Well, if it costs 20-30 bucks, you are going to want to sell them for maybe $40-70 (depending on the size and whether it was a custom piece). You'd want to make back the cost of the materials and make some profit in order to buy more material and to be able to put some money in your pockets.

I'm sure if people liked them enough, they would pay that much. I would, but I'm broke! Plus, I have no where to put them....

Oh yeah! Don't forget the cost of the packaging and shipping!

--
Can you love or guide someone without any kind of expectation?

You need to consider how long it takes to make a piece and then figure what you're willing to make as a per hour wage and then add in your material costs. It also helps to see what other people who do the same kind of work are asking. Checkout their websites.
And thanks for the kind words today, it helps..

--
Believe! [link]
Come visit! [link]

eeek! it's hard to start out on selling... Your little creations are so special and unique! Here's a little something I found useful on pricing my babies... It's long but I hope it helps. Just know your art is worth more than $40 to $70 bucks... but sometimes it takes that to get your work out there. Make smaller pieces for sale, but keep makng those detailed and fabulous pieces too! Okay, shuttin up now, later Paula

**************
The most asked question among persons who sell their
work is "How do I price my art?" I have come across many
quick formulas that try to make the task easy. But after
looking at the whole pricing picture, I found the most
accurate way to price is to use this formula:

COST OF GOODS - (materials + labor)
+
INDIRECT COSTS - (overhead expenses like rent, utilities,
insurance, phone, etc.)
+
PROFIT - (what you expect to make beyond the cost of your
labor)
=
MINIMUM PRICE

Determining COST OF GOODS:
Add up the costs for producing one item. If you use small
quantities of paint, glitter, buttons, etc. that you buy
in big containers, you may have to guess at the amount to
include. Larger parts are usually easy to figure.

Your labor is what you decide your time is worth at an
hourly rate. Many of you are making $2 an hour or less
because you haven't added in a decent wage for yourself.
I would set your minimum hourly rate at $10 to $15. If you
hire someone to work for you at say, $7 an hour, add an
additional 30% (or $2.10, in this example) per employee
hour to cover federal employee taxes like social security.

Determining INDIRECT COSTS:
Indirect costs, sometimes called "overhead" or fixed costs,
are more challenging to figure for many of us, because we work at home and forget that the rent or mortgage payment has a relation to our business of selling crafts.

But, if you work from a home office, the IRS allows you to
deduct an amount of your rent and utilities as a home
business expense. That deductible amount may change from year to year as the tax laws change.

The home office deduction is an important tax break for you so you should read the IRS booklet that arrives with your tax forms to learn the current deductible.

Other kinds of indirect costs include: ads, phone, repairs,
postage, bank fees, insurance, office supplies, publications and any other expense that not directly associated with product costs.

Say that you operated your business in 1999 and you kept
records that show you spent $12,000 in overhead or fixed
costs.

You want to learn what percentage of those fixed costs should be applied to your product cost.

Add up the total number of hours you worked producing
crafts in 1999. Let's say you put 2,000 hours in working
full time. Divide the total indirect costs of $12,000, by 2,000 and you get $6 per hour as your "hourly fixed
cost of doing business." In other words, this is what it
cost you per hour to stay in business.

Determining PROFIT:
Most of us don't add in profit when pricing, because we figure we are getting back our hourly labor rate. But you need to add a profit margin into your prices because of unforeseeable expenses and losses that might occur. No matter how well I plan my business, there is always an unknown.

Another way to look at profit is that if you put your money into a mutual fund or similar investment instead of your business, how much would you expect to earn --
10%, 15% or more?

Determining a MINIMUM PRICE:
Let's take an example. Alice is a rag rug maker.
She learns she has $3 in material costs per rug. She wants to pay herself $12 per hour for her labor and it takes her 2 hours to produce one rug.

Alice works from home and has determined that $4 an hour
covers her indirect expenses. Also, Alice has invested some of her savings in her business. If she had put this money in a mutual fund, she would have earned 10% interest.

