How do I know if I’m ready for a price increase? 

Wondering if you’re ready to raise the prices of your floral resin art?

It’s something I see artists question a lot. And the truth is, if you’ve never done a big price increase before, leaping into charging a premium rate for your resin work can seem intimidating.

What if nobody books me? What if I lose money? What if all the resin I bought goes bad before I get another sale? It’s completely understandable, too. No one wants to put all that effort in only to go broke. But don’t let that stop you! 

We recently raised our prices at Wild Clover Collective for a few reasons. The main one being a change in priorities since our son was born, and wanting more time as a family without impacting our income too much. 

The second reason for raising the price of our pieces was to safeguard against a big mistake we made in our first year in the wedding industry- growing way too fast and then creating a hellish backlog that has taken us a really long time to get through. 

If you’ve been feeling like you’re ready for a price increase, you probably are getting close. 

To help you decide, today I’m sharing 4 ways to know if you’re ready for a price reshuffle. This way you can focus on making money and enjoying being your own boss– without sacrificing your precious time in order to get, and work on your orders. 

(And if you’re not ready yet, you’ll know what you need to do!)

Let’s dig in.

 

4 Ways You Know You’re Ready for a Price Increase

 

Only you can say for sure whether you’re ready for a price increase. As I mentioned above, if it’s been heavily on your mind lately, you’re probably in a good place to start researching your options, at the very least. You may even find that you’re more prepared for it than you think.

To help you decide, here are a few tell-tale signs that show you’re more than ready to jump in to attracting your dream clients (and income!).

Readiness Sign #1: You’ve got more inquiries than you can keep up with. 

Has someone close to you suggested you try slowing down a little bit? 

This is why it’s so helpful to have a support system that not only cheers you on through the big wins, but lets you know when it’s time to step back a little.

When I first started Wild Clover Collective, we had a teeny tiny Instagram following, and no money in the bank. I took a leap of faith and built a six figure business out of a few good photos on Instagram. By our 6th month in operation, we were averaging $15k months, and that kind of success was intoxicating to me. 

I felt like I had made it- people were wanting my stuff, we were getting good reviews, and we were inundated with email and social media inquiries. I had finally made the switch from being a chick who just made stuff in a shed, to a completely successful, self-made businesswoman. So I thought.  

You know what actually happened? Because I wasn’t charging enough for my time and labour, I was working around the clock to fulfill my backlog. This was fine by me, until I became pregnant with my son, chose not to work with resin for a while, and hired my first staff member. It was only after I was actually paying someone a wage to do the work I had been doing, that I realised my mistake. 

If you don’t have a support system or network of people to give you feedback, try writing a list of all your tasks, and planning how much you would pay a staff member to do the things you do now. You can even try comparing price lists of artists in your immediate area, and outside of it. Given the circumstances and keeping all emotions and fear aside, would you say you’re ready to start charging more?

Always know your worth (and then put a premium on it). 

 

Readiness Sign #2: You’re working around the clock, and making little to no profits. 

You may not feel it now, but your intuition will almost always steer you in the right direction. If you’re feeling burnt out, isolated from your family and friends, but not seeing a number in your bank account that makes it feel worth it- you could be ready for that price increase. 

If you think you’re working way too much and you’re ready for charging a higher rate but struggle with the idea of tooting your own horn, it can be hard to admit that you are absolutely worth it. 

Since the beginning of Wild Clover Collective, my husband Valdis would tell me I needed to raise my prices. Time and again I would tell him ‘I can’t’, or ‘People won’t pay that much’, or my personal favourite- ‘*I* wouldn’t pay that much for a set of coasters’. 

He was sick of watching me work night and day, 7 days a week for what seemed like very little money. To me? I was getting sales! People liked my stuff! I was getting good reviews!

And of course I was. People knew they were getting a great deal, without knowing (or caring) exactly how much work I was doing behind the scenes. When I first started selling resin coasters, I was charging $39.95 for a set of 4. These days? Our 4 coaster set is $250- and rightfully so. 2021 me would have never dreamed of selling a coaster set for $250 (nor would I have expected people to buy them!), and now I wouldn’t sell them for any less. If you’ve made coasters, you’ll know exactly how much work is required to make them, and why a lot of established artists charge a premium price. 

