Chris Schafale on sat 10 mar 01
So, I'm sitting in my living room this morning, surrounded by bowls
donated by our local potters. 90% of them came without any
suggested retail price, despite my requests for some guidance in
this area. Whether these potters are modest, shy, forgetful, lazy,
or simply sadistic, I don't know, but it's making me nuts trying to
put prices on these bowls.
I find it hard enough to price my own work, and seldom feel that
there is any logical relationship between the prices charged by one
potter and those charged by another. It's certainly not about
quality of work much of the time, more often about confidence,
marketing savvy, sales venue, reputation, context, etc. Some of
these potters are well-known in this area, and command good
prices for their work, but they will be out of normal context at this
sale. An Empty Bowls event is not a craft fair, or a gallery, or a
guild show, and its function as a fundraiser further complicates the
picture. Then there's the added factor that the price of the bowl will
include lunch. So pricing bowls for this Empty Bowls event has got
me stumped. I adamantly don't want contributors to feel that their
work has been sold for less than it's worth, but if they don't tell me
what their retail prices are, how am I supposed to know?
What I'm doing now is starting with our base price of $15 (which I
figure includes $5 worth of lunch) and using that for the very simple
bowls, kids bowls, etc. and then going up from there depending on
level of skill, finish, decoration, and reputation, if the person has
one. I'm saying to myself that if the person didn't suggest a price,
that they have given us permission to make that decision for them,
and have voided their right to be insulted if we underprice their work
(but I really, really don't want to offend anyone).
So, two pleas:
1) If you have any guidance about how to make these judgements,
I'd be very interested in hearing it, and
2) If you are bringing a bowl to donate, PLEASE include a
suggested retail price! Thanks in advance, for your bowls, with
their prices.
Chris Schafale
Light One Candle Pottery
Fuquay-Varina, North Carolina, USA
(south of Raleigh)
candle@intrex.net
http://www.lightonecandle.com
ILENE MAHLER on sat 10 mar 01
chris ,the empty bowl project that the Centered Co-op ran sucessfully
for years did this the price of the bowl with soup was $15 in advance
and $20 at the door please have on hand a bag ( paper) to give to each
purchaser to take them home in ..Should I insure my package and put a
postcard in so they can send it back when it is received I am up to 12
and have aleast 4 more going into Tues kiln..Ilene in Conn where it
finally stopped snowing..Louis was kind enough to tell us whar to bring
to Charlotee but can you post some weather predictions as us comming
from the cold northeast know its ' still winter.....
Chris Schafale wrote:
>
> So, I'm sitting in my living room this morning, surrounded by bowls
> donated by our local potters. 90% of them came without any
> suggested retail price, despite my requests for some guidance in
> this area. Whether these potters are modest, shy, forgetful, lazy,
> or simply sadistic, I don't know, but it's making me nuts trying to
> put prices on these bowls.
>
> I find it hard enough to price my own work, and seldom feel that
> there is any logical relationship between the prices charged by one
> potter and those charged by another. It's certainly not about
> quality of work much of the time, more often about confidence,
> marketing savvy, sales venue, reputation, context, etc. Some of
> these potters are well-known in this area, and command good
> prices for their work, but they will be out of normal context at this
> sale. An Empty Bowls event is not a craft fair, or a gallery, or a
> guild show, and its function as a fundraiser further complicates the
> picture. Then there's the added factor that the price of the bowl will
> include lunch. So pricing bowls for this Empty Bowls event has got
> me stumped. I adamantly don't want contributors to feel that their
> work has been sold for less than it's worth, but if they don't tell me
> what their retail prices are, how am I supposed to know?
>
> What I'm doing now is starting with our base price of $15 (which I
> figure includes $5 worth of lunch) and using that for the very simple
> bowls, kids bowls, etc. and then going up from there depending on
> level of skill, finish, decoration, and reputation, if the person has
> one. I'm saying to myself that if the person didn't suggest a price,
> that they have given us permission to make that decision for them,
> and have voided their right to be insulted if we underprice their work
> (but I really, really don't want to offend anyone).
