How much should a card cost?

[craftyfox]

How much do you think a single handmade card should cost? This is excluding any postage, customisations or packs. People I've spoken to so far seem to have wildly differing opions on this.

Cheers, crafty-fox.

[Seahorse]

That is a toughy!

Sometimes I look at mass produced cards and think they shouldnt be more than 50p, due to the subject matter,artwork, condition of them etc.
But then again in WHSmiths they are very stylish, off very good quality and cover a variety of subjects.Im always surprised at the price of them and like to check before I commit myself to limit shock.
Musical cards cost around £4 which knocks my socks off so I try to avoid them.


Absolutely no offence to us crafty people but I feel some people look at handmade items and see them as inferior to mass produced things.Its almost as tho if the item wasnt made in a big factory then they can be good quality or they arnt aestheticly pleasing enough, or the recipient wont like them.

I think the pricing of an item should start at how much the products were to make the item.
This becomes very annoying when Id like to charge the buyer the whole £4 it cost me to buy the embossing powder when really I should charge about 5p for the ammount I used.

So, materials used, time taken to make, then the fact that its hand made and therefore a one off or limited edition could come into play as well.

Ive seen sites were handmade earrings are being sold for $80-$120 , they are beautiful but I cant work out why.Is it because they are hand made and one offs or because of the materials use?Or other factors.

I think yuo have done a good thing by asking people, maybe write out a survey for your friends to help you out.Show them a number of your cards and ask how much theyd pay and why.

It could be all about quality and word of mouth.Sometimes I watch antique programmes and find the ugliest piece of pottery has a value in the hundreds.

Keep us posted of your results.

[Tigger]

I think this is a difficult one. I filled in £1-£2 but it really depends on the quality I guess too. It also depends on the occasion. For someones birthday, I will normally only spend £1-£2 on a card, however say it was something like a wedding, and the card is good quality, unusual, and VERY applicable to that person, I might spend as much as £4. Its not that the card might not be worth more than this, I just couldn't afford to spend that much on a card.

Tigger
xxxxxxxx

[Athena]

I made a card for a wedding and asked £3.50

It had shrink plastic embellishments on it and personalised with the Happy Couples initials. The person who commissioned it said that is as much as she would have paid for any card in a shop so I thought I couldnt ask more than that anyway.
Another card I made a year or so ago was a very personalised 70 birthday card, with decoupage and with Mum on it as the person who asked me to make it hadn't been able to find one with 70 and Mum on it. I asked £2.50 but the person who had commissioned it gave me £3.00

It always depends on how much work I have put into the card as well as the materials I have used.
I am working on getting more commissions soon. Every card I make is totally unique. I also keep a photographic record of them all so I am building my portfolio to show the sort of work I do.

[Tigger]

I think £3.50 for a wedding card is fine, cause actually its such a special occasion.

Good idea making cards to order as it were

Love
Sue
xxxxxxx

[janette]

I didn't take part in the poll as I would have ticked everybox.

I do a range of cards, starting with basic, simple cards at £1.00 up to very fancy personalised cards at £4.50.

I think the price depends on alot of factors as has been said, cost of materials, time taken to make and also how personalised the card is. I would charge £3.50 for a wedding card but the same card with the bride and grooms names on would cost £4.50. (extra time to personalise)

I found it was a case of trial and error when I first started, people do tend to tell you if they they think your cards are too cheap or ooexpensive.

But one thing to remember is that some people are just tight and would complain regardless.

Janette

[Bea]

I agree with others here, I would pay £1-2 for birthdays but up to £3-4 for Anniversaries / Weddings....

so I didn't tick anything either ops: :roll:

[steffy]

How much I charge for my cards

Hi Everyone

After plucking up the courage to approach some businesses about selling my cards I was really disappointed that nobody seemed interested. I rang a few places after leaving samples and they said the main thing they didnt like was the ' stick on writing' (peel offs to us cardmakers!)

After a long search I finally found an alternative on ebay. You buy the cards and they come with a ready made foiled greeting.Low and behold I went back to a few places and i am now selling at two venues and they are selling at £2.95!!!! yipee. I think this was down to a more professional finish.

I have been getting them ever since so just wanted to share it with everyone. I think the ebay shop link is www clares-cards.co.uk but if you typed in hot foiled cards Im sure it will come up.

I have just ordered some Christmas ones so fingers crossed.

Bye for now.

[Auntysally]

definately £2-3 yoh have to allow for the time spent creating it - and it still loads cheaper than what they sell them for in high street shops!

[lori]

I think if the quality is really good then £2 - £3 would be a reasonable price to pay.

It does just look like you have then taken your time to choose something really impressive.

[Sakvoyaj]

How much I charge for the cards

I guess it depends what kind of card your are getting
poor, easy made can cost around 2 pounds
the ones , which you can find on my website-must be at least 3.5 pounds
http://www.sakvoyaj-cards.com
But , I can sell those cards for 1.8 $ in bulk orders
its around 1.2 pounds
why so cheap-the production is in Ukraine
and believe me, the cards are much better from what youve see before

[jo's hubby]

At least £2 people will pay £5 for aspecial card in smiths but wont buy a proper handmade one for that money its crazy

[emmarulz91]

It depends doesnt it? how much you use and how big the card is. but some ppl pay a lot for handmade cards!!!!!!

[beadsbydesign]

How much SHOULD a card cost?
I sometimes feel that people just don't get it!
I have a pitch at a local producers market and sell my individually handcrafted / hand painted cards for £1.00. I still get people who think that is expensive. I have other poeple who say "I wouldn't buy a hand made card, it looks cheap!" They are the people who would think nothing of going into M&S and paying £3.00 for a card.

[Seahorse]

Well said, you stick to your guns and put your prices up!!
It amazes me how some people see mass produced things to be more 'worthy' than hand made.

It always reminds me of hand sewn american quilts.The amount of fabric, time and effort put into those things would put its price in the hundreds or thousands, yet nobody would pay that.