In Part 2 of this series, I’ll be sharing my thoughts and experience on pricing. For most designers and makers, it’s incredibly complicated, often difficult, and sometimes even a bit embarrassing to talk about.
You don’t want to price things so high that nobody buys them, but you also don’t want to price them so low that you’re working round the clock and not making any money. Finding the right balance can be tricky.
There are lots of different elements that come into play when you’re trying to work out where you fit and what your work is worth. One of the biggest is positioning - where do you see yourself, and where do you aspire to be? Are you selling in a craft shop or a gallery? Which market are you aiming for? Do you already know other designers selling in those spaces? It’s about looking at how similar products are priced and thinking carefully about what you offer that’s different.
This is one of the hardest parts of running a creative business, but it’s also one of the most important. After all, your business depends on it.
Thank you for reading!
Donna x
Different Products, Different Pricing
The first thing to mention is that pricing one-off artworks and pricing products made in batches require completely different approaches. That might sound obvious, but it’s something that often gets overlooked.
For products made in batches - our knitted creatures, for example - we use a costing spreadsheet where we accurately time every part of the making process, based on a small production run of around 50 pieces. We also include the cost of every material used, right down to the packaging.
Once we have the exact costs, we work out a margin, which helps cover rent, rates, staff costs and other overheads. That gives us our wholesale price, which is the price we offer to shops at trade shows. The shop would then typically sell the product for two to three times that amount.
With one-off artworks, the approach is a bit different. One thing I’ve learned is that if you’re selling out immediately, you’re probably too cheap. If you’re not selling anything, you might be too expensive. It’s about finding the right balance and adjusting as you learn more about the market for your work.
How do you translate concept-led work into a refined, production-ready product range?
It’s always a combination of creativity and finding the right way - or the right suppliers - to bring ideas to life. We look at what’s worked before and think about how we can move the collection forward each season while still feeling true to who we are.
We’ve also done a lot of work on our costing structure over the years. Sometimes that means making products larger or smaller so they fit into different price points, which we try to make as easy as possible for our customers to understand.
Although I’d say I’m a very visual person, I find it difficult to fully understand a product until we reach the final sample stage. It’s only then that you can really see how individual pieces relate to one another. Because of that, we’re constantly trying to build more time into the development process so we can step back, look at the collection as a whole, and make sure everything works together.
I also always try to include a showstopper in each collection - usually a larger or more ambitious piece. It might not sell in huge numbers, but it’s important for setting the direction of the collection and creating something that really grabs people’s attention.
How do you balance craftsmanship, sustainability, and repeatability in product design?
Sustainability has always been built into my mindset. I naturally gravitate towards renewable materials wherever possible, so wool, paper and wood are all fine by me!
The craftsmanship comes from working with skilled makers and manufacturing partners, combined with a lot of training, communication and quality control. Maintaining quality takes constant attention, especially when you're making products repeatedly and at scale.
I think having good relationships with your suppliers is incredibly important. If you trust each other and work closely together, people want to do a good job. We’re all proud of what we’ve managed to achieve over the years, and that shared sense of pride helps create products that are made well and made to last.
In the end, those strong relationships make for a more sustainable and profitable partnership for everyone involved.
How do you decide which products to focus on when you have too many ideas?
If your brain is full of ideas and you’re not quite sure where to focus your energy, I think it’s a good idea to start by looking at the things that have already been successful. Maybe they sold quickly, generated a lot of interest, or got people talking.
Then think about what it is you like about those products and how you can develop those ideas further. Build up a range around them. I think it’s important to have some products that feel like easier wins - things you know there’s already an appetite for.
What I like to do is balance those easier wins with a few products that are a bit more challenging, but that I really want to make. They’re often the pieces that keep the originality and creativity in the collection. I probably know from the outset that they won’t be the most commercial items, but they’re important because they push things forward and keep the work interesting.
Having that balance means you can appeal to different types of customers while still making space for new ideas and experimentation.
How do you price your work in a way that reflects its value and sustains your business?
