If you want to start selling your handmade Ceramics,
then watch this video first
because today I'm sharing how to price your products different challenges.
You might face shipping tips and more.
Hi, my name is Mei Pak. And I help makers artists
and designers make a consistent living from selling their handmade products online first.
Let's talk about the advantages of starting a Ceramics business.
Now. I'm assuming that if you're watching this video, then you're
probably already fairly skilled at making Ceramics
whether that's with throwing
or hand sculpting or whatever your chosen technique
is and that's a skill that not many people have so you're already in a good position to make View.
For items that other people can't make
for themselves now Ceramics is a pretty broad category with so many different options.
You can create almost anything from everyday items like
mugs or a salad bowls too expensive art pieces.
You can make things like jewelry or Planters or yarn bowls,
of course, you will be driven by your particular set of skills and passions,
but just know that there is a lot of room for flexibility in the business,
which is a great thing to have.
So unless art pieces are your specialty you will most likely be pricing
or items at a relatively affordable price point that is you are trying to
sell a two thousand dollar piece of Fine Jewelry,
right depending on your items.
You'll probably be under the 150 dollar Mark which means that your items are
likely to be accessible to a pretty large audience,
which is a great place to be for your business with that being said,
there are a number of challenges that you need to look out for.
Challenge is that Ceramics are fragile and except in the case of jewelry.
They're probably also quite heavy both of these factors mean that it's difficult
and expensive to ship.
So you'll want to take Extra Care in your packaging to make sure your
customers receive their product in one piece.
Another challenge is that there is a significant cost to operating you may decide
to purchase your own Kiln which requires an upfront cost
or you may choose to rent Kiln space.
Ace which would be a recurring monthly cost then if you throw you have the cost of owning
or renting a wheel no matter how you slice it making Ceramics requires
overhead that you'll need to factor into your business.
Something else to think about is the competition
while Ceramics isn't as crowded of a market as some others it is still pretty competitive.
So helping your business stand out from the others around you is crucial to success.
Okay. So now let's talk about the products that you're going to make in your shop.
You absolutely need to be selling designs that people actually want to buy right
because the mistake I see a lot of beginning business owners make is making products that they
as the artist loves making and sometimes unfortunately,
that's just not the same thing as what people want to buy now,
you're likely already drawn to one type of product over another based on your own interests
and skills.
So use that intuition as a starting point.
You love crafting one-of-a-kind vases you'd be bored out of your
mind making hundreds of identical mugs every week.
Once you have a few product ideas. You want to think about
what they all share in common
so that your shop has a cohesive Common Thread running through all the
products that appeal to a specific group of people.
This is called a niche. So for example,
let's say that you create table we're done with Raku glaze
or whimsical mugs that feature cute little animals
or maybe jewelry with delicately sculpted flowers or super modern geometric porcelain vases.
You get the idea just make sure that
what you're offering is something people want while it's important to Niche down.
It's also important to consider
what range you can offer so that you're maximizing sales as well as your studio time.
So for example, if you primarily create high-end decorative vases,
you may find that there isn't high demand
but each one sells for Nice amount of money if you can translate
that aesthetic into say small-scale jewelry,
you may be able to create a product that sells readily in your shop
as your bread and butter and also allows you to fill the Kiln with regular firings.
Okay. So, how do you find out? What's going to be popular?
I'm going to tell you my foolproof
method for figuring this out and that is to spy on the competition.
So just search on Etsy and see what's popular right now.
Now know we are not going to copy what other people are doing.
The whole point here is to do research and see what's trending.
So ideally you would stay away from a niche that's completely flooded with low-cost competitors
because you don't want to be drawn into competing on price if your
passion is making very accessible products like mugs,
then it's up to you to distinguish your
product so you can charge a higher price and people would be willing to pay for it.
Okay. So now you've narrowed down your product ideas,
too. Items that you are able to make
and that you're pretty sure people will want now it's time to distinguish.
What makes your products unique.
So in my handmade business tiny hands one way I distinguish
myself is with the sense that I add to my charms
since our something that most shops don't use and they make my product stand out.
So what is one thing that makes your product Stand Out?
Is it the Artistry in the throne piece itself?
Do you have a special glazing technique is your jam?
Matching sets that coordinate with home decor whatever it is you want someone to see your products
and know that it came from your shop one way to make this easy on the customer is by using a
stamp that leaves an imprint on the bottom of your pieces.
This is really important for Branding reasons.
For example, people may give your item as a gift without including packaging information.
So you want people to know where the piece came from
so they can come back and purchase more from you in the future.
Now, let's move on to pricing. There are three things you need to Think about
when it comes to pricing number one how much you can earn per
hour number two how much you can earn per
week and number three how much the market will bear for how much you can earn per hour.
You'll want to have a look at my pricing guide right here,
which walks you step-by-step through how you should be pricing your products.
So you're earning a solid hourly wage.
