Lauren bag in Lavender and Rose
I am actually on my way to the sewing room; can't you tell? The trouble is I just briefly checked emails, blogs and er, blogs. Reading through one of my favourites by Jane of Snapdragon's Garden I felt inspired to write my own. Jane talks today of the difficult problem of pricing handmade goods, something I personally find very difficult, and it made me think of the various things I have 'issues' with in getting this business off the ground. Time for a bit of honesty then I feel, so here are on or two of the things I grapple with:
1. Pricing - needs to be a business not a charity and therefore needs to
make a profit.
2. Packaging - what is the best form of packaging? I use a variety of tissue
papers and trimmings to make the whole experience what I would
enjoy (of course!), but what boxes work best? Don't like
envelopes, so where is the cheapest place for boxes of all sizes? I
suspect ebay is the answer to that one.
3. Postage - I had this one to think about for my wholesale order (still a bit
proud of my first little order!). Ordinary orders have posed no
problem, but suddenly I had a large box and couldn't work out the
best way to post it - this meant I wasn't sure what to charge for
postage on the quote I sent and as the order obviously wasn't made
up - or even placed at this point - I couldn't really weigh it in
anticipation....very tricky and I had the feeling I was missing
something here. What does everybody else do?
Well, there are a few to be going on with. So far I have not come unstuck, quite the reverse in fact and I seem to have hit the mark with all I have done, but I get the feeling that it is guesswork - albeit an educated guess - and this goes against the grain. I like to know what I am doing and sometimes wish there was a handbook especially for me.
It's all a learning curve I guess, but all suggestions from those dealing with the same issues will be gratefully received!
Pipany xx
