Setting, let alone, maximizing, your craft’s price is a little more complicated than it first seems. The obvious price is as much as a willing buyer is ready to pay. But how do you arrive at that figure? Craft pricing has often been left more to gut feeling than to rigorous analysis.

Knowing your easily-quantifiable costs, for example raw materials, tools, packaging etc, on one end, you need to consider, on other end, what market will bear. You need to charge as much as you can to cover all unknown or unanticipated costs, as well as to maximize your bottom line profit. This is essence of proper craft pricing.

When trying to set prices, most crafters forget to include most important expense of all - cost of YOU. You are talented and skilled, otherwise there would be no market for your craft.

Most crafters get into their crafts out of love for what they're doing and are just looking to cover expenses. But your time, skill and effort are valuable. Take them into account when you set your price.

In order to sell your goods at a reasonable profit, you need to determine maximal price. “Maximal” is defined as “the greatest or highest possible”.

I got comfortable charging most that I could for my crafts when painful experience showed me there would be costs I hadn’t anticipated – very expensive ink that sprayed all over room (and me!) when I was trying to refill a cartridge – products I had to recall and replace when I determined chemical used to fix ink to fabric had gone bad.

I find that ads that tell me I can have a fabulous income with little or no work appeal enormously to greedy, lazy parts of my humanity. Fortunately, I, like most of you, know that there is no such thing as being paid just for showing up. And you can’t afford to be burned. So just how do you proceed? Here’s a check list that’s sure to point you in right direction!

1) Make sure you’re dealing with a reputable company.

How long has company been around? Anything less than 2 years is pretty iffy. Is it a member of Better Business Bureau? This is an excellent sign of integrity. Have any complaints been filed against this company? Let’s hope not.

2) What are start-up costs? How about maintenance costs?

If you are being asked to purchase a start-up kit costing several hundred dollars or more, you need to really investigate what it is you’ll be receiving for your money. In my experience, you rarely get anything that is worth anywhere near as much as you paid. Also, how much product are you expected to continue to purchase monthly? Do you even use it? Does this leave money in your budget for advertising? Clearly, best products to promote are ones that you need or would use anyway. Even better would be one that saves you as much money as it costs.

3) Is product one that you can promote with pride and confidence?

You can only represent a product that you yourself are sold on. If you think that your product is a bit of a rip-off, you won’t be able to hide that, no matter what. Also, is your product something that someone would want to buy without participating in your business? In other words, does your product have legitimate value in and of itself?

4) Does your product have global appeal?

Does your product target only one gender or one age group? Is it confined to certain regions or to only one country? Also, if your product is a vanity or luxury item, these are often first to go when economy suffers. Obviously, wider and more practical appeal, better. If your product can be employed by people throughout world, this is even better.

5) How much overhead does your product eat up?