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--- Flabbergasted.... (http://www.gatchamania.net/threadid.php?threadid=3975)
Posted by k2p2 on 17-03-2012 at 19:12:
Flabbergasted....
Shopping Uptown at an artisan's shop, the conversation went something like this...
Shopkeeper-"Did you make your bag."
Me-"Yes. I made it last year, just pulled it out of the wash this morning."
Shopkeeper-"Do you make things to sell."
Me-"No."
Shopkeeper-"Here is my contact info. We'd love to see more of your work."
Okay, this is my Koi bag. The exterior is a print featuring the fish, with the the lining a light blue batik to represent water, and the binding a bright orange batik for contrast. I quilted it in concentric circles to represent pond ripples..
After picking up my jaw from the shop floor, I am now thinking fabric, designs, and how much to charge for the bloody things. (Why can't the days be 36 hours long?)
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Posted by ElectricWhite on 17-03-2012 at 19:15:
Wow! That sounds so freakin' awesome !
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Posted by Springie on 17-03-2012 at 19:21:
Fabulous!!! Looks like you are in business!!!! Congrats- hope it makes you lots of $$!
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Posted by k2p2 on 17-03-2012 at 19:27:
Yes, I was told once by another writer...
"Somepeople wish they could write as well as you can sew...."
But like my writing, when I look at my things, all I see are the errors...
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Posted by KT1972 on 17-03-2012 at 19:58:
You going to do it then? Opportunities like this don't come along every day!!
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Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement; nothing can be done without hope. - HELEN KELLER
Posted by Becky Rock on 17-03-2012 at 20:08:
Give a try! I'd love to see a picture of it.
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I'm writing a book. I've got the page numbers so far...
Posted by ChrisW on 17-03-2012 at 21:35:
That's awesome! I make and sell jewelry so I can offer a little advice, though ultimately pricing art is part voodoo. Hope this doesn't overwhelm, I'm just doing a brain dump. You could use just a little of this advice as an experiment and then if you decided you're going to seriously stick with it, go further.
At minimum, you'll want to determine how much it costs you in materials to do each bag, and how much time it takes you. The wholesale price you'd charge would be (going strictly by math) about 3x the cost of materials + cost of your time (choose how much you want to make per hour). The suggested retail price would be about 5x that.
A lot of artists charge too little for their product. Too many.
Often you can't go strictly by the math. It might send you way too high or way too low (again, selling art/creative stuff is part voodoo). Personally I'm comforted by at least trying to do the math. If you decide you're really going to stick with this, you can help yourself by getting a wholesale account with your suppliers (will require a business license, but if you're going to sell your work you should probably have one anyway, most areas would require it). A wholesale account will really lower your materials costs.
Be sure that you get some kind of contract from the store (if you have a lot of product with them you want to have it in writing who's responsible if things get stolen, when you get paid, at what rate, etc). Find out if they want to buy the bags outright (which might mean at wholesale) or if they want to do it on consignment. While buying the bags at wholesale they might expect to pay 50% of retail, consignment IMO should be them taking 40% or less. Depends on the store.
A popular place to sell online is Etsy, btw. That's a whole other brain dump on how to do that well. 
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Posted by k2p2 on 17-03-2012 at 22:56:
Chris, I come from a long line of artsty-fartsy crafters and musicians...I know all about the ins and outs of selling handmade anything including the frustration...
One of the reasons I quit custom sewing for people was not that I wasn't paid enough...I was always very upfront with that, but it was just dealing with folks who often wanted the impossible...
My main concern it time...I have a job, family, and a husband who travels...making time a very precious commodity, especially when I want to carve a few hours out of the day to write.
Still thinking on the whole thing...posting it on Facebook, my extended family is 100% behind me giving it a whirl..I just don't know....
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Posted by ChrisW on 17-03-2012 at 23:55:
Well, I suppose you could do it on a very small scale and see what you think. Like just for that shop. If you want to go all uber-professional you could do the designs and pay someone to make the stuff.
Or you could pass and just make them when you feel like it.
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Eagle Whisperer
Posted by Madilayn on 18-03-2012 at 03:10:
K2p2 - that is awesome!! A bit of extra income is always good, and if you can earn it doing something you enjoy so much the better!!
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Posted by littlewolf on 18-03-2012 at 11:16:
Congrats
which either way you choose, you should be proud, It's nice when someone recognises your work and the effort you put in
I second that need for a picture, I love seeing others work
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Posted by k2p2 on 18-03-2012 at 19:31:
I have a picture of the bag...but no idea as to how to link it in...
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Posted by amethyst on 18-03-2012 at 19:51:
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Upload it to photobucket, and then ask photobuck to generate a link. It's fairly easy.
Then use paste the link here. It usually comes straight up. There might be a bbc code that you need to use here with the url, but you can find those in the FAQ's under codes. I have to look it up each time I use it.
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Perspective Alters Reality
Posted by k2p2 on 18-03-2012 at 20:22:
So I have to generate a photobucket account?
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The world looks less difficult when standing next to a close friend.
Posted by lborgia88 on 19-03-2012 at 00:13:
I use Photobucket for all my images here. Though I think you can also upload images to the gatchamania gallery and then get an image link that can be put in a thread post.
I'd like to see your purse! And it's great that an artisan's shop wants to sell your work!
Posted by k2p2 on 19-03-2012 at 12:20:
Thanks lb...Image is up in the Gallery...I put it under Gatchamaniacs....I am what I sew...hee hee.
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The world looks less difficult when standing next to a close friend.
Posted by lborgia88 on 19-03-2012 at 12:29:
Glad it worked! And now you can copy and paste the "BB Code" provided under your image in the gallery and post it here:
I love the koi!
Posted by KT1972 on 19-03-2012 at 13:24:
That is impressive.... wish I could do stuff like that!
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Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement; nothing can be done without hope. - HELEN KELLER
Posted by RIgirl on 19-03-2012 at 13:28:
k2p2 -- That's awesome!
It's always nice to have your work acknowledged and appreciated, and from the picture, I can see why it caught the shopkeeper's eye in the first place!
Very nice work!
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"It is a rare man that is taken for what he truly is...We are not always what we seem, and hardly ever what we dream...." Peter S. Beagle
Posted by Transmute Jun on 19-03-2012 at 17:13:
K@, that's a really cool bag! I can see why the shopkeeper was interested! Why do't you make a small amount, say 10 bags, and see how they do in the shop? If they go fast, if it seems like this could become a business, then you can look into 'rearranging' things to make it work for you.
It's wonderful when you can get paid for doing something you love. I am so happy for you!
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