Helpful Links Mentioned in This Live
Download the Pricing Without Guessing Worksheet:
Worksheet Link
Download the Facilitator Example:
Facilitator Link
Use the Pricing Calculator:
Pricing Calculator Link
Shop Chibi SnapCharm™ Supplies:
https://chibicharms.com
Enter the Current Giveaway:
Giveaway Link
This TikTok Live was focused on one of the biggest issues I see in the craft industry:
Crafters are guessing their prices.
And when we guess, we usually guess too low.
We look at the supplies in front of us and think, “Well, I spent a few dollars on this, so maybe I can sell it for $15 or $20.”
But that is not pricing.
That is hoping.
Hope does not pay for your supplies, your packaging, your labor, your website, your selling fees, or the next round of inventory you need to keep your business moving.
This is why Week 5 inside the Charmie Business Lab was all about Pricing Without Guessing.
Because if you want to treat your craft business like a real business, your pricing has to reflect the real cost of creating, packaging, selling, and growing.
Stop Pricing Like It’s “Just Handmade”
One of the first things we talked about during the live was the way handmade sellers sometimes downplay their own work.
You made it by hand, so you think it should be cheaper.
But handmade should not mean cheap.
Handmade means someone took the time to design it, source the materials, assemble it, package it, photograph it, list it, market it, answer customer questions, and ship it.
That has value.
When someone buys a finished craft product from you, they are not just buying beads, charms, glue, acrylics, pens, toppers, or packaging.
They are buying the convenience of a completed design.
They are buying your eye.
They are buying the finished product they did not have to learn how to make themselves.
They are buying the collection you created for them.
That matters.
Your Customer Is Not Breaking Down Your Supply Cost
A real customer is not sitting there trying to reverse engineer every piece of your product.
They are not calculating what you spent on each bead, each charm, or each drop of glue.
If someone is doing that, they may not be your customer. They may be another crafter comparing your cost to what they think they could make it for themselves.
Your actual customer is looking at the finished product and asking:
Is this my style?
Do I love this?
Would I use this?
Would I gift this?
Does this feel special?
Does this feel worth it to me?
That is why your pricing has to be based on your costs, your value, and your target market, not on the fear that someone else might think it is too expensive.
Define One Sellable Unit First
Before you can price anything, you have to know exactly what you are selling.
In the live, I used a complete collection-style product as the example.
Not just one pen.
A full sellable unit.
That example included:
One beaded pen with an interchangeable magnetic system
Two character toppers
One collection display
A personalized name on the display
Packaging
The work required to assemble and finish the set
That is a very different product than “one pen.”
This is why I teach Collection Crafting.
A single pen is a product.
A connected pen, topper set, display, personalization, and matching presentation is a collection.
And remember:
If there’s no connection, it’s not a collection.
When you are pricing, you need to define what the customer receives before you can calculate what it costs.
Direct Materials Are More Than the Main Pieces
The first pricing mistake is only counting the obvious supplies.
For example, a crafter might count the pen and the character, but forget the rod, adhesive, refill, spacers, rhinestone tape, packaging pieces, labels, or display.
That is how your profit disappears.
Your direct materials include every physical item used to create that finished product.
That can include:
Pens
Beads
Spacers
Character toppers
Acrylic pieces
Charms
Rods
Refills
Glue or adhesive
Creation tape
Rhinestones
Display pieces
Custom letters
Bases or mounts
Any item used directly in the finished product
Even if something only costs a few cents, it still counts.
A few cents here and a few cents there become dollars very quickly.
That is why I always recommend breaking down your supplies by unit cost.
If you bought a pack of 100 letters for $20, each letter costs 20 cents. If you used five letters, that customization cost $1.
If you bought a pack of seven figures for $9 and used two, you need to divide that pack cost by the usable quantity and multiply by the quantity used.
That is how you stop guessing.
Labor Has to Be Paid Before Profit
Your time is not the leftover amount after everything else is paid.
Labor is part of the cost.
During the live, we talked about timing your actual production process. That means writing down the steps and figuring out how long it takes you to make one sellable unit.
