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Sponge Holder Pricing


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I have made thousands over the years and whole sale some as well.

They retail out here from 12-16$

I have always asked at least 8$ for wholesale

I cut mine with a jig and wire tool.

They have a rubber sponge bottom I buy those at 3,500  minimum made for me by a factory at 2.5 inch round.

I sell them everywhere now-even at a super market.

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u shou

I had to look them up - I don't think I've ever seen such a thing here in Europe. Why do they exist, even?

(Other than for someone to swap them for  $/£/€ 17..., which in itself is a good enough reason.)

u should get out in front ofit and add them, very useful kitchen item and u can lead the charge.

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I had the same problem a few months back Sputty - couldn't imagine what a sponge holder was. Not sure what I have by my sink that I'd put in one! Domestic goddess I am NOT. I've been trying to think of what would go down as well in the UK, a small item that everyone thinks they need. The only things I thought of were - used teabag dish and a spoon rest. Anyone got any other ideas?

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The benefits of a sponge holder over a little flat dish are that the sponge is held vertically, and up from the bottom of the pot. This way it isn't sitting in a puddle, and it can dry out. This helps to prevent bacteria growth and keeps the sponge from getting funky so quickly. IMHO, it is one of the craftiest little objects a potter can make, and I don't necessarily mean 'crafty' in a good way. There's just not a lot you can do with them to make them exciting. I feel like a sold a little bit of my soul when I started making them, but so many people asked for them that I finally had to cave in. This past weekend I sold 18 of them at $17 a pop- that's $306 at a little local show with a $130 booth fee. It's a measurable percentage of the profits from the show. So I just suck it up and make 20 a week. I've got it down to 5 minutes total contact time with each piece from start to finish, so the hourly rate is really good. Folks like that they can get a matching soap pump and olive oil bottle, too. Oil bottles take a little longer, maybe a minute or two more, but I charge twice as much for them, $36. The hourly rate on those is probably the best of any item I make. They take a lot less time than a mug, and I can sell them for more. The public just doesn't get what it actually takes to make each piece.

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I like to find items for $20 or under, but I think if people will pay $17, they would pay $20. Then again, $3 change from a $20, or just adding 2 singles to a 10 and a five, is appealing to frugal shoppers-may feel like more bang for the buck.  

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I'm at $13 for my sponge holders and I go to Dollar Tree and buy a bunch of different colored/ shaped sponges and at festivals people get to choose the sponge they want. But I'm in the Georgia mountains not a big city so prices tend to be lower. I would like to get up to $15 on them but this is my first full season offering them so am holding at $13 for now until I get a better idea on what the market will bear.

 

The first show I had them out I simply had a few sponges out to show what the things were used for but had several people come up and go I'll get this but I want the sponge too. I went sure let me wrap that up for you. I wasn't about to argue over a quarters worth of sponge and the buyer felt they were getting a good deal so we were both happy. So now I just buy them as cheaply as possible by the dozens. The lady at Dollar Tree must think I have a serious sponge fetish or something.

 

It seems silly to me but I have had people take longer to choose their sponge than they did the color/pattern of sponge holder they wanted! People are weird.

 

I have also stumbled upon the multi buy scenario with these things. A buyer starts with a sponge holder then sees a complimentary large spoon rest so they get that, then they see the basket of small spoon rests and dig through that to find one that goes with the other 2 and on the way to pay pass by the basket of mini dishes and pick up one or two of those as well. So in essence a $13 purchase turns into a $38+ purchase. Cha Ching!

 

T

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Neil>>duck >> incoming friendly fire: $20 for a sponge holder?  cough cough.. lol

 

Nerd

 

I'm coming to your place, but stopping in Cicero first to pick up Vito, Vinny, and Lucky. Then we are coming to your place to swim with fishes. Eat the fishes, fry the fishes: something with fishes...where is my Mafia slang book when I need it.

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I had the same problem a few months back Sputty - couldn't imagine what a sponge holder was. Not sure what I have by my sink that I'd put in one! Domestic goddess I am NOT. I've been trying to think of what would go down as well in the UK, a small item that everyone thinks they need. The only things I thought of were - used teabag dish and a spoon rest. Anyone got any other ideas?

 

 

The ones I see are more bins for all the sink paraphernalia. A few sponges, cloths, brushes, plugs etc. 

Not sure who only has one sponge to hold.

s-l300.jpg

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I like to find items for $20 or under, but I think if people will pay $17, they would pay $20. Then again, $3 change from a $20, or just adding 2 singles to a 10 and a five, is appealing to frugal shoppers-may feel like more bang for the buck.  

 

Psychologically, $20 is way more than $18. I think $17 seems close to $15, but $18 seems close to $20. It's weird how people think.

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Neil>>duck >> incoming friendly fire: $20 for a sponge holder?  cough cough.. lol

 

Nerd

 

I'm coming to your place, but stopping in Cicero first to pick up Vito, Vinny, and Lucky. Then we are coming to your place to swim with fishes. Eat the fishes, fry the fishes: something with fishes...where is my Mafia slang book when I need it.