You'll see that in this video. I reference the item cost.
It's important to note that
for pottery. This isn't just your clay
and Glaze your cost also includes your firing
cost whether that's the cost of your cone or the cost of you renting space in someone else's Kiln.
So this is an important place to run numbers.
If you're undecided on your setup obviously having your own fully equipped Studio at home
costs more upfront about your ongoing overhead will be lower.
But that's something you'll need to think about and decide what's best for you and your shop now,
let's talk about how much you can earn per week.
Let's say that you've calculated that You can earn a $20 per hour and you're happy with that.
But you have to think of your week as a whole.
Can you really throw eight hours a day for five or six days a week?
Maybe you can but if you're like many of us you have a really sore back
and when are you going to do other business stuff?
Right? It's important to think about how many hours you can practically throw
or sculpt to produce your products and decide if that's suitable for your lifestyle.
Now, let's talk about the third component how much the market can bear that is.
Will people buy your products at the price you need to sell
it for you to make a living if you've done your research
or maybe even experimented in your own shop
and you suspect that you won't be able to sell your bowls for the money.
You need to make it worth it. It might be time to go back to the drawing board
and brainstorm new product options.
Finally. I want you to spend some time thinking about your Kiln space
and production schedule if you create super intricate vases
and you can only complete one per week you'll get End of the month with only
four pieces that don't even fill half the Kiln.
So if you have customers waiting on delivery,
you'll either be forced to keep them waiting
or run a nearly empty Kiln which risks on even heat distribution.
Your production schedule is worth keeping in mind as you develop your product ideas.
And this is where having a mix of different products can help even things out now,
let's talk about your supplies. If you're an experienced Potter or ceramicist.
You probably already have a source
for your clay and you likely Have some of your equipped equipment as well,
so I won't go into many details
there but in case you haven't gotten started I'm just going to say
that if you're running a production business,
you shouldn't be buying your supplies retail.
When you purchase an item from a retail store.
Did you know that the shop takes about half the cost of the product?
That's right. The wholesale price on many items is about 50% of the retail price.
So if you bought something for $20 at a craft store,
you could probably have paid half. That price
and if you're purchasing in significant quantities of any product you
should be able to purchase it at the wholesale price
or at least at a discount from retail many sources like Sheffield Pottery offer
quantity discounts where the more you buy the more you save
but keep in mind that it is always a balance
when it comes to buying Supplies wholesale
because you want to buy enough
and save on shipping but not
so much that you've tied up all your money in materials that will be sitting around for a year.
Only you can calculate what's best for your business.
Keep in mind. You will also need additional supplies to support your business.
Right shipping materials are going to be a big one
for you because your products have a higher likelihood of breaking in transit packaging your
pieces is incredibly important here are a few of my recommendations
when it comes to shipping materials.
The first one is you line
and they produce high-quality boxes that work great
for shipping and these boxes are available in a wide range of different sizes.
So you We'll find one that is perfect for your pieces.
You also find other packaging materials on their site.
They're not the cheapest but they are quite professional and very reliable.
I've also shopped at Value mailers.com and I've never had any problems with them.
Plus they have great prices. Another one is clear bags.
They have lovely boxes and packaging that may suit your needs depending on your product.
Once you have your Ceramics business launched you want to set up your
own website where you'll be selling your work
I talk about why your own website is better than Ed see in this video here.
If you want to check that out. You're also going to need a great
collection of photos of your products.
It's great to get what are called lifestyle photos which are your items in real life
situations different people have different ideas about
what size mugs are right,
they can range from holding a shot of espresso to holding 24 ounces of tea.
So it's incredibly important that you convey the size of your products in your images,
and if you're struggling to come up, A logo head on to somewhere like creative Market
or Fiverr where you can find a good-looking template to use
or find an artist who can make you a logo for affordable prices.
I talk all about it and my video on getting a logo done on fiber that you can watch.
If you are interested in learning more about that over here,
you can also use these resources
for creating your tags and print materials
and other packaging and like a template goes a long way
so you don't have to do everything from scratch every time okay.
So once your business is open, it's time to promote it right away.
You will want to start Gathering emails for an email list.
You can use something easy
and free like Miller Lite to host a list of up to a thousand subscribers for free.
So an email list has one of the highest conversion rates of any marketing
which basically means you will get more sales per email.
Then you would say a social media post
and it's one of the only marketing avenues that you actually own.
So for example, Facebook could shut down tomorrow.
Or change the algorithm and the next thing you know,
all your fans are no longer seeing your posts or they're all gone.
So start an email list and put a sign up form on your site.
Even if you aren't actively sending emails yet II,
I recommend reaching out to anyone who has a large audience of your ideal customers
and ask them to promote your products for you.
These could be social media influencers or bloggers website editors or magazines.
They're always looking for products to feature as content to show to Their audience.
You can watch this video here for a step-by-step guide on how to do that.