The great thing about doing work that’s original is that no one else does exactly what you do, so you have more freedom to set the price in a way that feels right.
It’s also important not to forget the huge amount of knowledge, development time, research, practice - and more practice - that goes into your work. All of that has value, even if it isn’t always visible in the final piece.
I recently had a session with one of the makers I’m mentoring, and we had a really good conversation about this. He has lots of exciting opportunities happening at the moment and would love to sell his work through high-end galleries. Bearing in mind that a gallery might take 50–60% of the sale price, he was wondering how he should price his work now - before the galleries snap him up!
We talked about pricing higher, as if the work was already being sold through a gallery, but then there’s the danger of not selling anything. The other option is to price the work based on your daily rate, materials and time, which might make it much lower.
The worry then is that if the price jumps up later, it could confuse customers. So the answer was really to strike a balance somewhere in the middle. Know your worth, but also adjust the price to what works for you now. You can always nudge it up as you become more established or as demand for your work grows.
When should you consider raising prices - and how do you do it without panic?
Raising prices is always daunting. To be honest, I kept my prices the same for years. Then, at some point, I realised that all my costs and overheads had been creeping up little by little, and the margin was gradually getting squeezed.
The reality is that increasing your prices is a necessary part of running a business. If you don’t do it when you need to, you eventually won’t have a business at all.
I think it’s also worth remembering that most customers understand that costs change. If you’re making thoughtful, original, high-quality work and communicating clearly, people are usually more accepting of price increases than you might expect.
How Do You Avoid Constantly Getting Margins Wrong?
The key is to stay on top of your costings. Material costs, shipping, wages, rent and other overheads can all change, so it's important to keep your figures up to date.
We review our pricing every year, but there’s no shame in making adjustments more regularly if things change. Costs can move much more quickly these days than they used to. Pricing isn't something you work out once and forget about - it's something you need to keep revisiting as your business grows and changes.
How do you shift from commissions/one-offs to batch production?
We have a small manufacturing company called Knit Shop, where we make all of our lambswool products. Because we manufacture in-house, we’re able to produce small batches, one-off pieces and commissions relatively easily.
The commissions do take more time, though, because we have to programme the knitting machine for a single product rather than running a batch of 20–100 pieces. That means someone has to stop what they’re doing, programme the machine, test it, thread it up with the correct yarn and make sure everything is working properly before production can begin.
For us, the important thing is making sure all of that time is properly costed in. As long as we account for the programming, setup and development time, it’s perfectly manageable to produce one-offs alongside our regular production runs.
I think people sometimes assume you have to choose between commissions and batch production, but it’s really about understanding the true cost of each and making sure your pricing reflects that.
What Role Should Wholesale Play in Your Business Model?
I’ve always worked with a wholesale model alongside selling directly to customers through our website. For us, wholesale has been incredibly important.
We simply wouldn’t be able to achieve the same economies of scale if we only sold through our own website. Many manufacturers have minimum order quantities that would be difficult to reach through direct sales alone, so wholesale allows us to produce at a scale that makes sense.
I’ve also always loved the idea that our products are out there in the world, being sold in different shops, towns, cities and countries. There’s something really exciting about knowing that people are discovering your work in places you may never have visited yourself.
In fact, I’m fairly sure our products have travelled to more countries than I have! Wholesale has helped us grow the business, build our reputation and share our work with a much wider audience than we could have reached on our own.
How Do You Manage Production Costs While Maintaining High Quality?
Managing production costs while maintaining high quality is always a balancing act, but in many ways, you get what you pay for.
We choose not to use cheap materials, and we work with reputable manufacturers who operate to high standards. Those are things we’re not willing to compromise on. It might cost a little more, but I believe it shows in the quality of the finished product and in the values of the brand as a whole.
We’re not interested in making throwaway products, and I don’t think our customers want that either. We want to make things that last. We want people to treasure them, live with them, and enjoy them for years and years.
For me, investing in quality materials and skilled manufacturing isn’t just about making a better product - it’s about creating something with longevity, which is ultimately a more sustainable approach too.
