Handmade vs Store bought

What is handmade?

adjective

1. made by hand, not by machine, and typically therefore of superior quality.

What is store bought? 

adjective

NORTH AMERICANinformal

1. bought ready-made from a shop; not home-made.

So the other day we were having a discussion as you do and my Father said the prices in My Etsy Shop are Ridiculous! 

I wasn't surprised he has said this many times in the past. He also said someone could go to the store and get it much cheaper. I said that's fine with me as the things in the shops are usually mass produced. If that's what customers want to by then that's fine. I can't very well stop them and force them to shop online at my store.

My ideas, my creativity, my time...why should any of that be free? Why should my items be sold for less than the minimum wage, when I put my time and effort into making them. If you go into a shop sure of course you can by 10 of the same item, because it's already made readily available. You go to a genuine handmade shop and you can buy 10 unique items that time and love have gone into creating and you can't find them anywhere else.

So why should I drop my prices? Why should I sell myself short? If I do that then does that mean I don't value my time? The creative process that goes into making something to sell it? I buy the materials, I come up with the idea and the idea goes into motion.

If you sell handmade items you know exactly what goes into making it, the time it takes you to source the materials/ingredients, produce the item and package the item. Sure you can go to a shop and probably buy 5 of them for the price of that 1 handmade one. Do you stop and think.....what makes the handmade one special? Different? Unique?
When you got into a store...Do you know WHO made the item? Or simply just where its made?  When you look at the label/tag do you understand half of the jargon on it?

I'm not saying the things sold by retailers isn't made by hand....it could full and well be, but where is the creativity? The USP? What makes it different? You can go into other retailers and see the same product selling maybe for more or for less.... go to several handmade shops and everything is different. The item you buy may be one of a kind. You wont find it online or in a retailer's ever again, only you own it and why? Because you were in the right place at the right time.

If you can spare a moment or two please go to my etsy shop and let me know if you think my prices are too high.

Thanks for reading

IBeCheraldine =]