For a long time now we’ve been frustrated and, in some cases, downright exasperated at the increasingly poor performance of Etsy. To start the year we decided to make a few changes and this weekend we’ve started by opening a new shop with Coriandr.
Not only is Coriandr easier to use, more reliable, and nicer to look at than Etsy, but this move means that we can now list our crafts for sale in UK currency, which is a massive bonus for us. Payment is still through Paypal, which is one of the most secure ways to pay on the web and we are now also able to accept personal cheques for those who would prefer not to divulge credit or debit card details to a computer.
To coincide with the move to Coriandr, you might have noticed our new banner and updated colour scheme, well the start of it anyway.
As if that wasn’t enough, Alasdair and I have had a confab and a brainstorm, engaged ourselves in some ‘blue sky thinking’ and a series of other overused business cliches and have decided on a number of intentions for the year that we’ll share in due course…all of which will be worth the wait.
We hope you like these changes but please feel free to comment if there’s anything you’d particularly like to see here.
Jolene and I have been contemplating our prices for some time now, it’s a difficult thing to price your own creations! Anyway, we have recently reviewed the prices and these have all been re-marked, in many cases this has meant a drop in price by as much as $20 in some cases!!
We have decided that our FREE shipping should remain, well, FREE! And not just free to UK customers, but FREE WORLDWIDE SHIPPING. It seems like such a fundamental thing, we don’t like paying postage and I guess that nobody else does either. We do offer premium shipping options and we charge for these at cost, after all shoppers want to buy lovingly crafted items, not envelopes and stamps!!
Anyway, we’d be delighted to ’see’ you in the shop so why not drop on over for a wee browse.
Shoppers who prefer to shop in sterling should contact us directly via the contact page and we will only be too happy to provide prices in pounds.
Making stuff can be hard-going at times, it can be difficult to judge just how good your stuff is in any subjective way, and if it’s not any good, well, what’s the point! Of course family and friends can tell you that what you’ve been making is “super”, “smashing”, or even, “great” yet you’ll always have a nagging doubt that these people simply don’t want to hurt your feelings with a totally honest and critical assessment of your work.
Jolene and I are rather good at giving critical feedback and yet when you see something day-in-day-out even the extraordinary becomes ordinary or unremarkable, perhaps the old adage about familiarity breeding contempt would fit, the very reason why judging your own work can be so difficult.
With our first craft fayre approaching rapidly (one week to go) there is a danger of us suffering a crisis of confidence despite most of our stock being ready and packed. Aside from our trademark wood carvings, papier mache pieces, felt ornaments, and needlework items we’ve put together a range of mounted prints and photo cards and a few other bits and bobs.
We were rather delighted then that an enthusistic shopper recently purchased two of Jolene’s felt birds and left some rather encouraging feedback:
It is such a treasure to own a pair of your MadeStuff birds. I love every bit of them. Your little birds stoled my heart. As soon as I saw them, I just knew that I had to have them. They are perched on their own shelf in my family room and cheerfully greet all who enter. Their colors work well with my decor. They chirp happily and love to show off their plumage. They will bring joy to those who visit them and sing in my heart forever. Thank you for your kindness and expedite shipping. I will always be eternally greatful.
Rather positive I’m sure you’ll agree, and certainly welcome in the run-up to the craft fayre!
Fortunately it’s not just Jolene that’s been getting positive feedback as I discovered when I received feedback for one of my carvings earlier in the month:
very creative piece with abstract yet palpable feeling
Very brief, which is no bad thing, yet I think it suggests a connection with the piece which is all I can really ask. Out of curiosity I went and checked the feedback the shopper had left for other sellers on Etsy, to say that some it was ‘neutral’ would be over-stating it, the criticism of the finish of a piece of woodwork is no small thing. I would be devestated if I received feedback saying one of my carvings hadn’t been sanded properly… although at least I would know what I had to do to improve my work!
The feedback that we get as crafters is hugely important and whilst we might not necessarily like what we here, there is no doubt that without critical assessment of our work improvement is made all the more difficult. Finding such critical feedback is no easy task though and whilst the examples cited above don’t help us develop our craft they do provide a much needed boost in the run up to our inaugural craft event!
I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again, critical and honest feedback on anything you see on this site is welcome … nay! It’s needed!
Tags: art, bird, carved, carving, craft, etsy, feedback, felt, handmade, harder than it looks, sculpture, whittle, whittling, wood, wooden
animals, art, bird, business, carving, craft, etsy, ornament, wood | Alasdair | 
18 July, 2009 8:16 am | 
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It’s an ever present topic of conversation amongst artists and craftspeople…how much to price our products for. Here I hope to shed some light on the journey that has lead us to increase our prices today to what we consider to be a fair price for the time and effort expended on creating our products.
When we first started this site and opened our shop, we’d been crafting and creating for over a year. We’d thrown so many pieces in the fire between us that a proportion of our heating bill was being saved through the burning of failed projects. A heck of a lot of R&D and giving things away for free has led us to the point where we felt comfortable to sell our products. We had no idea of what a fair price might be though and relied on what similar items were priced at on Etsy, where we host our shop. The problem with this is that Etsy sellers range from hobby crafters to serious, been crafting since they were born, crafters and the prices reflect this. On the one end of the pricing spectrum there is the hobby crafter who might be very good at what they do, but really all they’re looking for is to replace the materials they’ve used…prices are low (too low) and then at the other end the professionals who have spent years honing their talent and expect to live off the income…prices are realistically high. We were stuck at the low end, not wanting to be outpriced by others in the marketplace selling similar items as us.
When our first item sold, we worked out what the hourly rate would have been for that item and it was in the region of $2 an hour (about £1.50). Far less than the UK minimum wage (around £6 an hour) and more to the point, this item sold for less than a person could buy a mass-produced ‘Made in China’ piece of tat from their local discount score…a totally ridiculous situation given the care and love that goes into each handcrafted item and the fact that most products that are imported from China (or any country where cheap labour is used) are not fit for purpose after a few weeks or, if you’re lucky, months.
It’s a demoralising situation to be in and one that we feel is not to be tolerated. We have increased our prices today based on the formula of labour +10% for materials. Labour is charged at £7 an hour – still well short of the national average wage in the UK but a fair price for the stage we are at…not professional crafters but not hobby crafters either. It’s time that all artists and crafters took a stand and realised that they have a worthwhile product…something special, something that consumers should be willing to pay more for. Each item is unique, each item has a great deal of love, care and attention to detail and quality not to be found in anything mass-produced. Consumers can buy a product that has no labels and that will attract attention to them as an ethical shopper…a popular notion at this time. They can be confident that they won’t find the same item in their friend/neighbour/colleague’s house. This deserves a premium to be paid.
I leave you with this thought and a link to read further…a Louis Vuitton handbag will set you back close to $2,000. People are willing to pay that price for a designer handbag because of the notion that what you’re getting is a quality product. Yet there are many, many very talented designers selling their handbags on Etsy for less than $500. When I checked, there were only three handbags on Etsy listed for more than $2,000, all from the same seller.
Read more discussion on this topic at Crafster and, please, if you sell your arts and crafts, review the prices not based on what everybody else is selling for, but what you feel is a fair wage for your time and effort.
