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Annnik Mar 10, 2007

I've been making bears 2 1/2, almost 3 years.  I've used fabric, felt, plush-like material... I'm in love with this furry-felt I've found (and bought A LOT in 3 different colors)... I've basically used anything I can get my hands on.   

Question #1... when did ya'll buy your first mohair?  Did you jump right in or did you wait until you were comfortable?  I've been waiting until I'm comfortable with my own patterns.  And now that I *do* feel ready, I ain't got the money!!      (My lovely boyfriend says he *might* buy me some for our 4th anniversary, which is on the 14th of this month... YEA!!)

Question #2...  I've tried to soak in every inch of this forum the past few weeks, (I've been a member around 7 months, but just now really starting to get envolved) and I have a question about pricing.  There's one topic about selling ourselves short, but I don't feel ready to start asking for a higher amount yet.  Especially since I haven't used mohair yet.  The mohair pricing, as I understand it, should be priced around $15 per inch... but I'm using a lot of felt. (LOVE IT!!)  I feel sorta cheap asking $15 to $25 for my bears, but gosh!!!  They aren't mohair!      But then again, I am spending alot of time on each of my little fellers, so maybe I am selling myself short.  Don't know.

What's a good pricing scale for NON-mohair bears??

toadbriar Mar 10, 2007

I can only help with the first question  - buy yourself some mohair!
it doesn't have to be expensive... look on this page:

http://www.intercaltg.com/special/3.html

You can get an assortment of cheap smaller (but big enough to work with) pieces
for pretty cheap! It's a good way to try out a variety of different colors, finishes,
densities, and lengths. I think it's WAY more fun than getting one yard of just one
thing  It's my favorite page on intercal 

You'll find that mohair isn't stretchy and the woven cotton backing is a breeze to sew
through. You'll want to have fray check on hand, and some tiny scissors so you can
trim the fur from the seam allowance. Remember when cutting your pattern pieces out
to slide the blade of the scissors under the fur strands so that you're only cutting the
backing, not the pile. I can't think of anything else that would make it much different
from working with the fuzzy felt. The guys in your avatar are gorgeous, I can't wait to
see what happens when you get your hands on mohair!

All Bear Mar 10, 2007

I think pricing should be based on a simple formula - materials + labour + profit.

A well made bear should take on average 10-12 hours to complete ... obviously something very intricate will take longer.  So decide what you need to earn for your time on an hourly basis.

Materials should included absolutely everything you use, right down to nose thread and hangtags. 

Profit margin ... you need this to help your business grow.  Profit margin generally covers all your hidden extras (admin, promotion etc), rather than just being profit, but hey, that's life!  So, work on an overall percentage and add this to materials and labour to arrive at your final pricing.

It's worth doing lots of research to find out what other artists are charging ... you don't want to undercut them and you don't want to price yourself out of the market.  If you do this research you will gradually start to develop confidence in your pricing.

If you sell to trade, they will expect a discount.  I have a simple rule for this too!  (Please note, my simple rule means I don't sell much to trade!) My simple rule is 'no sale or return'.  I will not send bears out to shops for no payment and wait for my return while a shop tries to sell my work.  The main reason for this is that I won't take responsibility for someone else's marketing techniques.  I know I can sell my own work and if a shop can't, they have to take the responsibility for not being able to, I won't take that responsibility for them.  So, discounts for trade is the only basis I will work on ... different shops expect different discounts and different artists are prepared to offer different amounts, so it's always a hard judgement to make!  I work on the basis of materials + labour for trade and always lose my profit margin.  To help cover this deficit, I ask for a minimum purchase of 3 bears within any one order.  In general I think most artists offer a trade discount of between 20% and 50%.

I hope that helps! 

By the way, I leapt straight in with mohair.  It is so lovely to work with!

Marlys Mar 10, 2007

I, too, jumped right into mohair. I started our with kits that were mohair and as I designed my own patterns I went straight to mohair. In the beginning I bought from Intercal's End of Bolt and Bargain Pieces sections. You get good quality and the needed experience of using mohair.

Jellybelly Bears Mar 12, 2007

It took me forever to buy mohair    I loved the fake fur so was happy.  My first piece of mohair was a hand dyed piece that was lovely, tho it  smelt awful , put me off for another year lol

Paula, I love your business advice, I haven't added profit margin into my bears yet, but I'm copying down your notes, thanks!

NiokaBears Mar 13, 2007

I can't remember exactly when I bought my first mohair except that it was very early in my bear making career....I do remember that it took me a whole month of stroking and smelling it BEFORE I plucked up the courage to actually cut it..LOL..BUT when I did, I never looked back as it really is absolutely FABULOUS stuff to work with!

HUGS,
Christine