One of the ladies where I work during the summer found out last weekend that she is going to be a grandmother. This will be the first grandchild for her and her husband. Needless to say, she is quite excited.
Yesterday, she asked me if I would be willing to be commissioned to do up a little layette ensemble. She wants a little sweater, a hat, pair of baby mittens (with no thumb of course) and pair of booties. She asked if I would have enough time. I should have...'should' being the key word here.
She has picked out the pattern from one of the baby pattern booklets I had in my knitting/crocheting bag, so I know which one it is. I've worked on it before, and just have to sew the arms on and do the edging. Wendy isn't sure what colour she wants though, since they don't know the gender of the baby. She is leaning towards white, but is going to ask some others what they think is an OK colour other than white. I said the typical gender neutral colours seem to be white, yellow, or green.
I'm not sure what to charge for this. I know I need to take into consideration what I pay for the yarn (unless she gets it), and I need to include my time as well. I have never made anything for payment before, so I have absolutely no idea what prices to charge - what is reasonable.
So, does anyone have any idea what a reasonable price to charge would be - especially in Canadian dollars (don't want to say $30 if it is in American, because for Canadian it would be more)...if that makes sense. So, let me know what you think I should charge for a baby's sweater, hat, mittens, and booties set.
12 comments:
the word on the street(discussion over at crochetville) is that you should charge 3 times the amount of the supplies (yarn, buttons etc) to account for your time to make the item(s) I usually round down to the closest dollar and try to take into account for how much the items i make would cost at a store b/c i don't want it to be outrageous or too cheap either.
anyways i hope that helps you out!
Allena, thanks for the heads up!
yes 3 times your actual cost is the norm. And I can't wait to see it. And for color, I'm partial to yellow myself, but really any color would be good.
How much to charge for our handknitting is always a hard one to answer, if you can get three times the cost of materials you are doing ok. Here in Australia they are not usually prepared to pay that much. I am usually happy to get the cost of my yarn back plus a little extra.
i was curious too? i never have a clue how much to charge for commissioned work! you go girl! and you know it's going to look great when your done ;) can't wait to see some progress pics of it!
6 months into learning to knit, someone asked me to make a project for them, and wanted to pay me for it. i felt too uncomfortable about it (because i hadn't even been knitting a year and wasn't confident enough to get paid for it) and said no. but i've always wondered what to charge if someone did ask me again. now i have a bit of an idea now. =)
I agree with Sharon. Even though your work is probably worth at least $50 or $60, people are loathe to pay that much for something that doesn't come from a store with a fancy label on it.
**hugs** You're so cool! Getting paid to do something you love!!!!!
I've heard the 3 times the amout of the yarn thing too.
Amy
You'll never get your time, of course. I have a baby set website, plus I follow other site that sell similar sets. What yarn are you going to use? Most of mine are Bernat Softee Baby. I would get like $35 for mine, that's jacket, bonnet, booties. I haven't knit them for awhile, been busy on other things!
I don't know how much to charge, but would think that relating it to the cost of materials would not be a good idea. If cheap yarn is used, you might not get paid very much at all. knitting the same items in expensive yarn would net you more. And probably be an easier knit too, as quality yarns usually make the job easier.
If you enjoy the knitting process for it's own sake, why not ask the lady to make a charitable donation to the charity of your choice. Often when people have offered to pay me for knitting something, I ask them if they go to church. If they do, I ask them to give some money to the Church instead of paying me.
How exciting to be commissioned! I would tell her that your price depends somewhat on the yarn she chooses, because if it's a worsted weight you'll obviously spend less time than on a sport weight project.
I think with several items like that you should ask $75 (and I'm thinking American) and not feel the least bit guilty -- these are handmade items. They are not made in an hour. If she doesn't want to pay that (or whatever she decides on), she can buy something at the store and you can devote your knitting time to your own projects. (Unless this person is a good friend and you're doing it partially as a favor.)
Three times the price of the yarn would probably be fair... if the yarn is $20 then you'd charge $60. But ask your friend 1st before you start. What is she willing to pay? If she wants to look in the stores & find a cheap little set for $25, then you'll have time for your own projects as Rachael says. If she says yes to the price because she really wants handmade & loves your work, then you can feel it's fair. I've sold crocheted items & cross stitched pictures thru the years ... sometimes underpriced for the amt of time I put in ... but always above the cost of materials of course. Your time is worth something.
Post a Comment