 

I agree, $20 is ridiculous. But if people want to pay it, I'm willing to charge it!

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I don't make sponge holders specifically, but I have a few items of similar scope which are designed to be quick sales. I find that $19 is the sweet spot. I have been trying to charge $20 for the past few shows, but the sales have really slowed. So I'm going back to $19. I agree it's a big psychological difference.

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When I was in school we studied this for a good half of the semester. There is a huge factor on the last digit of prices. For example: 97 and 99 are both the discount price numbers where people feel like they are getting a better deal, it is no surprise to me you both are selling better at 17 and 19 then 20. Both of those numbers end with 7 or 9. Which are usually used in discount pricing. So people infer deal. 

 

Almost all the research we did showed that if you wanted to have something be super expensive and people buy it. Never end it with a 7 or 9, always with a 0. If you price something way too high and end it with a 9, it wont sell as well. For example if you price a high dollar mug at 59 dollars. It will sell less well than priced at 60. It's absurd I know. But that's what all our research proved, and this was an entire class dedicated to pricing. I prefer the 8's. 28, 38, 48, 58. All the best prices. When I sold a few mugs on etsy. My prices started at 35. I lowered them to 30, sold only 1 mug. Lowered to 25. Sold no mugs. Raised to 28. Sold almost all my mugs I had listed. It was a small sample size, but I plan on testing it again in the coming months.

 

In other news. I need to learn to make sponge holders and oil bottles apparently.

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proof of that, joseph, was this last saturday.  knowing i was going to be in an area where the demographics are so high i could not live there without reducing the average, i put my biggest items i am most pleased with at $80.  raised the $15 to $16 and the $25 to $28.  then offered small items at two price points, $7 and $9.

 

a lady very happily added a $75 item to one $80 item and took them home.  several people added several of the $9 items because they were a tiny bit larger and seemed very reasonable so they bought 3 or 4 of them.  five of the $7 items went to someone who wanted to give them to her "staff".  

 

at the end of the day, 3 of the highest priced items were gone and a lot of the middle priced things went, too.   this was only a 6 hour event in scorching heat with a much smaller pool of buyers than last year.  did OK but i wanted to try out the credit card thingy and left my glasses at home.  the screen was just a black blur to me but my wonderful former daughter-in-law took it in stride and did all the money stuff.  thank you Regina!

 

get to try the credit card thingy this weekend alone.   sigh.................................... :(

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I sell 60-150 at a big show but they are $10. I want to makes much as I can with them as a goal at a big show -they always add a spoon rest or lotion pump with metal pump tops or soap dish (extruded) They  are a multiple sales item.

I glaze them in all my colors so the huge selection is another key point

It one of my magic price points I have spoken about

In /shops?Galleries mine sell for 16$

We are finding the sweet spot at an organic Market (like whole foods) right nowThey sold out fast at 13$ now they are 14.49 we shall see where they land.

The rubber bottom is another key sales thing-neporene anti slip.Nobody does that it seems.

I throw 30-40 a day every few days and jig cut them with a bow cutter wire. (mud tool)

I did a post on these items awhile back.

I can throw about 50 without thinking about it-after 50 I want to throw another form.

Todays small run as I have an 150 on order right now.

post-8914-0-74045900-1473819850_thumb.jpg

post-8914-0-74045900-1473819850_thumb.jpg

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Joseph, I'm curious about what your pricing studies say about ending prices with a 5 or a 2. I end most of my prices in a 0 or a 5, because I don't like carrying a big heavy pile of 1 and 2 dollar coins in my apron. I'll get over it in a hurry if it means more sales.

 

No one in my area wants sponge holders. Dishcloths are more widely used than sponges here, I think. I have been getting the odd ask for cutlery sink drainers, or "sink dinks" though.

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(No one in my area wants sponge holders)This is an easy fix.

I suggest buying a case of sponges and giving the sponges out with a pottery purchase-wait a few years and the use of sponges will catch on then introduce your line of sponge holders. 

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Joseph, I'm curious about what your pricing studies say about ending prices with a 5 or a 2. I end most of my prices in a 0 or a 5, because I don't like carrying a big heavy pile of 1 and 2 dollar coins in my apron. I'll get over it in a hurry if it means more sales.

 

No one in my area wants sponge holders. Dishcloths are more widely used than sponges here, I think. I have been getting the odd ask for cutlery sink drainers, or "sink dinks" though.

 

I don't remember a lot about 2, it could be a number that didn't have any influence. 5 is in the same pool as 0. However take all this with your own market. That was over 13 years ago when I did all this research. I assume most of it still holds true today. I think the most important thing is to price your work based on what your happy with selling it for. If you can't sell it for that price then probably should look at if its profitable compared to other items that could be made. 

 

A lot of my issue is I don't use sponge holders or sponges. I just use dish rags and I get a new one every time. The old ones are wrung out and go in the laundry machine and are washed with the load of laundry I do. I also doubt I could make them any where near the speed the others here do. I have never even cut a form before in 2 years. So that would be a completely new learning experience. Not ready to go there yet. Gotta stay on track.  :ph34r:  :ph34r:

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