Are Hobbyists Bad for Business?
Pricing of art/craft work is always a hot topic, with some people feeling that those with lower prices undercut the market and hurt the professional artist. I am not of that opinion.
Type one is the Professional Artisan. They create out of the love for their craft, and charge accordingly. Sales are not the priority, they are driven by creation, but they are supported by the income derived from their work.
Type two is the Hobbyist Artisan. They create for the fun of it, to pass time, maybe hanging out with a group of people and all doing the same thing at the same time. They sell their work simply to finance doing more of it. Their time is of no value, they seek to recoup their costs for materials so that they can do it again tomorrow.
Others work hard at what they do, trying to generate much needed income to help support their families or themselves. These people are stuck in the middle, being underpriced by the hobbyists, and not feeling like they can't sell enough at the higher prices.
It's tough to be in the middle. I learned a very long time ago that people either want to buy the cheapest, or they want to buy the best.
One of the co-op's that I am involved with recently had someone that knitted apply to be juried. Her work was of excellent quality. Her prices were between $15 and $20 for something that would take her about 6 hours to make. She was rejected because her items were inadequately priced for what we were trying to do.
Items that are inadequately priced skew the marketplace for everyone, but in this internet world that we live in, it is an inevitable issue that the folks in the middle will continue to have to deal with. People with the top quality work will continue to get top quality prices as long as they have the backbone to ask for them.
