Category Archives: shop small businesses

Make the Nation Better Again

I’m definitely not the most patriotic person in this country. It’s not a matter of disliking it as much as it is disliking the lies the country is built upon and what it has become since Reagan.

The idealized “American Dream” is only truly attainable by folks born on third base. The rest of us have been brainwashed into thinking we can get there, but in reality, we can’t. The odds are stacked against us by the wealthy oligarchs who run things. Sure, some people may be able to save enough to retire after a few decades of work; however, many of them end up trying to find work just to make ends meet after retirement.

We are one of the few countries where healthcare and mental healthcare is not universally available.

We still have rampant poverty and racism and sexism along with xenophobia and homophobia.

Our education system has broken in so many ways that it’s actually scary. I say this as a teacher who sees this firsthand as students receive 50s on their grade reports in many districts, regardless of whether they do the work or even show up for class.

We idolize the wealthy at our own expense as we buy from corporate owned businesses and pass the locally owned businesses and artists complaining that they cost too much. In reality, if we supported these locally owned businesses and artists, then we’d actually have quality items purchased and lasting longer than the cheap stuff bought at the big box stores.

We accept planned obsolescence in our big ticket items rather than demanding quality items that last, unlike our forebears who demanded quality over cost.

We place each other into boxes rather than talking and finding common ground. This goes beyond political beliefs and permeates all levels of society from religion to politics to national borders and boundaries.

We allow the people we elect, regardless of party, to govern without our input into what they are doing and so many of us fall for their rhetorical gymnastics rather than question them. Part of this is how we allow media to manipulate the news. This is thanks, in part, to Reagan allowing the fairness doctrine in news to dissolve which gave rise to opinion based news and not the reporting of facts without commentary.

We have lost civility, respect, and compassion for our fellow human beings. Sure, it occasionally surfaces in times of natural disasters or if the cause is hyped enough by the aforementioned news commentators. But the everyday civility and manners that once were common are now becoming increasingly rare.

I could continue, but won’t.

If you have the ability to peacefully protest today, please do so and do so safely. It’s not against the country, but against what this country has become and is heading towards.

Value vs. Cost when buying from local artisans

“Oh my, that’s expensive. Can you lower the price?”
“Goodness, you charge so much for this. Can’t you sell it for less?”

I and countless other local artisans and small businesses hear this almost every day. Our prices are not as unreasonable as some people think if they’d stop and look at the reality of it.

I recently saw a meme about if someone buys a gift for some else that costs X amount of money how it should be seen in terms of how many hours they worked to afford to buy that item. So, a $30 gift costs a person who makes $12.50 per hour roughly 2.4 hours of work. It wasn’t meant as malicious, but rather to help people understand that the cost of a gift is more than a price tag.

As a fibre artist, writer/copy editor/baker, it got me to thinking about how people always want to have artisans charge less for an item than the marked price. I recall people griping about prices for my handmade items when I worked craft fairs, including someone claiming she could go to a major discount retailer and get the same item for less. (Good luck with that).

Here’s the thing when it comes to how items are priced by local artisans or even local businesses, it usually costs you less than it should be priced. Most artisans, myself included, do not over-inflate our prices. We have to build in our cost for supplies and, most of us, then add in a cost per hour to make it. That cost per hour is far less than minimum wage. Add to this that we have to collect sales tax for some items as well as pay taxes on what we earn.

Here’s an example. Let’s say you ask for a shawl made in a pricey yarn such as Noro. If I can make it with only one skein, the skein itself costs me $50, plus tax. Here, that’s about $54. It takes me about 15 hours to make that shawl if I’m crocheting it because I hate mistakes and take care in making that shawl. My price to you is about $60.

I’m making about $6. But that’s before I deduct the 8% tax I have to pay the state. Now, that $6 profit is now $1.20. That’d be about $.08 per hour as a wage.

Would you work for $.08 per hour?

Note that I’m not charging you for my time to make it. If I did, and charged the going rate of $12.50 per hour, then I’d be charging you $241.50 for that shawl. In that case, I’d make $168.18 after paying taxes and for the materials. That also makes my hourly rate around $11.21 per hour, less than minimum wage where I live.

Would you work for $11.21 per hour?

I have a craft pricing app and have tried to use it to determine a fair price. I rarely use it because it would also raise my price. Using the same scenario, it says I should charge $243.91 retail for this same shawl. The wholesale cost would be $241.50. So, minus the tax, that’s $224.40. Subtract the $54 for materials, that’s 170.40. My $12.50 per hour is now $11.36 per hour. About the same as my outcome not using the app.

Would you work for $11.36 per hour?

But, you may say, that I’m just sitting around crocheting, so I should reduce my hourly rate. Okay, let’s say I reduce it to $5 per hour. That then lowers the wholesale cost to $129. The retail, at a 1% profit by the way, then goes to $130.29. Which makes my profit $65.87, after I pay out taxes and materials. My hourly rate has now dropped to $4.39 per hour.

Would you work for $4.39 per hour?

Another way of pricing is to take the amount of materials and multiply it by 2, then that becomes the price. In this scenario, the shawl then costs $108. The artist then makes $45.36, minus taxes and materials. The hourly wage is then $3.02 per hour.

Would you work for $3.02 per hour?

Again, I understand everyone wants to get a good deal. Yet, things cost what they do because of a number of factors, particularly the cost of materials and the time it takes to create something from those materials. Plus, is your lower priced item really a good deal? How long might it last? Are the materials of a good quality?

Local artisans and business owners are not trying to make enormous profits. They certainly don’t make profits like big corporations or big box stores make. Most of us are simply trying to pay our bills and maybe have something for a rainy day.

You don’t tell your mechanic or physician what they should charge you. You don’t try to haggle a better price from Amazon or a big box store when you purchase from them. (And even if you do, then they’d likely tell you off).

So, why are you saying something costs too much to buy from someone who takes the time and care to make something for you by hand? And, please ask yourself if what you’re spending in the big box retail or online store contributes to your local economy. Also, ask yourself if the quality of what you are buying matches what you expect. Last, using the scenario of the time the item cost you at work, is the item truly worth the time it took you to earn the money to buy it? Chances are, if it’s mass produced, it probably isn’t.

Just food for thought.

Shop local and at small business/artisans near you and online.

Why Buy From Local Artisans?

Consider this when you look for items to purchase for the people you care about.

When an artist, musician, or writer creates something, they put part of themselves into it. It’s more than just the materials they used. It’s even more than the hours they spent creating it.

Each stitch, each weave, each word, or each stroke of the brush is done with care and love. They create out of a vision.
They create out of more than even a custom order request.
They create because it is not just what they do, but who they are.
They create using talents given to them and honed by them over time.

Yes, handcrafted and handmade items can and often do cost more than the ones that are mass produced by machines.

Yet, they last longer and are far more personal than something for which there are multiple copies.

They are gifts that are unique and imbued with so much more than you think. These items become heirlooms many items. They are passed down to others out of love.

So, please consider buying from your local or known artisans of any type before making a gift purchase from a large company or store.

The gift you give will have a much deeper meaning.