How to Price Your Handmade Products 

People say, hey, just bit of leather and some stitching, what’s so expensive on it? Here it is! I know exactly what he is talking about. And also it is not a mass production, it is custom made. Like this channel.

Preach!

completely DISAGREE. as a leather crafter, and have been doing this for 20+ years I can say with authority that the vast majority of people out there (especially with the "youtuber leather crafters".....) are EXTREMELY OVERPRICING their goods and products. no joke. this video is giving "costs" but they are not realistic costs.... they are puffed up numbers to try and convince people that its "ok" to be getting gouged by extreme pricing.. the product cost he gives is wayyyy over. I can tell you that amount of leather he used is only about $5 dollars worth of leather, $25 an hour?? for the quality of that wallet... no. that is rough quality and is nowhere close to being good enough to justify a luxury hourly rate of $25 an hour. $15 and hour is more appropriate and also more realistic. **remember folks, I am talking real life, not fantasy youtube life....** That simple wallet that was shown in the video should be priced out at $45 MAXIMUM. anything over that is the seller ripping you off. dont give in to the price gauging folks.

@@orion7741 I wouldn't know as much about the quality of leather, I don't have that knowledge you do, so I appreciate you commenting on that. When it comes to hourly rate $15 is minimum wage where I live and it would be more feasible for me to pay my personal bills and living expenses if it was $25 per hour. That's probably why this didn't seem so inflated to me. Working for a small business and working with many small time artists, the prices seem expensive to some customers that come through because they compare it to mass produced products that are machine made. Him breaking down costs I think is a helpful thing for people to know all the pieces that go into pricing, not necessarily the numbers he gave. A lot goes into running a small business and it isn't cheap, at least where I live. Thanks for giving different input, it's nice to hear someone disagree and share a different experience.

The problem is you won't be making a single wallet, in 2 hrs, you should be making several wallets in 2 hrs. You can still charge $35 an hour, your cutting out 10 or more parts, doing things in steps. Cutting 10 out, gluing the 10, and stitching the 10. You keep your costs down, that way you can sell them at a reasonable price and make said profit.

Excellent point. The way I calculate profit margin (let's say 25%) on a calculator is: $89 / .75 = $118.67. It's just another way of displaying what Guillaume showed above.

I think the point about full schedule should have been highlighted, but it was one thing I noticed as well. This is also where MANY people starting a business mess up. You can't set an hourly rate based on 50 x 40 hours weeks unless you have enough business to be working that many hours. Which you almost certainly don't when starting out. You need to set it by how many actual hours of work you will have and that means guessing at first but you are better to guess low than high.

And if you have employees ever, THEN you get the company share of payroll taxes etc..

Do u make custom wallets?

@@holdthefunj5787 I have a few standard designs, but do try and make custom ones if the opportunity arises.

@@Luke_cpt me puede mandar el pdf

@@Luke_cpt me puede mandar el pdf

it's new :) coming soon!

I absolutely want one!!

@@Corter it'll be nice to replace my Harbor Freight rubber mallet with a classy Corter Pounder

@@s7bfreeman A calorie free Corter Pounder!

Very very very useful video. Thanks!

You need to ditch A to B sales and go 100% E-commerce direct to consumer. Geographic location today is no limit for how you can sell or who you can sell to.

TheGreatChrisB: It's a year later now. How did it go?

I know quality items cost more. If you're making something out of leather that's inherently worth more than something made out of polyester. Something can be basic but still worth something if it's made well and will last.

Here's how to "justify it" consider it an investment that will last a lifetime of something that is handmade with high quality materials that are not plastic. Ethically, you are not supporting mass consumerism and capitalism that puts people like this out of business. You are supporting a business owner who is passionate about their work and has the skills to produce a precious piece. If this is still too high of in investment, then look for them in the used market to spend less, but still not buy new "cheap" mass produced goods to support circular & sustainable economies. Or ask for one for your birthday or Christmas.

Because its a hobby doesn’t mean you shouldn’t get paid what you’re worth

Hobbyists that sell like this kill the market for the professional. You are selling for the price of the leather? That doesn't even cover all the material!! You are just hurting the market, it's not funny. I have been a professional woodworker for forty years and I have fought the garage jockey the whole time....

@@Stillnapie he's selling to friends and co-workers dude. Give him a break.

Stillnapie Maybe you need to upgrade your quality and marketing. Should be a professional product not a hobby grade product.

@@iprint3d710 My quality, pricing and marketing are just fine. It is the hobbyists lack of business understanding that is the issue.. If you can't understand that you are part of the problem.

Stillnapie i have a 3D printing business and sell at whatever I want because I built a large following on Instagram. Gucci isn’t better quality than other products but people pay for the name. Work hard you will get there 👍🏼

No, he's not spot on! He did a Mark Up not Profit Margin. It's the single biggest problem people make when they try to start a business and wonder why they aren't making the money they thought they were. I assume no one talks to their CPA either. What I sent him: __________________________________ Appreciate your videos. I wanted to give you a bit of advice on calculating "profit." My experience comes from working with Fortune 500 companies with thousands of retail locations, so I am not just blowing smoke for attention. What you just demonstrated was "Mark Up" not profit. If you multiply your $89 by 25% you get $22.25. Added to your $89 you get $111.25. However, if you want to see what your "profit" was for that $110 sale. . . simply do this: ($110-$89)/$110 and your real profit was 19% not 25% - (Retail-Cost)/Retail. So, to get your real 25% "Profit" you simply do this: Subtract 25% from 100% and you get 75%. Now take your $89 and divide by 75% and your get $118.67. You can prove your "Profit" by using the previous formula: ($118.67-$89)/$118.67 and you get 25.002%. So you either left money on the table and need to raise your prices, or you need to accept a lower profit margin.

The "Corter Pounder" came from another video they did a while back. Someone in the comment section had the brilliant observation that it would be hilarious to name a hammer the Corter Pounder and they ran with it.

Hi, it's been 6 month may I ask have you found solution for your pricing? because I want to start doing this on the side as well for the love of leather products but I am the same regarding you would never buy a wallet that cost 100+ so did find solution to that?

@@ExtraordinaryTK That probably just means you're not the target audience for your own products, which is fine. Try selling it for 100+ anyway. See if there is a market for your product.

We've made a video called "how to sell your leather goods" that touches on that, we've also made one about how to get your products press (how to get your leather goods in magazines). We'll go further in depth with other products soon as well :)

Corter Leather oh, that’s amazing! I’ll look it up

No, it's not accurate. . . He demonstrated Mark Up - Not - Profit! People who use Mark Up always leave money on the table or severely overprice their products. What I sent him: __________________________________ Appreciate your videos. I wanted to give you a bit of advice on calculating "profit." My experience comes from working with Fortune 500 companies with thousands of retail locations, so I am not just blowing smoke for attention. What you just demonstrated was "Mark Up" not profit. If you multiply your $89 by 25% you get $22.25. Added to your $89 you get $111.25. However, if you want to see what your "profit" was for that $110 sale. . . simply do this: ($110-$89)/$110 and your real profit was 19% not 25% - (Retail-Cost)/Retail. So, to get your real 25% "Profit" you simply do this: Subtract 25% from 100% and you get 75%. Now take your $89 and divide by 75% and your get $118.67. You can prove your "Profit" by using the previous formula: ($118.67-$89)/$118.67 and you get 25.002%. So you either left money on the table and need to raise your prices, or you need to accept a lower profit margin.