For example:
Gather the supplies
Coordinate the design
Assemble the pen
Add custom letters
Attach mounts or bases
Decorate any display pieces
Package the finished product
Quality check before shipping or handing it to the customer
Even if you are currently doing all the work yourself, you should still account for labor.
Why?
Because if your business grows, you may eventually need help.
If you go viral and receive 100 orders, you need to know whether your price can support paying someone to help assemble, package, or prep orders.
If your price only works because you are working for free, the business is not priced correctly.
Packaging Is Part of the Product Experience
Packaging is not just a cute extra.
Packaging protects the item, supports the customer experience, and costs your business money.
If you are shipping, packaging may include:
Shipping box
Bubble wrap
Tissue paper
Shipping label
Tape
Stickers
Fragile labels
Thank-you card
Care card
Freebie, if included
If you are selling in person, packaging may include:
Shopping bag
Tissue paper
Protective case
Bubble wrap
Insert card
Business card
Care instructions
If you hand a customer a delicate handmade product at a craft show, that customer may put it in a wagon, bag, purse, or car with other purchases.
You still need to protect the product.
That packaging cost needs to be included.
Overhead Can Quietly Destroy Your Profit
One of the biggest wake-up moments in the live was overhead.
Overhead includes the business costs that support your ability to sell, even if they are not physically part of the finished item.
That can include:
Website fees
Software subscriptions
Design tools
Marketplace fees
Craft show booth fees
Equipment
Utilities
Internet
Licensing or commercial use fees
Business support tools
The example we worked through showed how overhead can completely change your pricing.
If your monthly overhead is $64 and you only expect to sell two units that month, then each unit has to carry $32 of overhead.
That alone can make your product feel impossible to price.
But that does not mean the product failed.
It means you need to review the business costs attached to it.
In the example, we looked at how reducing unnecessary overhead could dramatically improve the margin. Instead of paying for tools and website costs that may not be necessary at the beginning, a newer seller could use lower-cost or free options until sales volume supports a bigger platform.
That is why I often suggest starting simple.
If you only have a few products or collections, you may not need the most expensive setup yet.
You need a safe, professional way to take payments and protect your business, but you do not need every subscription, app, or platform on day one.
Selling Fees Must Be Included
Another cost that gets missed all the time is the selling fee.
Every sales channel has its own cost structure.
Your website may charge a payment processing fee.
A marketplace may charge listing fees, transaction fees, payment processing fees, advertising fees, customer service fees, or fulfillment-related fees.
Auction platforms may still charge a fixed transaction fee even if the item sells for a low amount.
That matters.
If you sell something for $1 and your platform charges a 30-cent fixed fee plus a percentage, you have already lost a large part of that sale before considering the actual product cost.
This is why I always say you need to verify your current selling fees.
Do not assume the rate you remember from last year is still correct.
Check:
Variable percentage fee
Fixed transaction fee
Monthly fee
Listing fee
Marketplace fee
Payment processing fee
Advertising or promotional fee
Any other platform-specific charge
Then write down where you verified the fee and the date.
That way, you are not building your pricing on outdated information.
Net Profit Is Not the Same as Getting Paid Back
There is a big difference between recovering your costs and making profit.
If your customer pays $70 and your true costs plus selling fees are $68.99, you technically made a little over a dollar.
But that is not a healthy business.
You may have recovered most of what you spent, but you did not create enough profit to grow.
That small amount does not help you:
Buy better supplies
Replace equipment
Hire help
Pay for content support
Invest in ads
Prepare for a larger launch
Cover mistakes
Handle lost packages
Build inventory for the next collection
That is why net profit margin matters.
Your net profit margin tells you how much is actually left after your costs and fees.
For handmade craft businesses, I recommend aiming for a healthy margin that gives your business room to grow. In the live, we used a 45% target net profit margin as the goal.
The exact number may change depending on your product, business model, and customer base, but the point stays the same:
Your price needs to leave room for the business to survive.
If the Price Feels Too High, Do Not Panic
Sometimes the first calculation will make you want to cry.