>
> So, two pleas:
>
> 1) If you have any guidance about how to make these judgements,
> I'd be very interested in hearing it, and
>
> 2) If you are bringing a bowl to donate, PLEASE include a
> suggested retail price! Thanks in advance, for your bowls, with
> their prices.
>
> Chris Schafale
> Light One Candle Pottery
> Fuquay-Varina, North Carolina, USA
> (south of Raleigh)
> candle@intrex.net
> http://www.lightonecandle.com
>
> ______________________________________________________________________________
> Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
>
> You may look at the archives for the list or change your subscription
> settings from http://www.ceramics.org/clayart/
>
> Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be reached at melpots@pclink.com.
Dai Scott on sat 10 mar 01
Hi, Chris - we started Empty Bowls here in Kelowna last year, and after
doing a lot of research via the net and emailing personally with other Empty
Bowls people, it appears that it's universal that ALL the bowls sell for the
same price, regardless of who made them. It's a fixed price (and I've heard
everything from $5.00 to $75.00, depending on the venue), which includes the
soup, or strawberry shortcake or whatever the deal is. Obviously, the
first-comers are going to get the best choice of bowls, but if we plan on
selling 100 tickets, we make sure we have 110-115 bowls, so that the last
person still has some choice.
I, too, would be interested to hear from any Empty Bowls project people who
have had different prices for different bowls, and how they handled it.
This years' Empty Bowls event will be held in the Skycourt at Orchard Park
Mall (Kelowna) in the middle of April, and we'll be having a "Celebrity
Decorating" event prior to that. And this year, we're following the format
of a project held in conjunction with a Blues Festival in the States, where
they sell the bowls with a free soup coupon to a participating restaurant,
rather than actually serving the soup on site. Cuts down considerably on
the out-of-studio work for the potters, but we'll kind of miss the wonderful
spirit of comeraderie exhibited by both patrons and volunteers last year.
Good luck with your event----it's a great project to be involved with!
Dai in Kelowna, BC, where the bowls are piling up!
potterybydai@home.com
----- Original Message -----
From: "Chris Schafale"
To:
Sent: Saturday, March 10, 2001 10:33 AM
Subject: Empty Bowls and pricing puzzlements
> So, I'm sitting in my living room this morning, surrounded by bowls
> donated by our local potters. 90% of them came without any
> suggested retail price, despite my requests for some guidance in
> this area. Whether these potters are modest, shy, forgetful, lazy,
> or simply sadistic, I don't know, but it's making me nuts trying to
> put prices on these bowls.
>
> I find it hard enough to price my own work, and seldom feel that
> there is any logical relationship between the prices charged by one
> potter and those charged by another. It's certainly not about
> quality of work much of the time, more often about confidence,
> marketing savvy, sales venue, reputation, context, etc. Some of
> these potters are well-known in this area, and command good
> prices for their work, but they will be out of normal context at this
> sale. An Empty Bowls event is not a craft fair, or a gallery, or a
> guild show, and its function as a fundraiser further complicates the
> picture. Then there's the added factor that the price of the bowl will
> include lunch. So pricing bowls for this Empty Bowls event has got
> me stumped. I adamantly don't want contributors to feel that their
> work has been sold for less than it's worth, but if they don't tell me
> what their retail prices are, how am I supposed to know?
>
> What I'm doing now is starting with our base price of $15 (which I
> figure includes $5 worth of lunch) and using that for the very simple
> bowls, kids bowls, etc. and then going up from there depending on
> level of skill, finish, decoration, and reputation, if the person has
> one. I'm saying to myself that if the person didn't suggest a price,
> that they have given us permission to make that decision for them,
> and have voided their right to be insulted if we underprice their work
> (but I really, really don't want to offend anyone).
>
> So, two pleas:
>
> 1) If you have any guidance about how to make these judgements,
> I'd be very interested in hearing it, and
>
> 2) If you are bringing a bowl to donate, PLEASE include a
> suggested retail price! Thanks in advance, for your bowls, with
> their prices.
>
> Chris Schafale
> Light One Candle Pottery
> Fuquay-Varina, North Carolina, USA
> (south of Raleigh)
> candle@intrex.net
> http://www.lightonecandle.com
>
>
____________________________________________________________________________
__
> Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
>
> You may look at the archives for the list or change your subscription
> settings from http://www.ceramics.org/clayart/
>
> Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be reached at
melpots@pclink.com.