Here are a few things you can do to give yourself a little push on raising those prices:

• First, take a look at price lists of artists both in your immediate area, and outside of it- How do you compare? What do the other artists have that you don’t, and how could you upskill to incorporate those things into your business? 
• Next, Imagine the worst case scenario- and make a plan B. 
• Finally, picture what success looks like to you. Is it sipping cocktails on a beach while your staff members handle your business? Maybe it’s just getting the opportunity to spend your days playing with flowers and not participating in the rat race. Manifest these dreams into reality- make a Pinterest vision board, write love letters to your future self,  save and repost pictures that resonate with your vision. 

Now, chances are those bad things you imagined in your worst-case scenario might never happen, but having a plan around it may make you feel more confident about charging your worth as an artist.

In the words of Casey Brown, “Doubts and fears are natural and normal, but they don’t define our value”. 

Readiness Sign #3: You’re feeling comfortable. 

Sometimes big decisions come easy because we can see no way out. 

That can feel scary in the moment, but many times it can be a blessing in disguise.  

So when that happens, you need to just throw caution to the wind and see what happens. Forces are out there larger than you and to get completely woo woo with it, the universe will always give you what you need. 

At the beginning of this year, we decided to raise our prices, not even 6 months after the previous increase. I had some initial reservations, but my husband (now co-worker) assured me it was the right decision. Once again, I had all those feelings of self doubt and worry- we have a baby now, my maternity leave payments are over, we’ve just bought a new shipment of resin, sales are always slow in December/January/February, what will happen if we can’t pay our bills? 

But we did it anyway. He reminded me that I’m the boss, and we can always pivot. If something doesn’t work, we can just change it. There are no absolutes when you own your own business. He also reminded me that in order to grow, we need to get un-comfy. With this frame of mind, we decided to cross-reference our prices with our main competition both here in Australia and internationally, and raised our prices across the board. Some items went up significantly, and some things like packages were adjusted so our profit margin was higher, but our customers were still getting good value. 

As soon as I hit the ‘publish’ button on the website with the new prices, I immediately felt nervous. 

What if we’ve really done it this time? What if we have priced ourselves out of the market and we become the laughing stock of the Australian resin industry? And then, my worst fear came true- a bride who had been booked in for over 2 years emailed to cancel due to the price increase and asked for a refund on her booking fee. I had blown it. 

And then the inquiries started rolling in. In fact- not only did the inquiries start rolling in, they increased by 300% in comparison to our last two years in business. The orders came in, and most notably, we had a $3695 sale for one couple (who paid $695 just in flower drying fees- happily!) 

Other decisions don’t necessarily fall in your lap like magic, it’s more of an “all roads lead to yes” situation. 

If you’ve tried other strategies to cut costs, or improve your work life balance and all fingers point to a price increase, it could mean it’s just time. 

For example:

You’ve tried to prioritise work life balance and take time out to recharge yourself, but you’re still coming back to a huge workload regardless and this just stresses you out more, leading to feeling guilty for taking days off. 

In either case, if there’s no other way to reach that balance, it may be time to up your prices.

 

Readiness Sign #4: You have a rock-solid plan for the quiet season

 

 

Now, I can hear you saying, Tamsyn- you just said if we trust the universe nothing bad was going to happen!

And that’s baaaaasically true. Having said that, every wedding vendor or artist has to have a plan for the low season. Because it’s going to happen!

Nothing comes easy, right? 

For us, the low season is December to March. It’s really hot in Queensland where we live, and only the bravest of brides get married during this time. It’s an even worse time to pour resin because of the heat and humidity, then add in Christmas/New Years/Back to school time and you’ve got the perfect storm of customers having maxed out credit cards and no bouquets coming in. 

It wasn’t until I no longer had my backup plan of academic tutoring (I quit in November, 2023) and I had lost my modest, but sorely missed cash flow right before Christmas. 

That’s when I realized that if I wanted to do this fulltime, I needed to plan for this. Low seasons are just going to happen. 

