How to Price Sublimation Products

How much should you charge for your work? How to price sublimation products is always a big question, just like it would be when you are starting any type of craft business – you’re not alone! It can be tough to find the right price point, especially in the beginning stages of your business. You may feel nervous about asking for too much money, or even about selling at all. But it’s important to remember that you need to make a profit, and that there is value in the time you’ve invested in making these items.

So, how do you go about setting prices for your sublimation products that will reflect the quality of your work and that will still appeal to customers? Check out these tips!

Know Your Costs

It’s important to know how much it costs you to produce each item. Record the amount of time spent creating the item and doing any custom design work, and keep receipts for the materials and supplies you buy, shipping, and other associated costs.

Yes, it’s a lot to keep track of, but it will give you an honest view of your true costs, so that you can price your items accordingly.

Research the Competition

What are other sellers charging for similar products? The more information you have, the better, so look in all of the places where you’re considering selling. Visit a local vendor’s market to look at price tags, or pull up the business pages of local sellers and check out their prices on items similar to yours. Compare prices for finished items on Etsy.

Join sublimation groups on facebook, to see how other sublimation business owners are answering the pricing question. There are usually discussions about the subject; search the group for phrases like “price” or “how much do you charge”. If you don't find anything, ask!

This research will give you an idea of what the going rates are, plus some additional things to consider, like any extra costs associated with selling online, or booth rental fees for local spaces.

Consider Your Target Market

When setting your prices, it’s important to consider who your ideal customer is. If you’ll be selling in a more “boutique” setting, for example, you may have customers who actually expect to pay more for items. It may not make sense, but anything from “you get what you pay for” to associating status with a price tag could apply here.

If you are taking bulk orders from businesses, schools, or sports teams, you may decide to offer a discount based on quantity, or because of time saved when you're using the same design.

You can also consider location – if you’re at a weekly traders’ market where haggling over prices is the norm, you may not find the same prices work as well as they will at a holiday market, where shoppers are looking for unique gifts and are thrilled to hand over their cash for your finished products.

Set a Price That Reflects the Quality of Your Work

Ultimately, you have to have confidence in the value of your time spent creating your sublimation products. Set a fair price that takes that into consideration. If you undervalue your work, so will others. This can also cause you to get less enjoyment from your work, and that is NOT what will help your business grow. If you love what you do, it will show. If you value what you do, it will show, and it will also help you continue to improve that work.

Don’t Forget to Factor in Profits

Remember, you are here to build a successful business! Make sure to factor in all of the production time, costs of materials, time spent learning and designing, fuel used for delivery, whether you’ll have listing fees or website costs associated with selling online, advertisement fees, rental costs of vendor spaces, shipping costs, etc.

If you’re still struggling with setting prices that you feel would be too high (maybe you would never pay that much for something, yourself), try this: go ahead and set the price “too high”. See what happens. It’s better than not offering anything at all, and you might be surprised to find that your customers have a different idea of what a fair price is!

See what kind of feedback you get, and notice where it comes from – friends and family? People who have never met you but may be potential customers? Are people interested, but not buying? Do they mention the price?

If you have no sales, and your prices are reasonable after doing your research, then do you need to promote or advertise more? Should you try different designs? Consider these things before changing any price tags – once you've lowered your prices, it's more difficult to raise them again.

Focus on Value, Not Costs

When you are creating products to sell, it is important that you focus on the VALUE of those products, not just the cost. This can be a difficult concept for some people – myself included! – to understand, especially when we are trying to save money or limit our spending. The problem with this way of thinking is that it leads us to believe that cheaper is always better.

However, when you are selling handmade goods – especially sublimation products – it is important to remember that your customers are not only paying for the materials used, but also for your time, effort, and creativity.

When setting prices for your products, make sure to factor in all of the time and effort that goes into creating them!

I hope this has helped clear up some confusion about how to price your sublimation products.

By following these tips, your should be able to find the price point that works for you. Just remember to consider all of your time and costs, and don’t be afraid to play with your prices – this is your business and no one else’s. Like the designs you choose, you will find what attracts your ideal customer, and if you offer your best work to that customer, they will be happy to pay your prices for the value you provide.