Got My First Order Today! + Flea Market Questions

[Quentin]

Yes! I received my first order for candles today.It was from my sister, so I don't know if that really counts or not.   Seriously though, I'm doing my first show in October at The Old Jailhouse Flea Market in Canton, Mississippi. Supposedly, it's the biggest in the whole State. It spans up and down the streets of Canton for several city blocks.  I'm beginning to have some doubts as to whether or not people in a flea market environment will pay the prices I'll be asking. I'm using a pricing template that I bought on Etsy. It's  designed for handmade crafts, candles, jewelry and that sort of thing.

 

I'm starting to lose confidence in the template. It calculates the quantities just fine, but then it simply doubles cost to wholesale and then doubles wholesale to retail. It doesn't seem to me that pricing should be that simple. The lady that built the template even doubles the cost of labor in figuring the final retail price. I have a serious question mark over my head about marking up labor costs. 

 

I have three questions:

 

1) Is it wise and/or ethical to double the labor cost, especially when I'm the only one doing the labor with no one else on the payroll? 

2) Do any of you have use different pricing strategies for different types of markets and shows?  and

3) Should I sell at the wholesale price, the full calculated retail price or somewhere in between the wholesale and retail price?

 

I'd certainly welcome any ideas y'all might have.

 

 

 

 

[ncraiders]

Most of the time labor gets increased because they get a final cost including what they want to charge for labor then they will either double or triple that price.  Sometimes they go above triple if they think there target market can handle it. 

 

I wouldn't sell them at wholesale prices even at a big event.  I would charge the same there that i would charge anyone other than wholesale accounts.  To me wholesale prices are there purely to get your product in stores you think could be a good market for your candles or melts.

 

I feel that if you are going to sell at an event and plan to sell them somewhere else like online, in stores, or however that the prices need to be comparable so as not to cause issues later on with one price being well above another.  You can always do specials at events like if you candles are 15$  maybe do a 2 for 25$ deal  in the end you might sell more candles as well as giving people another reason to pick up a couple of scents you make instead of just buying one.  

 

This is my though process on your questions.  hopefully it makes sense and is somewhat helpful.

[Jcandleattic]

16 hours ago, Quentin said:

so I don't know if that really counts or not.

Did she pay money or goods for them? Then it COUNTS!! 

 

16 hours ago, Quentin said:

it simply doubles cost to wholesale and then doubles wholesale to retail. It doesn't seem to me that pricing should be that simple

That is the general rule, however, after all the doubling, you need to make sure to include what you pay yourself. So many people forget to pay themselves, or think since they work for themselves, they shouldn't have a salary. That is UNTRUE. Would you work for free at a regular place of business? Of course not, so why work for free for yourself? (Not saying you do, just saying I know a lot of people that don't pay themselves and that's just not good business) 

 

16 hours ago, Quentin said:

The lady that built the template even doubles the cost of labor in figuring the final retail price. I have a serious question mark over my head about marking up labor costs.

HAHA I should have kept reading before answering above

 

16 hours ago, Quentin said:

1) Is it wise and/or ethical to double the labor cost, especially when I'm the only one doing the labor with no one else on the payroll? 

2) Do any of you have use different pricing strategies for different types of markets and shows?  and

3) Should I sell at the wholesale price, the full calculated retail price or somewhere in between the wholesale and retail price?

 

1) No, I don't do that - what I do is keep track of my time, pay myself an hourly wage, and then AFTER the COG of the candle has been figured out, I add in the cost of my time, dividing it up in the amount of time for that particular batch. (I keep a spreadsheet with formulas that calculates everything so all I have to do is plug some numbers and hit enter and viola - done... ) 

2) This will be better answered by someone else, as I only do 4 shows a year, 3 are at the same venue (Oct., Nov., & Dec) and 1 stand alone. They are all very similar so my pricing structure remains the same for all 4. 

3) At my shows I sell at my full retail price. However, IMO if I were to sell at a flea market type of setting, I might be inclined to drop my prices by 10-15%, however, it would depend on the show, and what the feel was once I got there and saw what was happening around me. 

 

Hope this helps a little..