I made this back when the berries were still on the bushes and summer had some promise to it. It was something I really enjoyed making.
It also made me think of a conversation I had at a talk the other night. I'd mentioned that I had built a scoop and tailored it more to gooseberries rather than smaller currants.
Afterwards a gentleman came up and asked if I was planning to make the berry harvesters for sale.
I explained that I was, it would be a little while but I'd try to have a small batch of them ready for sale for next spring.
He enquired about the price.
I said they'd probably be around the £45 mark.
"Far too expensive," He replied.
I shrugged and said that for the time and effort that will go into making each one that is what they will have to be.
"Still too expensive,"
I'm not competing with a mass produced product, as it's made for gooseberries it's very niche. So I'm sorry but it'll be at least that money.
"But I've not seen one anywhere else like it, and I need one" He said as he walked away.
Made me wonder, it's tricky being a small business (I have seen someone else ripping off one of my products to a lesser quality this week as well). We seem to want a race to the bottom at times. While I can I'll hold out and keep making weird niche products and a few others with more mass appeal.
So if you do make a gooseberry scoop please let me know - I'd love to see it. And if you do please let me know how long it took and what you'd charge for it!
Maybe too expensive for him - who knows how he has to budget the money available to him. Most of us have to prioritize in some way. With only 3 gooseberry bushes I pick by hand and maybe he has to make similar assessments of cost and time (or skin) saved. Those of us who 'make' understand the materials and time investment in handmade products (and the anticipated quality and longevity). When we buy it is with multi-generational life/use in mind. I have inherited items like that from my grandmothers; made in an era when nearly everything in the garden shed was handmade
ReplyDeleteThat's the thing, I don't owe anyone affordability, I have to make sure we can survive as a family first. I hope some of my items get passed down the line. One reason I like it when I make the occasional rolling pin - as I know it'll get passed along!
DeleteI always think hand-made things are too expensive - but then I'm very frugal! (mean?,tight?) I even feel guilty going to look at craft fairs and buying nothing.
ReplyDeleteYour wooden items are beautiful to look at as well as useful and you need to charge the proper price so I should ignore people like me!
I;m tight, but more and more I'm fed up with the mass produced rubbish we are almost forced to accept. I'd rather pay more and see the money go to someone that cares than buying from somewhere like amazon if I could.
DeleteThe problem with this world is everyone want's cheap, rubbish you can throw away and replace. You make quality, and I bet your prices don't reflect the true cost of your time, I don't sell any of my crafting items, the time taken would make the item eye watering expensive. With my big cross stitch items, once finished I give them away, simply because the joy for me is in the making.
ReplyDeleteWe have just too much stuff. Our house is prime example of this. Far too many items and not all of them loved like they should be. I'd be better off with half as much but all of it well made and thought about.
DeleteThe trouble I sometimes with selling is the hobby maker that just wants to cover costs, it devalues people trying to make a living from it. This is very true of turning, where a bowl might only be worth a little more than the wood costs!
I prefer to spend my money on something that is good quality, that lasts, and that I can use for a long time. I hate this 'throw-away' society we live in. Your work is beautiful.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I'm hating it more and more. One of the reasons I'm trying to make items to last. Last week I was building mini paint caddies for a potential customer. In truth it'll probably only add up to one day a year of work if we get the design right, but it will mean a few more well made items rather than plastic out there.
DeleteWhen you buy something custom made and hand built, you do so for the quality or perhaps to support a fellow artisan, not because of the price. To say that you need one cheaper because you haven't ever seen another one is unfathomable.
ReplyDeleteIf I make these I've priced them around the price an old one would be from an antique dealer. People seem fine with them making money, but the person making it has to justify themselves.
DeleteI think you hit the nail on the head when you say that people do not realise what materials, time and labour goes into one of your creations. I would label the price of my products.
ReplyDeleteI think people have no iea you're right, eseically when it comes to materials. The worst is it's not all useable when you buy it in, one reason I make a lot of small products to reduce the waste I produce.
DeleteTwo thoughts Kev:
ReplyDelete1) I have become a lot more picky about how I spend my money - when I do now and more so than ever, I want it to go to someone, not something (a corporation). Mass produced has neither the quality nor the care of the artisan and (frankly) with the world the way it is, they likely need the support more (sadly, we have no gooseberries where I live either).
2) I had my oil change completed today on The Ravishing Mrs. TBs auto. It costs me about 30% more than if I got it done at a shop that only changed oil - but what I get from this shop is good work and reliable advice on what needs to be fixed (versus what can be let go for a bit) and an emergency repair on more than one occasion. Having that level of trust and confidence is worth the extra price to me.
This is how I've become as well. I'd much rather speak to the person who made the item, than a employee of someone selling something imported for a profit.
DeleteI'm probably in a tricky spot where itmes have to have enough appeal to make it worth me making a batch, but not enough to be mass produced. I already see a few copies of my items out there, made by individuals who seem to want to race to the bottom when it comes to price.
Darn Kev, that is the worst. Hopefully people will be sensible and realize it is not you.
DeleteI think there's always been a disconnect in people's minds regarding the true (materials + time) cost of handcrafted versus mass manufactured items. I used to do a lot of historical demonstrating for handspinning, and inevitably there would be folk who would shrug and say, "I can get that at WalMart." Except they can't, and sadly, they refuse to be convinced that they can't.
ReplyDeleteYeah, people rarely see past the "what it looks like" stage rather than how it's made.
DeleteIn the past every item they owned would have been valuable, now we throw out so much "richness" every year. We need to go back to a circular economy where time is valued rather than just the item at the end.
i am so sorry to hear this. i think the biggest frustration is to have a talent but have people think that you overcharge for what you are selling. i just made some of my witch hats for a local fair and the person selling them is charging half of what it cost me to make them and then she is taking 40% for her share. i am selling them at this point just to get rid of them but i won't be doing this again.
ReplyDeleteI had a very nice lady tell me not to take some of my items to a talk I gave the other night as she thought they were too expensive and wouldn't sell. She was only trying to save me disappointment.
DeleteI took the stuff anyway and then ended up having a really good night of sales. She spent £70 herself! I said "I thought you said my stuff was too expensive?" She replied "Yeah, but it is such good quality!"