 

Here’s what you can do to prepare so you’re ready for it:

• Save sales and discounts for a time when you’re cashed up and can afford it- not when you’re desperate for orders. This way if you don’t get any bookings, it won’t feel so bad. 
• Think about taking a non-refundable booking fee/flower drying fee– we have actually had multiple brides simply ‘forget’ that they booked us, can’t be bothered, threw out their bouquet or can’t afford the service anymore. Having a non-refundable booking fee takes the sting out of those missed sales a little bit, and covers the time it took me to go back and forth doing admin with those people when I could have been doing other important tasks. We have made thousands of dollars from people who ended up ghosting us! 
• Remember that you should be charging more than just 2x cost. I used to go by this old school method of pricing craft pieces and honestly, it just doesn’t work for the resin niche. You don’t take into account the time it takes to design, check bubbles, sand, clean, prepare for top coats, finish, package, photograph, etc. All these actions take time and supplies, and these should be accounted for in your pricing too. If you charge for supplies, your time and a little bit more, then you can ensure you’re putting a little bit away for emergencies like tools breaking, tax, or the dreaded low season. 
• Be ready to pivot with new ideas and actions when you hit a stall in sales. What can you offer your customers? What can you do differently? Prove to them that you are a leader in the resin art space and you’re worth the money. 
• Think about diversifying your income. Can you sell at artisan markets? Sell to the public through your website or consignment stores? Teach local workshops? 

Having a plan like this, even if it’s only in your head at this point, will help you feel more confident to back yourself, even in the hard times. 

 

Standing in between you and the big step: The Doubt Edition

Usually, the biggest thing standing in the way of your wildest dreams isn’t something external. It’s actually just plain old self doubt.

Some common concerns I hear from fellow artists are:

• People wouldn’t pay that where I live
• What if I’m not good enough to charge more?
• I’m not fully booked out so I can’t afford to put my prices up
• This isn’t my full-time job, I would never be able to pay my bills from resin alone. 
• My pieces don’t look like the ones on Instagram, so I must not be as good. 

Does any of that sound familiar?

The best way to clear those concerns up is to take some time to reflect and really get clear on your “why”. Why do you want to be a full time resin artist in the first place? Do you even want to be full time? If not, that’s even more reason to increase your prices so you have enough energy for your other chosen profession. 

In our first year of business (when I thought I was totally crushing it), I took this picture in our highest grossing month- June. I remember being so proud of myself, that I had managed to get all these orders and how big my spreadsheet was going to look at the end of the year- 182 orders, go me!

 I remember looking at other artists’ numbers and thinking how successful they must be to be doing hundreds of orders per year. Wow. 

Now, my thinking is totally different. Flipped upside down- my goal is to now have as LITTLE orders as I possibly can, while still making the money I want. We set a max number of bouquets we wanted to take on, and then worked backwards from there to find a dollar figure we were happy with. 

Standing in between you and the big : Real-Life Obstacles

Real-life obstacles are some of the most obvious challenges you’re going to face with resin art. 

We’ve already covered some common obstacles regarding self-belief in this post, but you likely will have some challenges that are unique to your situation, resources, and skill level. 

The good news is, you can actively work towards improving them! 

So in addition to what I shared above, I recommend doing a bit of a SWOT analysis of your business. What are your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats? (Download our free PDF- Here) Where can you grow in your business, and how can you get to where you want to be? If it’s nailing your top coats, you know exactly who you can call for help (hint: it’s us!). We are creating new content on Instagram and Tiktok every day, and helping artists from Australia, the U.S and Canada pinpoint and work on weaknesses in their resin business with our consultation calls. 

And remember, when you’re ready, you’re ready.

If you find that you aren’t ready to invest in perfecting your skills, you know that you’re not quite ready to level up your business. And that’s okay, just keep setting the stage for it and you’ll get there.

Want some help on a specific area of your resin process? That’s our whole job! From bubbles to top coats, creating a successful six figure brand to social media marketing, we’ve got your back. 

 

 

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That’s a wrap!

I hope this post has helped clarify whether you’re ready to take your resin art business to the next level.

 

If you’re feeling that self doubt around your worth, remember that when I first started Wild Clover Collective, everyone told me it wasn’t a very smart idea, and waited for the ‘phase’ to pass. 

Now look at us! full-time artists and stay at home parents, thousands of pieces for hundreds of clients made over the past two years, and most importantly- finding the financial freedom to be able to work with dream clients and bouquets over being desperate to make a sale. 

Make sure to listen to this month’s podcast where we have a bit more of an informal chat around pricing, the method we use to create the prices of our products, and attracting your ideal client. 

 

 

If you have any specific questions about anything to do with floral art, send us a DM on Instagram or Tiktok (and give us a cheeky follow while you’re there!)