WAYWO - What is your time worth?

One day, a few years ago, I was browsing through Off Fifth with my now-ex sister in law. For those who don't know, Off Fifth is Saks Fifth Avenue's outlet store. We had fun, saw lots of things, but we bought nothing.

One thing that caught my notice was a hand-crocheted sweater. It was hand-crocheted (I don't think they've been able to teach a machine to crochet yet, have they?) of tiny granny squares. It wasn't something I would wear, to be sure, but it was on the cute side. It was priced at $80.

Even at the time, pre-Daily Kos, I wondered - who actually made this sweater, and how much did they get paid for their labor? I'm guessing they didn't get paid much, and that they weren't working for union pay, either.

Which brings me to my own crafting - and yours. How many times have you had someone say to you something like "You should sell that on Ebay! You could get $20 for that scarf!"

Um, the yarn for the scarf was $25, and I've put hours into it. Are you suggesting I should take a loss for the pride of being "able to sell" my handiwork? Of course, the person was innocently trying to praise your work, but have no idea what really goes into a project.

This is not limited to fiber arts, although they are what I know best. In any craft, there is cost of materials, time spent, and any advertising/listing fees and/or site maintenance fees. For instance, a single skein of handspun yarn can take hours, especially if the spinner cleans the fleece, dyes the wool - perhaps more than once - spins singles, plies them, winds them, etc. It all takes time.

Here is an expensive "art yarn". I can't imagine paying this price, myself. I also can't imagine creating it with my limited spinning skills. Here's another.

In your craft, what is your time worth? Can you sell your work and feel good about the price you can command?

What does WAYWO stand for? "What Are You Working On?" WAYWO is a weekly series about crafts, arts, and DIY. All are welcome to post in WAYWO, and guest hosts are invited to email me at the address in my profile. WAYWO posts every Sunday at approximately 6:30 pm Eastern time.

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