Pricing III: The Biggest Mistake - “Will I buy this?”

Asking myself “Will I buy this?” was one of the biggest mistake I made for pricing. When I first started Gracium, I always asked that question at the end of the pricing process. It mostly led me to lower the price, or even giving up selling the item because I thought no one would buy it at that price.

Take our table seating chart as an example.

This item is currently priced at CAD 4.50 per card, CAD 5 if the corners are rounded. Its initial price was much lower, because I thought like this.

“If I were to buy printed seating chart for my wedding, will I buy this? If I have 10 tables, that will be $50 plus shipping. 50 dollars for 10 of these cards? NO WAY! They are so simple to make. Who would pay that much? Maybe, only if 10 cards were around $25-30.”

I was wrong at so many points, let me go through them one by one.

1. “They are so simple to make”. No. It is simple because you already know how to make it. Your customers likely don’t.

2. “Who would pay that much?” Anyone who does not want to make it themselves. You love to make it, but not everyone is into crafting. Even if they like crafting, they are paying you to do it because either they are too busy to do it themselves or they believe you could do it better.

3. “Maybe, only if 10 cards were around $25-30.” No. That is totally your own pricing frame. Every client is different. Someone could think even $1 per card is expensive. Someone else could be a wedding planner who is willing to pay anything because yours fit the theme.

Remember, you only want to attract customers that value your work. There is no reason to sacrifice your profit to attract more customers. If you are charging fairly and they are not willing to pay the price, then they are not yours. You should not undermine your skills and time. Think as a person who does not own your skills.

I totally understand if you don’t feel comfortable charging what you ought to charge, especially if it is higher than your comfort zone. My prices were a lot lower at the beginning, I charged what I felt comfortable charging. Then the shop started to get really busy. I spent sleepless nights fulfilling orders, yet the profit was almost nothing. Then I realized that I was not charging enough. I learend that it was different from doing a favor to my friends and family, it was a business.

I understand if you still say “I am okay not making much money, I like the process of creating these. Besides, my shop is not busy at all!” You can change as you go, at your own pace. I am just sharing my experience hoping that this would help anyone who is at the same stage as I was. I am still learning too!

In the next post, I will cover the ways you can lower your costs. See you then!

Best,

Grace