Thank you, it sounds like good advice.
A second one would definitely take less time. It took me a week of carving
to get just the top done.
Long learning curve though.

I'll keep it in mind and do some more research.

K.

"Ecnerwal" wrote in message
...
In article ,
"Kate" wrote:

Marketing and pricing would be a big chore. How do folks know what to
charge
for their carvings?

Take what seems like a reasonable hourly wage. Now double it, since you
are undoubtedly underestimating various costs. Keep track of time spent
and materials costs - get a price.

Your competition is not cheap crap on eBay, unless you want to live in
similar conditions to the fine artists who produce that cheap crap. Your
customer is also not the person who's happy to buy the cheap crap. There
is a market for good stuff, and that is the market you want to be in.

If you cannot sell at or above the price arrived at by the above method,
then don't bother selling - it'll just turn a nice hobby into a sucky
underpaid job. Shortchanging yourself is not a good plan. Sometimes
actually raising the price of something that's not moving will get it to
move - a good deal of the value to the customer is going to be what
value you as the artist place on the thing, as well as their own
impression of the quality of work. If you think it's $25 cheap junk,
then it is. If you think, really, based on time and effort and quality,
that it's $25000 work, then it is - and anywhere in between.

....and it follows that if you think it's $25 and you price it at $250,
it probably won't sell. Oddly enough the same can be said for $2500 at
$250 - why is it 90% off - is there something wrong with it?, says the
customer...

If you make the second one faster, the price does not go down - your
hourly rate goes up.

--
Cats, coffee, chocolate...vices to live by