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How to say your price out loud
Most makers know roughly what they should charge. The hard part is the moment you have to say it. A script, a pause and a little practice make it much easier.
When I ran my ceramics studio, I knew my prices. They were written down, worked out from my costs and my time. And yet every time someone asked how much a commission would be, I heard myself say a number thirty percent lower than the one on the page.
If that sounds familiar, the problem is not your maths. It is the moment. Saying a price out loud to a real person is a small act of nerve, and nerve gets easier with a script.
Decide before the conversation
Never work out a price while someone is waiting. Have a written list for your usual work and a rule for commissions, for example a day rate times the number of days, plus materials. When you are asked, you are reading a number, not inventing one.
If the job is unusual, say so and buy time: that is a great project, let me work it out properly and send you a quote tomorrow. Nobody minds, and it signals that you take the work seriously.
“Say the number, then stop talking. The silence after a price is not a problem for you to fix.”
The script
Here is the one I teach. For a piece like this, the price is four hundred and fifty pounds. That includes the design, two rounds of changes and delivery. Then stop. Do not add a discount, an apology or a little laugh.
A market stall with one clear price list. Fewer questions, more sales.
If they hesitate, ask a question rather than lowering the price: is that within what you had in mind? Often the answer is yes. If it is not, offer a smaller version of the work, not a cheaper version of the same work.
It helps to remember what the client actually hears. They are not weighing your number against your feelings. They are weighing it against what they want and what else they could buy. A calm, clear price makes that decision easier for them. A wobbly price, with a discount attached before they have even asked, makes them wonder what is wrong with the work.
Raising prices follows the same rule. Tell existing clients a month ahead, in writing, with the new figure and the date it starts. Do not justify it at length. One sentence is enough: my prices are going up to reflect the time each piece takes. Most people simply say thank you for letting them know.
On the course we practise these conversations with real numbers from your own work, so the first time you say the new price is not in front of a client.
Practise on a friend
It feels silly, but say your three most common prices out loud to a friend this week, using the script. Do it until it sounds boring. Boring is the goal: a price you can say calmly is a price people trust.
Your prices were never really the problem. Saying them was. With a little practice, the number on the page and the number you say will finally match.
Learn this properly
Pricing your creative work
4 weeks
· £180