Joan & Tom Woodward on sat 10 mar 01
When I lived in Anchorage we had a hugely successful Empty Bowls project
(last year raised $28,000). There was one price for all the bowls (and
lunch); it may have been as low as $12.00. Potters knew about the single
pricing and nobody took offense. In fact, our commercially successful
potters tended to contribute the largest number of bowls; (we're talking in
the range of 100 here). Much simpler process. Good luck with your event.
Joan (now residing in Grand Junction, CO where one can bike in shorts in the
morning and snow shoe or ski on the Mesa later in the day; and where we just
dismayed to receive a bid for $55,000 (!!!) to build a very simple
studio/workshop.
>
Brooks Ratledge on sat 10 mar 01
Chris, I enjoyed meeting you at the NC Potter's conference this weekend.
Greensboro does not price their bowls. They take donations and usually make
several thousand. One year it was over $60,000. good luck. Patricia Harden
Dai Scott wrote:
> Hi, Chris - we started Empty Bowls here in Kelowna last year, and after
> doing a lot of research via the net and emailing personally with other Empty
> Bowls people, it appears that it's universal that ALL the bowls sell for the
> same price, regardless of who made them. It's a fixed price (and I've heard
> everything from $5.00 to $75.00, depending on the venue), which includes the
> soup, or strawberry shortcake or whatever the deal is. Obviously, the
> first-comers are going to get the best choice of bowls, but if we plan on
> selling 100 tickets, we make sure we have 110-115 bowls, so that the last
> person still has some choice.
> I, too, would be interested to hear from any Empty Bowls project people who
> have had different prices for different bowls, and how they handled it.
> This years' Empty Bowls event will be held in the Skycourt at Orchard Park
> Mall (Kelowna) in the middle of April, and we'll be having a "Celebrity
> Decorating" event prior to that. And this year, we're following the format
> of a project held in conjunction with a Blues Festival in the States, where
> they sell the bowls with a free soup coupon to a participating restaurant,
> rather than actually serving the soup on site. Cuts down considerably on
> the out-of-studio work for the potters, but we'll kind of miss the wonderful
> spirit of comeraderie exhibited by both patrons and volunteers last year.
> Good luck with your event----it's a great project to be involved with!
> Dai in Kelowna, BC, where the bowls are piling up!
> potterybydai@home.com
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Chris Schafale"
> To:
> Sent: Saturday, March 10, 2001 10:33 AM
> Subject: Empty Bowls and pricing puzzlements
>
> > So, I'm sitting in my living room this morning, surrounded by bowls
> > donated by our local potters. 90% of them came without any
> > suggested retail price, despite my requests for some guidance in
> > this area. Whether these potters are modest, shy, forgetful, lazy,
> > or simply sadistic, I don't know, but it's making me nuts trying to
> > put prices on these bowls.
> >
> > I find it hard enough to price my own work, and seldom feel that
> > there is any logical relationship between the prices charged by one
> > potter and those charged by another. It's certainly not about
> > quality of work much of the time, more often about confidence,
> > marketing savvy, sales venue, reputation, context, etc. Some of
> > these potters are well-known in this area, and command good
> > prices for their work, but they will be out of normal context at this
> > sale. An Empty Bowls event is not a craft fair, or a gallery, or a
> > guild show, and its function as a fundraiser further complicates the
> > picture. Then there's the added factor that the price of the bowl will
> > include lunch. So pricing bowls for this Empty Bowls event has got
> > me stumped. I adamantly don't want contributors to feel that their
> > work has been sold for less than it's worth, but if they don't tell me
> > what their retail prices are, how am I supposed to know?
> >
> > What I'm doing now is starting with our base price of $15 (which I
> > figure includes $5 worth of lunch) and using that for the very simple
> > bowls, kids bowls, etc. and then going up from there depending on
> > level of skill, finish, decoration, and reputation, if the person has
> > one. I'm saying to myself that if the person didn't suggest a price,
> > that they have given us permission to make that decision for them,
> > and have voided their right to be insulted if we underprice their work
> > (but I really, really don't want to offend anyone).