COST OF GOODS: $3 materials + $24 labor (2 hours X $12/hour)
for a total production cost of $27.

INDIRECT COSTS: $8 (2 hours X $4/hourly cost of doing business)

PROFIT: $3.50 (10% of total costs)

MINIMUM PRICE: $38.50

$38.50 per rug is the lowest amount Alice can charge to get
back her costs, pay herself for her time and get a similar return on her investment as she would have through a mutual fund.

Does this mean that Alice should charge $38.50 for her rugs?
No, but that amount is the lowest price she can ask.

Knowing your minimum price is especially useful when selling
to stores because the amount that you charge at a craft fair
may not be the price you can sell to stores for. Most stores
double their costs to arrive at a retail price for consumers.
By the way, when selling to stores, never argue with the
owner about the prices they charge their customers. They
know their market and what products sell for. I've found many store owners offer good suggestions that help me
determine the market value of my craft work.

If Alice only sold at craft fairs, she would want to check out what rugs like hers were selling for and ultimately find the highest price she can sell for that doesn't deter customers from buying. This involves testing the market over time, but it's worth the effort.

I priced one of my pieces for $85 but it just wouldn't sell.
Figuring I had nothing to lose, I raised the price to $125 and it sold right away. When I went above $125, again, no one bought.

Most of the above and much more help on pricing, tax advantages, recordkeeping, cutting material costs and other strategies for craft persons can be found in, "The Basic Guide to Pricing Your Craftwork." $12.95 in bookstores or you can
read the e-book for only $6.50 at:
[link]

If you don't know what an e-book is or why you would want
one, see [link] to learn how e-books save you time and money.

****************
Since we're on the subject of profits -- Have you ever
wondered what other craft persons do to make a profit?

Home business expert, Barbara Brabec, has put together a network of 80 professionals in the craft industry whose answers to questions we all face daily are included in her new book, "Make It Profitable, How to Make Your Art, Craft, Design, Writing and Publishing Business More Efficient, More Satisfying and More Profitable." ($16.95)

In addition to many helpful tips and checklists, Barbara's book covers topics like:
* Building business with computer technology
* Business planning and goal setting
* Management tips and strategies
* Product design and packaging
* Production methods
* Supplies and shipping
* Sharpening your marketing skills and much more.

I found the technology tips very useful. But what I really liked most about this book is that you get to read insights related by craft persons just like us who have found and share ways they've used to improve craft business profitability.

The 334 page book is packed with advice you can use today.
I can see why it was a "Book of the Month Club Selection."
You can get the book at a 10% discount from Barbara's web
site:
[link]

--
darlin' darlin' darlin' ~ [link]

I support NIN (Newborns In Need) ~ [link]

by the way this advice is from Valerie Ashley - [link]
in case anyone wanted to know....

--
darlin' darlin' darlin' ~ [link]

I support NIN (Newborns In Need) ~ [link]

I can only repeat the great advice given so far on pricing your work. Definitely make sure that your time and materials are paid for through the sale of each individual piece of artwork you sell. Make sure you give yourself an hourly wage for the time you put in. And make sure that you cover buying more of the materials that you have just used on a project. That would be a good start as long as you don't need to make a living at it right away.(ie: Rent, food, utilities)

~Dave

How long do you spend on a typical piece?
Also do you make many from a mold or is each one original?
If you make from a mold then you can sell sets, such as a playful set of four or a spiteful set of five ect...
making their value to collectors increase while dropping your production costs. I know how hard it is to put a price on something that you love and spent a lot of time on, personally I spend a tremendous amount of time on my pieces. If I charged an hourly wage and cost of doing business and overhead I wouldn't sell anything. Which is why I give most of mine away, I guess.

id pay about £30-£40 for one

I agree what everyone has been saying. Your statues are definitely worth more then 30-70 dollars, but being an up-and-coming artist it would be hard to sell them for over $100.

Personally, I would pay $100-120 for your sculptures, knowing the effort that went into them and based on their beauty.

If, however, you were doing a custom piece, I would pay a markup to $150 or so.

PS. That was CDN