That is normal.
When you see the full cost of materials, labor, packaging, overhead, fees, and profit, you may realize the price is much higher than what you expected.
That does not automatically mean the product is impossible to sell.
It means you need to review the numbers.
Ask:
Are my material costs too high?
Am I using too many expensive components?
Am I paying for software I do not need yet?
Am I on the wrong selling platform for my current sales volume?
Am I offering too much in one product?
Am I selling to the wrong customer?
Do I need to simplify the first release?
Can I make this a premium or limited collection instead of a standard offer?
Can I reduce packaging cost without reducing protection?
Can I increase my monthly sales volume so overhead is spread across more units?
In the live example, the price became much more workable once the overhead was reduced.
That is the power of actually doing the math.
You stop guessing and start making decisions.
Collections Make Pricing Easier to Explain
This is why I keep coming back to collections.
A customer may not understand why one pen is $70.
But they can understand a complete customized collection that includes a decorated pen, character toppers, display, personalization, and a finished giftable presentation.
That is a different offer.
A collection creates more value because the customer is receiving a full experience.
That does not mean every product has to be huge or expensive.
It means the product needs to be positioned clearly.
There is a difference between:
“Here is a pen.”
and
“Here is a one-of-a-kind collectible desk set with interchangeable toppers, a personalized display, and a coordinated design made for someone who loves this theme.”
One is a product.
The other is an offer.
Do Not Start New Collections on Sale
One point I want to repeat clearly:
Please do not launch a brand-new collection by immediately discounting it.
When you start a product on sale, you train customers to question the real value.
A discount can be used intentionally later, but it should not be the foundation of your pricing.
Your goal is not to make the product look cheap.
Your goal is to explain the value clearly enough that the right customer understands why the price makes sense.
Brand Your Work
Another important point from the live was branding.
If someone buys from you at a craft show, on a live, or through a website, they need to remember where the product came from.
Branding can be simple.
It can be:
A logo sticker
A small tag
A care card
A branded insert
A QR code
A thank-you card
A business card
A branded display detail
When customers own your work, they should know how to find you again.
That is especially important if you are building collections, because the whole point is to give them a reason to return.
Price for the Business You Are Building
If you want your craft business to grow, your pricing has to support growth.
That means your price should cover:
Materials
Labor
Packaging
Overhead
Selling fees
Profit
It also means your product needs to be designed for a real customer, not just priced based on fear.
If someone says your price is too high, that does not automatically mean your price is wrong.
They may not be your customer.
Luxury brands, collectible brands, and specialty product lines do not sell to everyone. They sell to the people who value what they offer.
You need to know who those people are.
That is why pricing and target market go together.
If you try to sell to everyone, you will either sell to no one or attract people who do not value the work.
Your Homework
Choose one product or collection and complete the following:
Define one sellable unit.
List every direct material used.
Break down pack costs into unit costs.
Time one real production batch.
Calculate labor based on an hourly rate.
Add packaging costs.
List your monthly overhead.
Divide overhead by expected monthly units.
Verify your current selling fees.
Calculate your true cost.
Choose a target net profit margin.
Compare your current price to the price your business actually needs.
Decide whether to adjust the price, reduce costs, simplify the product, or reposition the offer.
Do this for one product first.
Not your whole shop.
Not every item in your inventory.
One product.
That is how you start building pricing confidence.
Final Takeaway
Pricing without guessing is not about making every product expensive.
It is about making sure your price is honest.
Honest about the supplies.
Honest about the time.
Honest about the packaging.
Honest about the fees.
Honest about the work.
Honest about the business you are trying to build.
If your product is priced too low, you are not just discounting the item.
You are discounting your time, your creativity, your future inventory, and your ability to keep going.
You work too hard for that.
So before you price your next product, pause and do the math.
Because once you know your numbers, you can stop guessing and start pricing like a business owner.
Let’s Discuss…share your thoughts:
Have you ever priced a product and realized later that you forgot to include your time, packaging, or selling fees? What is one cost you need to start including from now on?