> >
> > So, two pleas:
> >
> > 1) If you have any guidance about how to make these judgements,
> > I'd be very interested in hearing it, and
> >
> > 2) If you are bringing a bowl to donate, PLEASE include a
> > suggested retail price! Thanks in advance, for your bowls, with
> > their prices.
> >
> > Chris Schafale
> > Light One Candle Pottery
> > Fuquay-Varina, North Carolina, USA
> > (south of Raleigh)
> > candle@intrex.net
> > http://www.lightonecandle.com
> >
> >
> ____________________________________________________________________________
> __
> > Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
> >
> > You may look at the archives for the list or change your subscription
> > settings from http://www.ceramics.org/clayart/
> >
> > Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be reached at
> melpots@pclink.com.
>
> ______________________________________________________________________________
> Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
>
> You may look at the archives for the list or change your subscription
> settings from http://www.ceramics.org/clayart/
>
> Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be reached at melpots@pclink.com.
Elca Branman on sat 10 mar 01
In Sarasota, all bowls are one price which includes lunch...makes it
simple, right..Last year it was either $15 or $16..
Elca Branman.. in Sarasota,Florida,USA
elcab1@juno.com
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Bobbi Bassett on sun 11 mar 01
Most of the Empty Bowl functions around here set a 15. or 20. price to cover
everything (bowl and soup and bread lunch). BUT we have all levels too ...
students to professionals. It appears to be a rush to get there to pick out
the cream of the crop, a bit like the mug sale at NCECA.
Bobbi in PA
ps. we'll be bringing bowls too.
Pam Pulley on sun 11 mar 01
Chris,
I been participating in Empty Bowl here in Mid Michigan for 8 years. We set
our price at $15.00 for the event. No ticket. Just 850 some bowls waiting to
be loved. It doesn't matter what the size of the bowl is or if its
functional or not.
-pam
Cyberpotter@AOL.COM on sun 11 mar 01
Chris,
We used a different approach for our local Empty Bowls event which bypassed
the bowl pricing problem. Rather than pricing the bowls and including a free
dinner, we had one price for dinner, which included the free bowl of your
choice, first come, first served. Tickets were $18, which included a bowl, a
serving of the soup or pasta dish of your choice, bread, beverage, and
dessert. If I recall correctly, potters were asked to donate approximately
5" size bowls. Most of the bowls donated were within a reasonable "soupbowl"
size range, but to be fair, we used the capacity of the serving ladle rather
than the capacity of the bowl in determining dinner portions. We also
provided disposable paper bowls for folks who didn't want to get their new
bowl dirty.
Nancy in Cincinnati
Lili Krakowski on mon 12 mar 01
I have never priced anything except stuff at bake and book sales.
However I expect the principle applies to all such. Take a base price-- I
think you said $15--that would cover all expenses: which would include the
pay of people you hire to schlep, teh cost of lunch, tour expenses. Plus
a fair amount for the charity! Then go up for what YOU know to be worth
more--nOT aestheticall, NOT morally, but realistically. Brownies are
cheaper than cream puffs; books by a Famous Author are priced higher thant
Romance novels...etc.
If you want, have a special area for Bowls by Famous Potters-- the
equivalent of First Editions--and price them to hell and gone. People
will pay "anything" to show off a prestige item.
Bet of luck
Lili Krakowski
SterlingDesign@AOL.COM on mon 12 mar 01
Chris,
Why don't you pick out say 20 +/- of the best bowls (have someone help you
choose) and put them into a silent auction which could run during your lunch
event. Then take your donation price and make it say 20 to 30 dollars per
person (including lunch and a bowl) which and let each person select a bowl
without specific prices on each.
Karen Deasy, RA
Sterling Design
Cabot, Vermont
MaryBeth Bishop on tue 13 mar 01
Chris,
I think your pricing scheme is perfect. I left the issue open for your
decision out of insecurity, laziness, confusion and a general need to make
your life hard :-). The last is a joke. If anybody is insulted it is their
own fault. Not to worry. You have taken on enough.
Mary Beth
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