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I expect you'll be reading a whole flurry of posts just as soon as my internet access is restored. Our modem kicked the bucket a couple of days ago, and despite promises it would be fixed right away, it is still broken and unattended to. That's what happens when poor customer service coincides with a strike. Hoorah. At least I can catch up with a few people online every now and then from school.
If you've been emailing me and your letters have been bouncing, this is probably the reason why.
I rearranged the store with the help of f00 last night. It's looking a lot better, although I still want to add a bit more three-dimensionality to the layout. The wall on the right side of the store looks too flat. I'd like to have some shelves or small tables jutting out into the hallway more, or maybe some clothing racks. I suppose I could bring my easel in. That would help some. I believe I'll be getting a painting in soon, and that would display it nicely.
A battle of wills has been going on at the store. One of my employees has a huge problem with appropriate pricing of work. She brought in several nice items this morning and showed them to me happily. Proferring a cute little lidded basket she said, "See what I made?"
"Nice," I responded. "How much are you charging for it?"
"Five dollars!"
"Uh, how long did it take you to make that?"
"About six hours," she answered.
"So you want to be paid less than a dollar per hour for your work, not even counting materials?"
"Oh, I don't mind," she said. "See what else I made?" And she shows me some nice, woven coasters. "These are two dollars each."
"And how long did they take you?"
"About two hours apiece."
"You can't sell them that cheaply. You'll bankrupt yourself! What are you going to do when you have your own studio and you have to pay for your supplies, rent, groceries, etcetera?"
"Oh, I'll price it higher, then."
"But your clientele will refuse to pay you more, because you've already set such a low precedent. And you're also causing serious problems for other people in your discipline. If you're not even charging enough to pay for your materials, there's no way they can compete and make even starvation wages."
Her face grew a mulish expression she and stated, "I won't mark them any higher."
"I'm sorry, then, but if you don't mark them to a more appropriate price, you can't sell them here. It isn't fair to the other students in your studio if they choose to sell here, too."
At that, her expression softened a bit, and she said she'd speak to her studio head about pricing. I know the studio head is adamant about fair compensatory pricing. If my employee decides she can't mark these particular items up higher, hopefully she will make something else which she will price appropriately.
If you've been emailing me and your letters have been bouncing, this is probably the reason why.
I rearranged the store with the help of f00 last night. It's looking a lot better, although I still want to add a bit more three-dimensionality to the layout. The wall on the right side of the store looks too flat. I'd like to have some shelves or small tables jutting out into the hallway more, or maybe some clothing racks. I suppose I could bring my easel in. That would help some. I believe I'll be getting a painting in soon, and that would display it nicely.
A battle of wills has been going on at the store. One of my employees has a huge problem with appropriate pricing of work. She brought in several nice items this morning and showed them to me happily. Proferring a cute little lidded basket she said, "See what I made?"
"Nice," I responded. "How much are you charging for it?"
"Five dollars!"
"Uh, how long did it take you to make that?"
"About six hours," she answered.
"So you want to be paid less than a dollar per hour for your work, not even counting materials?"
"Oh, I don't mind," she said. "See what else I made?" And she shows me some nice, woven coasters. "These are two dollars each."
"And how long did they take you?"
"About two hours apiece."
"You can't sell them that cheaply. You'll bankrupt yourself! What are you going to do when you have your own studio and you have to pay for your supplies, rent, groceries, etcetera?"
"Oh, I'll price it higher, then."
"But your clientele will refuse to pay you more, because you've already set such a low precedent. And you're also causing serious problems for other people in your discipline. If you're not even charging enough to pay for your materials, there's no way they can compete and make even starvation wages."
Her face grew a mulish expression she and stated, "I won't mark them any higher."
"I'm sorry, then, but if you don't mark them to a more appropriate price, you can't sell them here. It isn't fair to the other students in your studio if they choose to sell here, too."
At that, her expression softened a bit, and she said she'd speak to her studio head about pricing. I know the studio head is adamant about fair compensatory pricing. If my employee decides she can't mark these particular items up higher, hopefully she will make something else which she will price appropriately.
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no subject
Date: 2004-06-15 10:11 pm (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2004-06-15 10:54 pm (UTC)From:It's a common trap of so many new artisans; thinking that they can't possibly pay themselves a fair wage and be competitive. The thing is, if you don't pay yourself what your labor is worth, you can't be competitive, period, because you can't afford to keep making whatever you make. Congratulations for taking the hard line, and hopefully she will come to see the wisdom of your insistence.
My favorite retort to "Why is your jewelry so expensive? It's just silver" is [evil grin] "Would you like the detailed list of how many steps it took to make it?" [/evil grin]
no subject
Date: 2004-06-16 03:07 am (UTC)From:seriously, I had such a hard time with that. When I was making these stained glass mosaic candle holders, before Urban Outfitters had hundreds of them made in China, I had no idea what to sell them for. They took a long time, we were working with glass, we had patterns and designs we did, and we were glueing each piece with Duco Cement which gives you a mad headache. But I would sell them for really cheap because I thought that's the only way people will buy them.
But I had noone to ask, and the only people I talked to about it wanted me to sell them cheap for their benefit.
So I stopped making them. sad.
no subject
Date: 2004-06-16 03:09 am (UTC)From:Random person asking about my japanese hex choker: So how much is this? $70? $80?
Me: $200
I calculated that it cost me around $60 and took 20 hours to make. Like hell I'm letting it go for just over materials.