Armwarme... ForMyDarling $34.00	Spring-Summer 2012....P... Textilemonster $17.00	Red Japanese Sleeves ja... KupuKupuBarcel... $68.00
Christmas Wreath - Berr... EverBloomingOr... $49.00	Reserved for Starph39 kohinoor $20.00	ORIGINAL Abstract Conte... ModernHouseArt $345.00	Alice in Wonderland Rin... robinhoodcoutu... $32.00

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Color Me Wild

As my second Featured Seller, may I present my niece's daughter, Amanda Dulaney. Amanda is the owner of Color Me Wild Jewelry. You can also find her shop on Facebook.  You can contact her directly at 618-751-6505 or by email. These are her words to describe what she does, "I do all types of jewelry, trying to work with just about anything I can. I don't work with plastic. I've done weddings, proms, everyday, church, theme inspired, some are 18th century style. I love the elegant jewelry and a mix of unique pieces as well."