Why I try not to price ‘high’
I really want my pieces to be accessible and affordable to lots of folks, especially those without a lot of disposable income. Part of my ‘theory of change’ for WAFFLE Studio is producing physical items that remind folks about the ongoing need for farm worker justice. Most of my pieces are tagged with a statement about the donations I make to my partner organizations and the link to this website where people can learn more. (And I’m working to make sure every piece I sell comes with this info.)
My hope is that when people receive gifts from loved ones and/or take home a piece of art that they enjoy, they will feel joyfully welcomed into the movement for a fairer food system. So I don’t want my pricing to be a barrier for folks who might want to participate in this way.
I am also extremely fortunate that my basic needs – food, housing, and healthcare – are securely met. Class privilege plus having an incredibly supportive partner means I don’t need to make much money from the business in order to survive. This work is a labor of love for me that is really fulfilling. And more than that, it feels like a responsibility.
That said, is my consistent undercharging the ‘right’ thing to do? Nope, not necessarily.
The issues with pricing ‘low’
First, I eventually have to at least break even in order to sustain this business (a huge revelation, I know). So far, I’ve been relying on savings and the generous financial support of my partner to cover my business expenses. Material costs, overhead costs (like this website and business insurance), steep booth fees (sometimes in the hundreds of dollars to sell at an event), transaction processing and listing fees, and design and organizational software subscriptions very quickly eat up my sales revenue and more. Eventually, I have to grow the business into a self-sustaining operation.
Another issue is that just because I can survive without making a living wage off of this work doesn’t mean that I should. It’s probably not a huge surprise to most folks that it’s tough to make a living as an artisan. And it’s hugely inequitable that following an artistic passion is a career move disproportionately accessible to those with class privilege, like me. Artists and crafters already have to contend with consumers’ low pricing expectations influenced by global capitalism. By relying on other sources of financial support and setting prices that don’t reflect all my production costs (including a living wage), I might contribute to those expectations and unfairly impact other artists with less privilege than me.
And finally, another piece of my theory of change for WAFFLE Studio is generating financial support for my partner organizations and the important work they do. The more sales revenue I generate, the more I am able to donate. I have no illusions that I can single-handedly sustain these organizations through this work. But I believe that every little bit counts, especially in this bigoted political climate that villainizes the migrants who feed this country.
Building a mission-based pricing strategy
So what to do about these sometimes conflicting goals and values? The mission of WAFFLE Studio is to raise both funds and awareness to support the farm worker justice movement. An easy answer would be to try to price things right in the ‘middle’ between widely affordable and revenue-generating. But I don’t think that works well either, as everything being in the ‘middle’ serves neither goal especially well. I’ve thought about implementing a sliding scale approach where folks can pay what they can/want within a suggested range. But I don’t want to create a situation where someone might feel obligated to pay the upper limit or feel guilty or embarrassed when they can’t.
And what do ‘low,’ ‘high,’ and ‘affordable’ even mean, anyway? All of this is relative, of course, based on people’s perceptions of what a particular item is worth. That’s going to differ slightly for each person, depending on their income, price comparisons they have already seen, how much they know about the production process, and how much value they place on locally-produced handmade items.
So here’s what I’m going to do for now. It’s not the “right” thing, nor do I intend to use this approach forever. I’m sure a lot of folks out there will take issue with this plan. But it’s a start.
Materials
This is the most straightforward thing to determine. Some of my materials are premium-quality and expensive (like 100% wool yarn), while others cost much less (like acrylic yarn I buy secondhand or paper pulp that I recycle at home). So I plan to develop some product lines that use higher-quality materials and others that use less-expensive materials for folks on a tight budget.
Labor
I am going to use the minimum wage for where I live (Minneapolis, Minnesota) that takes effect in January of 2026: $16.37 per hour. For pricing purposes, I am only going to include the labor cost to physically make an item.
Markups
The markup is where I’ll account for the following expenses, which will fluctuate considerably based on where I’m selling (e.g., at a pop-up market with a booth fee, at a retail shop that takes commission, etc.):
- Overhead costs
- Booth fees
- Planned donations
- Inclusive sales tax (for pop-up markets only)
- Labor hours I spend doing administrative tasks like maintaining this website, tracking my business finances, finding additional market opportunities, developing and testing new product designs, etc.
Pricing formulas
I’ll use these two formulas to figure out the minimum and maximum prices I’ll need to consider as I’m determining what the “sweet spot” is for a given item. When deciding whether to price closer to the low-range or the high-range number, I’ll be thinking about what I hope to achieve with each piece, the uniqueness of the item, and the amount of skill required to create it. The final price will fall somewhere along the spectrum.
Low-range
My low-range formula is designed with the goal of breaking even without paying myself a wage to make or sell the item: Material cost * 3. Tripling just the material cost will help cover my donations (commonly 20%), commissions (commonly 30%) or booth fees (variable fixed fees), inclusive sales tax (usually around 10%), and overhead expenses (fixed costs).
High-range
My high-range formula is designed with the goal of earning a wage after covering business expenses:
[Material cost + (labor hours * 16.37)] * custom markup
For my higher-end pieces, I’ll determine my custom markup based on where I’m selling and the expenses and labor effort associated with selling there.