Advice for selling DIY work

[wildinthewoods]

I have been making some hand knitted garments mostly for friends, and recently I have been approached by a boutique that is interested in stocking my wares.
As a point of reference I will say all of my items are handmade using traditional hand manipulated techniques and expensive organic fibers and yarns. I have a university background in fiber arts and textiles. Each garment is unique and very time consuming. I never expected to sell anything, this is very different from what I do for a living, and something I do on the side as a way to keep the skills I have learned in school alive.
I really have no idea what fair prices are for consignment or stocking items in a store. But it is a pretty cool opportunity and I would like to take advantage of it.
Does anyone have any experience with a similar situation? What can I expect or should ask for?

[Anton]

I'm sure that there are more knowledgeable people here that can give you further advice than mine, but this is how I approach it.

There are a few things to consider, one is the basic business aspect which is how much does it cost you to make it? The various materials that you use + your time. Materials are easy to price, but how much do you charge as a designer/pattern maker/whatever. Once you set a price tag for your hourly work you can have price tag that is based solely on the making of the product.(obviously as the business grows bigger there are more things to add, if you rent a studio, have employees etc' but this is not the case).

Second and this is the tricky part in my opinion, is how much you add on top of it to make profit and continue to sell. You have to keep in mind that the store that will purchase your product will have to add to the price as well, if your price is too high the store won't be able to sell it. Usually and obviously this is not some rule, companies add between 30-40% to their "cost of making". You need to see if that's possible for your product and decide what will work. Cost of making + 30-40% is the norm, if you see that it becomes way too expensive you either priced your hourly rate too high or it just costs you a lot to make it and you can't add much profit(it does happen especially in things that take lots of time to make and the materials are expensive).

Try to do a small market research and see for how much similar products as your are selling for and have an idea of the price tag.

Hope it helps.

[wildinthewoods]

Thanks Anton. I appreciate your input.

[udbrud]

Anton pretty much covered it there.
But I'm curious - do you have any documentation of your knits? Would be interesting to see.

[wildinthewoods]

udbrud - i'm working on a website now because i've been getting some interest. i will be taking some pictures for it this weekend. maybe i'll post some here after.

[Monoral]

Also if you're going to pitch your product at retail you're going to need a collection. It'll be first thing they'll ask. Knowing this from a few friends who design clothes.