Connected or reconnected. Fit with the right cycles and in the right season. Nourished and nurtured with natural energy. Aware of place and part.
400 yards out of a 4 oz. braid of roving, that comes out to about $60.00/ skein.
r ranson wrote:Yes they are underselling themselves. I've seen many a seller sell for the same price as their materials - but they don't last long and often don't get repeat customers. That said, etsy stores sales directly correlate to how much time I spend promoting my shop. I don't put much time into it these days, so sales have trickled off, but I'm working on other, bigger projects this year that should get my name out there some more.
I spin for a living - mostly selling through the local yarn shop which has no problem retailing my yarn for $60 - $100 per skein. Other hand spinners get about $20-40 a skein. Getting the yarn in the hands of the customers is the fastest way to sell - but I lose a hefty chunk of the profits to commission.
Some things to help your yarn stand out from the crowd.
go for quality
make a better yarn than people can buy commercially.
My handspun singles withstand weaving (both warp and weft) as well as 100-year-old sock knitting machines. They are fairly consistent - but not too much. What is consistent is that no matter the texture, my yarn won't fall apart.
finish your yarn
I spend almost as much time finishing my yarn as I do spinning. This makes a huge difference in how much someone will pay and how well the yarn stands up over the years. I have sweaters that are 15 years old. The one where I finished my yarn is still looking like the day I made it. The one where I didn't finish my yarn started pilling from day two and has needed several repairs. They are spun from similar fibres.
large quantities of the same yarn.
I usually spin about one kilo of a fibre at a time, sometimes up to 6 kilos - depending on the origin of the fibre.
People like being able to buy a sweater's worth.
large skeins all the same size
A lot of knitters/weavers/crocheters aren't sure about handspun yarn. They don't want to spend the money and discover there is only enough for half a sock. Commercial yarn, they understand how much this makes, but handspun is an unknown.
My standard fingering yarn is enough for a medium pair of socks. All skeins are 400yards and weigh roughly 100g.
My pricing is based on
material cost (if I had to buy it)
time spent x minimum wage
plus commission if I sold it in the shop.
It does make for expensive yarn, but I've worked with enough yarn to know the quality of what I spin is better than what I can buy. I also know that other pricing methods are unsustainable.
400 yards out of a 4 oz. braid of roving, that comes out to about $60.00/ skein.
If your quality is good, that's about the right amount. I've seen commercial yarn sell for more than that. But like I said, people 'trust' machine-made things more than they do handmade. to sell for that much, it's important to create trust - show your yarn in finished work. Get reviews. Prove to yourself that your yarn is better than commercial yarn - and it will be easy to prove to the customer.
Connected or reconnected. Fit with the right cycles and in the right season. Nourished and nurtured with natural energy. Aware of place and part.
.I spend almost as much time finishing my yarn as I do spinning
Moderator, Treatment Free Beekeepers group on Facebook.
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Eric Crouse wrote:
.I spend almost as much time finishing my yarn as I do spinning
What exactly do you mean by "Finishing Yarn" I'm curious about this. usually with my handspun, I soak it, and give it a couple of good whacks just to set the twist.
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