The real pricing mistake is charging too little
Ask a room of makers what they struggle with and pricing comes up every time — and almost always in the same direction. They undercharge. It feels safer: a low price seems easier to sell, and it's uncomfortable to put a number on your own work. But underpricing quietly kills small businesses. It signals low quality to the very buyers who'd happily pay more, it leaves nothing to reinvest, and it traps you in a volume game you can't win against factories. Let's fix it with a floor and a ceiling.
Your floor: what it actually costs you
Never price below this number. Add up, per item:
- Materials — everything that goes into the product, including the offcuts and waste.
- Your time, paid properly. Decide an hourly rate you'd accept and multiply by the honest hours. This is the line most makers skip, and it's why they burn out. Your labour is a cost, not a donation.
- Overheads — a share of tools, workspace, electricity, the sewing machine, the software.
- Packaging — boxes, tissue, cards, the bits that make unboxing feel special.
- Selling costs — any listing or subscription fee, payment charges, shipping you absorb.
Total that up and you have your true cost. A price below it means you're paying customers to take your work. Above it is the only place a business can live.
Your ceiling: what it's worth to the buyer
Cost tells you where you can't go; value tells you where you can. And gifts are unusual: their value is emotional, not just material. Someone isn't only buying a candle — they're buying "my friend will feel thought about." That's worth more than the wax. Price toward what the gift does for the buyer, not just what it's made of. A beautifully packaged, clearly-described, genuinely-suited gift can command far more than a cheaper near-identical item that's presented as a commodity.
Offer a range, not a single price
Buyers judge prices by comparison. A ₹1,200 item looks expensive alone, but reasonable sitting next to a ₹2,500 premium version and a ₹700 basic one. If you can, offer a good–better–best spread:
- a smaller or simpler entry option,
- your core product,
- a premium or personalised version.
Most people pick the middle — and the premium option makes the middle feel like the sensible choice while occasionally selling on its own to someone who wants the best.
Don't compete on being the cheapest
You will lose a price war with mass production, every time. Your edge is the opposite of cheap: it's craft, fit, story, and the feeling of something considered. Lean into that. Raise the price and improve the photos, packaging, and description to match, and you'll often sell more, not less — because you're now attracting the buyer who was never going to pick the bargain-bin option anyway.
A few finishing touches:
- Charm pricing (₹499 rather than ₹500) nudges perception slightly — use it if it fits your brand, skip it if it cheapens a premium feel.
- Round, confident prices (₹1,500) suit higher-end, considered products.
- Review prices as costs rise. Materials and your time get more expensive; your prices should too. Loyal buyers rarely leave over a fair increase.
How forthem changes the maths
Two things work in your favour here. First, forthem takes no commission on your sales — the price you set is the price you keep, so you don't have to inflate to cover a marketplace's cut. Second, forthem matches buyers to products on fit, not on lowest price — someone describing exactly the person your product suits is far less price-sensitive than someone sorting a marketplace low-to-high. That's the buyer who pays what your work is worth. Price for them.
Set your prices with your floor and ceiling in mind, then load them into the seller area. If a product has been selling fast and easily, that's usually a sign it's underpriced — try nudging it up and watch what happens.