humble oils for frugal fauns

Thanks so much to everyone who has contributed to my two last blog entries on the highs and lows of selling online! I had imagined that I would take my week off the Internet to reflect on the issues of pricing before I came back and began writing up my thoughts, but after reading your fascinating points of view, I could not help but start writing now.

Last night, while surfing the web, I found a scintillating discussion on putting a price on handmade. Megan Auman makes very unique laser-cut cozy/cuffs, coffee cup cosies and wrist cuffs in one, and after being promoted on Etsy’s Facebook page, it sparked a controversial debate where buyers cried at the outrage of her seemingly exorbitant prices, even daring to accuse her of making a greedy amount of profit. In another of Megan’s blog posts about this issue, she describes Etsy as a “pro-am community”, which was the first time I heard that phrase. It refers to amateur professionalism, meaning people pursuing amateur activities to professional standards. Megan mentions that for many sellers on Etsy, myself included, our stores are just extensions of our hobbies and therefore we have neither need nor motivation to price our products high enough to factor in true production costs and a living wage. This hurts the sellers on Etsy who run their stores full-time and are attempting to make a living from their craft because comparable products are being priced lower than they could manage without forgoing food or shelter.

It exacerbates the problem when a culture of underpricing conditions buyers that Etsy is a place for bargains, to perhaps find some crafter with low self-esteem willing to unload some handmade soaps or earrings on to you for the same price you would find in a Coles or Target, while receiving one-on-one service.

Her article also prompted me to take a good hard look at my own pricing practices and attitude. As of the time of writing, my perfumes are being sold at $6 for a 5ml bottle. While I understand that that is considered quite low, if not the lowest price you can find for all natural essential oils in a jojoba base, it is nevertheless not the lowest for perfumes overall. The other day while randomly browsing, I found one of the sellers on Etsy making Twilight-themed perfumes (yes, they really exist) and running a sale on solids for $1. I will tell you now that I’d have a difficult time finding the metal tins that they come in for less than $1.

Although I’m sure some people would consider my prices to be quite reasonable, I confess that I’m completely conscious that it’s not. The $6 I charge for my perfumes do not account for my labour, because for the time being, I consider running Faunfare a labour of love. Unfortunately, I’m one of the sellers Megan reveals as inadvertently devaluing handmade for everyone else. I’m a hobbyist through and through and my singular goal on Etsy is to meet like-minded souls for whom I can eventually supply perfumes for free. I aspire to be the forest’s herbalist who concocts away in her deep, dark glade while friendly villagers travels beyond the thicket to seek vials of esoteric elixirs in exchange for pumpkin pies or a couple of chooks. I think if I can make back my material costs, that’s just a bonus. To compare, I don’t get paid to read or go to the cinema, but they’re also things I love to do in my spare time. If I could at least get some free books or free tickets every now and then, then what more could I ask for?  I don’t consider that if I posted up a review of a film I saw on my blog that a professional film critic might lose their job because here I am doing what they do for free.

I’ve had both well-meaning friends tell me that I’m giving away my perfumes and well-meaning friends tell me that I ought to literally give away my perfumes. I know some people think I’m crazy and may even be turned off by my low prices, suspecting that there may be something wrong with them, and those who see making a purchase from my store as a splurge.

I also absolutely adore my day job. I love to write and through a lot of luck and divine intervention, I have found myself on the path to becoming a researcher, which lets me teach subjects about which I’m passionate while getting travel opportunities to meet others who share those passions. I have to sell about 20 bottles of my perfumes to make what I make in an hour and thus I have no drive to turn my perfumery into a viable business.

I never set out to undercut any sellers. In fact, some of you might remember that when I first launched my store, I priced my perfumes at $12 for the 5ml bottle, which covers my materials and time and after weeks of research, was where I found the average price, minus a dollar or two. Want to take a stab at how many I sold? If you guessed zilch, you would be absolutely correct. So in the lead up to the Solstice last month, I placed all my perfumes on sale and they flew off the shelves. I’ve also been very fortunate that my buyers are the best in the world and either returned soon after their first orders or heartily spread the word. However, I can see the culture of cheap at work here on Etsy, but if my alternative is to price my perfumes higher and not sell anything, that defeats the purpose of listing on Etsy in the first place.

I don’t hate bargain hunters, in fact, I’d probably define myself as one. I would definitely do my utmost to spread the word of handmade, supporting independent sellers who use locally sourced materials and take care to be ethical in their business decisions, but I don’t see my role as enlightening the ignorant masses (and this is coming from an academic). Sadly, I think what our creations are worth are not always accepted in every market and I think it’s unrealistic to assume the solution is to implore all sellers on Etsy to raise their prices so ours won’t seem so high by comparison. If Etsy is becoming a bargain hunting zone, then we ought to find another market (I hear craft fairs and handmade markets are better catered towards people who appreciate quality over saving a few bucks) or use Etsy as a springboard into our own brands, and we can eventually run a store on our own domains.

Full-time Etsy sellers also have one of the most priceless advantages—time. I madly bottle perfumes on evenings and the weekends and can only find time to ship twice a week, and even then it’s a stretch, especially last week when I hurt my knee and could only ship on one day when I had the car. Full-time Etsy sellers should never see me as a threat because I will never find the time to conceive brilliant, inventive, cutting-edge ideas, reshoot stunning photographs every fortnight, or constantly be expanding my line.

Perhaps it’s not a question of whether or not hobbyists are undermining handmade artisans running their own businesses but there may be enough space in the market for both parties. A few weeks ago, a buyer added me to her favourites and when I perused her profile, I was surprised to find a lengthy and articulate essay on how Etsy has really saved her life on many occasions because when she lost her job during the GFC, she appreciated finding passionate crafters offering affordable goods on Etsy. Those are the people I want to create for. If you are well-educated on the cost of mass-consumerism and have the luxury to spend money on high-quality handmade goods, you may very well overlook people like me and choose to spend more to support full-time Etsians instead whose stores are well-stocked and constantly growing. However, if you’re a faun who needs to save her gold for figs and mulled wine, then come by my neck of the woods and find some earnestly blended oils and a friendly ear. Just remember to bring a chicken or a pie.