Ok I posted the blanket I made and now I have a question. Inspired by some of the mommies here with more modern nursuries I tried to do something other than the satin binding and came up with this: This is the original: It cost me slightly more to do the twill, and the blankets are running about $60 right now. I'd take the loss but is that too much for the blankets in general?
-- Edited by itsapinkthing_housefulofgrls at 15:45, 2006-09-13
-- Edited by itsapinkthing_housefulofgrls at 18:16, 2006-09-13
I have absolutely no idea what baby blankets go for, to be honest. does $60 include your labor or is that materials only?
also, about the fabric - it's cute, but I feel like it's more appropriate for toddler clothing vs. a blanket...
take ayo's bedding for example, something really modern like that might be more marketable. it's almost like the blanket is a presentation wrapper for the baby in a way, you know? a blanket can really make a statement when it's in a pattern. the paisley has a sophisticated kind of feel to it IMO.
but, that's just my opinion... I wonder how the mothers on the site feel.
and I got it from babystyle...and I think dwell is at least on the mid/upper range in terms of cost..
soo... I think $45 is more like it..
I also agree with detroit..I love the paisely..and I think definitely some people would love it...but some of the fabrics you sent me would probably be more marketable.
I was afrais of that, $45 is about what I pay for materials with shipping. Now some of the materials I can get for a little less, I'll have to look into that.
Can you buy the fabric in bulk and get a price break? Or what about searching local fabric stores for sales and clearance? That may help you make a better profit.
I was just poking around in Nordstrom, and saw these blankets:
this is a bit garish IMO, but it's $72
$62
$72
I think you should try to reduce your costs by buying wholesale (I would look into getting a business licence so you can get a tax number to buy wholesale with). Your profit margin should be greater than what you are currently at with $60 retail.
Thanks Detroit. Those make me feel better, but I'm not sure about the business license stuff. Craft fairs in my area are fairly expensive to get in, and I would need a LOT of capital to fill a spot. I don't really have that kind of money to invest. So maybe I just do a small little side thing and not make much $ but enjoy it, right...
I'm not talking about craft fairs. A business license will give you a tax number so you can buy wholesale. It shouldn't be any more than $50 to establish yourself as an individual proprietor. I have an LLC for stylethread. I have to file taxes every year and keep track of costs and income, but I wouldn't be able to run ST without a tax number.
as far as your profit margins are concerned, if your costs are $45, your profit margin is only 25% when selling at $60. I suppose that's not a bad profit margin, but if you can increase it by reducing your costs with wholesale fabric (while maintaining a $60 sales price), it'll be more worth your while to pursue.
I'm not talking about craft fairs. A business license will give you a tax number so you can buy wholesale. It shouldn't be any more than $50 to establish yourself as an individual proprietor. I have an LLC for stylethread. I have to file taxes every year and keep track of costs and income, but I wouldn't be able to run ST without a tax number.
as far as your profit margins are concerned, if your costs are $45, your profit margin is only 25% when selling at $60. I suppose that's not a bad profit margin, but if you can increase it by reducing your costs with wholesale fabric (while maintaining a $60 sales price), it'll be more worth your while to pursue.
Oh the only reason I mention craft fairs is that would be my only way to market myself right now. I might consider a business license if I started to see a lot of interest, but I'm not sure how to drum up "business". Isn't buying wholsale only worth it to me if I have a reason to make a lot of blankets, and would need to buy larger amounts of fabric. Although I could probably use it personally too...
itsapinkthing_housefulofgrls wrote: Oh the only reason I mention craft fairs is that would be my only way to market myself right now. I might consider a business license if I started to see a lot of interest, but I'm not sure how to drum up "business". Isn't buying wholsale only worth it to me if I have a reason to make a lot of blankets, and would need to buy larger amounts of fabric. Although I could probably use it personally too...
ah. ok, that's fair. that's probably the best way to approach it. I guess I have a couple of ideas that I have patially shared with you - but I think my ideas are premature at this point
