New Member

Hi,
I am new to your list group. I have been polymer-mesmerized for about 2-3
yrs now. I have my own art studio at home. It started as an extra bedroom,
but has pretty much taken up the entire house. I don't cook anymore, (kid
moved out) so all my kitchen utensils have now been dedicated to polyclay!
LOL I hear this a pretty normal thing for us clay nuts to do.
I am not nearly as good as most of you but I am improving. I'm finally
making a little money, sculpting with clay. I have been teaching my
daughter to sculpt, actually, we teach each other. (Mostly she just lets me
pay for all the supplies. LOL)

I have been very tempted to put a few things on Ebay just to see if they
would sell, but most of the things I see on Ebay, I feel are very low priced
for the amount of time and effort it took to make. Lots of stuff in the
polymer clay lines on Ebay are quite exceptional. I check out what's there
so I get a good idea of what's selling and what's not, & by accident have
started to notice the changes in the different artists work. Some have
gotten quite a bit better and are now doing different types of clay art. I
have met a few of them by e-mail and complimented on their continued success
and skills with polymer clay.
So my big question is, "How do you know if you are pricing your products
correctly?"

My present formula is: $10.00 per hour + cost of materials. (Am I valuing
my time to much?)
Thanks for any impute you may have on this subject.
If you would like to see my work, it can be viewed on my sister's website.
www.keancrafts.com (Please excuse the poor quality of pictures, her camera
didn't do well on the close-ups.)

eliquint
eliquint designs

Hi and welcome!

And yes . . . it *is* true that all kitchen utensils are fair game!! . . .
LOL. You should see my Stuff collection... sheesh.

As for pricing, I have a bunch of info re that topic on this page of my website
if you're interested in getting some opinions and formulas to start with:

http://www.glassattic.com/polymer/business.htm
(look under the sub-category called "Pricing")

Oh, and p.s. ... if you're going to be photographing small items, you'll need
to hook up with a camera which has a good close-up function. There's info
about how close is close enough plus all kinds of info re photographing polymer
and other small items on this page:

http://www.glassattic.com/polymer/photography.htm


HTH,

Diane B.
http://glassattic.com --polymer clay "encyclopedia"

E-mail: (don't use AOL address)

Welcome to the group! I think you made the right choice... cooking just
takes up more time that needs to go to clay. :-)
I dont have any help in pricing.. I dont sell my work yet.. but I do wish
you well!
Diana

--
http://photos.yahoo.com/lunamom44
"eliquint" wrote in message
...
Hi,
I am new to your list group. I have been polymer-mesmerized for about 2-3
yrs now. I have my own art studio at home. It started as an extra
bedroom,
but has pretty much taken up the entire house. I don't cook anymore, (kid
moved out) so all my kitchen utensils have now been dedicated to polyclay!
LOL I hear this a pretty normal thing for us clay nuts to do.
I am not nearly as good as most of you but I am improving. I'm finally
making a little money, sculpting with clay. I have been teaching my
daughter to sculpt, actually, we teach each other. (Mostly she just lets
me
pay for all the supplies. LOL)

I have been very tempted to put a few things on Ebay just to see if they
would sell, but most of the things I see on Ebay, I feel are very low
priced
for the amount of time and effort it took to make. Lots of stuff in the
polymer clay lines on Ebay are quite exceptional. I check out what's
there
so I get a good idea of what's selling and what's not, & by accident have
started to notice the changes in the different artists work. Some have
gotten quite a bit better and are now doing different types of clay art.
I
have met a few of them by e-mail and complimented on their continued
success
and skills with polymer clay.
So my big question is, "How do you know if you are pricing your products
correctly?"

My present formula is: $10.00 per hour + cost of materials. (Am I
valuing
my time to much?)
Thanks for any impute you may have on this subject.
If you would like to see my work, it can be viewed on my sister's website.
www.keancrafts.com (Please excuse the poor quality of pictures, her
camera
didn't do well on the close-ups.)

eliquint
eliquint designs

eliquint wrote:
snippety doo dah
I have been very tempted to put a few things on Ebay just to see if
they would sell, but most of the things I see on Ebay, I feel are
very low priced for the amount of time and effort it took to make.
Lots of stuff in the polymer clay lines on Ebay are quite
exceptional. I check out what's there so I get a good idea of what's
selling and what's not, & by accident have started to notice the
changes in the different artists work. Some have gotten quite a bit
better and are now doing different types of clay art. I have met a
few of them by e-mail and complimented on their continued success and
skills with polymer clay. So my big question is, "How do you know if
you are pricing your products correctly?"

My present formula is: $10.00 per hour + cost of materials. (Am I
valuing my time to much?)


Well, at that rate, and the amount of time I spend fussing over
my things, I should be charging upwards of about $40 per item!
(I'm a very slow sander- I have carpal tunnel in both hands.)

Seriously, it's a well-known fact that we "crafters" (or "artisans")
rarely make an item's true worth unless we become well known
enough for our works to be collected. Or at least appreciated?

I've just started listing some odd items on eBay myself, to see
what they will bring in. But I haven't listed anything yet that I
consider to be my best work- just some things that were left-over
presents or such. I'm starting my auctions at very low prices to
see how high the bids will go on their own. A definite crap shoot,
but I knew going into this that I wasn't going to make big bucks-
I'm just really getting rid of excess *stuff*.

Good for you for spending the time to do the homework on
eBay! As you might have noticed, polymer clay creations do
seem to be undervalued there. I know several poly clay folks
who will only sell their wonderful beads on Just Beads' site,
for instance, because their work is more appreciated there and
folks will pay a decent asking price.

Of course, I fully expect each person's eBay experience to
differ from whatever mine turns out to be, regarding polymer
clay items. One never knows what in the world the buying public
is mad for from one week to another. ;o)

Good luck, and let us know how your first experiences on
eBay turn out.

--
^,,^ Miracle, who keeps adding stuff to
her Virtual Yard Sale at:
http://makeashorterlink.com/?L19851E01

Hi and welcome!
Yes, this thing is quite addicting, isn't it? I actually get annoyed
when my kids what me to cook. The Nerve! LOL!

Ebay is a gamble, I agree, and I've seen some extraordinary works
there. The ones that sell no matter what the price, seems to have
found their own niche. A style that they are known for and I imagine
it takes years of practice and quite a bit of talent.

I also notice that season items do quite well, too.

Experiment and see what works for you. The costs aren't terribly high
compared to starting up your own store.

OopsArt!
******************************************
My Auctions for UNIQUE Items:
http://cgi6.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...sort=3&rows=50