Nov 4, 2010

Knitpicks VS Ravelry

All of the patterns for sale on THIS website are sold through Ravelry.com. I have recently agreed to let Knitpicks.com sell some of my patterns on their site in their independent designer program. Today I got a message from someone with a question about Knitpick's pricing on my patterns. I think maybe other people wonder how this works too, so I'm going to post my response here on my blog.

Her question regarding my Red Bud Gloves pattern was: I love your pattern, but I wasn’t happy to have paid $4.00 here on Ravelry when I could have purchased them for $1.99 on Knitpicks. Can you tell me why you have two different prices?

The simple answer is: I am an independent designer and Knitpicks sets their own prices for which I am not responsible.

When I first self-published this pattern I set the price at $4 because that's what I felt the pattern was worth. Later, I submitted my pattern to Knitpicks, and $1.99 is the price they set for it. Knitpicks does not have a contract to sell my pattern exclusively. Because of this, I can sell my pattern anywhere I want, including Ravelry and at my local yarn shop, for any price that I think is fair. Knitpicks uses their low prices on IDP's to attract customers to their site so they will buy more yarn, which is fine by me.

You may ask, why bother with knitpicks if they undervalue my pattern? I've got to look at it with a business point of view. For one, they are able to sell many more patterns than I can all by myself. Also, when I sell my pattern through Knitpicks, I get 100% of the profit. When I sell my pattern through Ravelry I only get around 50% of the profit because all the middlemen (like paypal etc) want their cut. I get the same amount of money per pattern one way or another. I have no incentive to lower the price that I personally set. And Knitpicks is selling lots of yarn, so they're happy to not take a cut.

One incentive to buying through Ravelry which might justify the higher price for you is that they've got fabulous pattern support.  For instance, if I notice an error in a pattern and I make a new version, anyone who purchased the pattern through Ravelry will get the new version automatically.  Additionally, you can always have access to your pattern in your Ravelry library from any computer with an internet connection, which is something my friends and I use often. Knitpicks doesn't do anything like that.

I hope this answers all the questions regarding this topic. I don't want anyone to be confused or upset about my prices because I really do think they are reasonable and fair. I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments section below.

[caption id="attachment301" align="alignnone" width="450" caption="Banner from Knitpicks.com"]<img class="size-full wp-image-301" title="KnitpicksIDPFeature" src="https://knitdarling.s3.amazonaws.com/attachments/254/blog/KnitpicksIDP_Feature.jpg" />[/caption]

Comments

  • Andi
    over 13 years ago

    Since you asked for thoughts, here are mine. I'll admit that I was upset when I found one of your patterns on Knit Picks for a lower price on Ravelry. Part of what bothered me was that you were not open about it being available in two places at different prices. If you had included an explanation of the the price difference and about the perks, I probably would have bought it via Ravelry. The lack of disclosure about the different prices made me feel tricked because it is not a common practice in the online knitting pattern world. I PMed you on Ravelry and asked about it because I was a bit uncomfortable. You gave me an explanation similar to the above and I find it to be a disappointing one. You are free to choose how to sell your patterns and I am free to choose how I spend my money. Despite the fact that I really enjoy your designs (which is why I still read your blog), I chose not to purchase them because I was a bit insulted by your inconsistent pricing.

  • Alexis Winslow
    over 13 years ago

    Andi, I'm sorry if you felt tricked or insulted by my pricing. That was never my intention. I just want to get my patterns in as many places as possible. The purpose of this blog post is to get it all out in there air. I hope this clears it up for everyone.

  • Mie
    about 13 years ago

    I'm reading this entry a couple months after the fact, but I thought your explanation was very clear and well put. The internet supports so many business models, and I think many do not understand how they work, or that they happen simultaneously. We as consumers are given more freedom (and thus more responsibility) to seek out vendors if we so wish - I don't think it should be the author's responsibility. Designing patterns seems to be a daunting task (I've never had the patience to design)! Independent designers who put in a great deal of time and energy deserve to be properly compensated for their work - and for the hours of knitting enjoyment we get out of it!

  • Stephanie
    about 12 years ago

    Thank you for this informative post. Everyone has had the experience of seeing a range of prices for the same product. Why would a pattern be any different from a book or DVD that sells for different prices at different stores?

Leave a comment

popular posts