Cheap without pride?

I’ve been browsing around here a lot and am appalled by the prices.
We hold traditional Norwegian craftsmanship in high regard, because it’s not just a craft—it’s also part of our cultural identity and a source of pride. I love knitting Lusekofte. I would never sell my sweaters for next to nothing. I see items here for less than 2 euros—sweaters, scarves, and so on. I’m guessing the platform takes a commission here, too? What’s left after that? Is it quality? Everything else is getting more expensive. So why are handmade items getting cheaper and cheaper? Is this just a hobby here? I don’t quite understand this site. Thanks.
 

Dear Mevag,

The prices refer to the patterns. You can’t buy finished products here. 

Hi Mevag,

on the other hand, there are people who complain that the patterns are (too) expensive and would prefer to have everything for free.

Hey, I know you can’t buy finished products on a website for digital patterns. So, Mutti Eddy, do you think a personal profit of maybe 50 cents per pattern is okay?
I do think a lot of work goes into the design patterns. I also sell knitting designs on another site, and they sell very well. I just can’t understand these prices here. You’ll go broke in the long run. But maybe this is just a hobby for you guys, too?

Hi Mevag
one more addition: You don’t sell a pattern just once. If it’s successful, you can actually make a profit from it. However, it’s not always possible to predict whether a pattern will be successful or not.

Good morning,
dear Seramo, I just had to write again to say how wonderful I think it is that there’s such a social commitment here to helping people in need and that you’re making your patterns cheaper because of that. I didn’t know that. I wish you all Godt nytt år—a happy new year!

Dear Mevag,

just one more addition to my text:
of course, many authors are aware that buyers of the patterns can’t or don’t always want to spend a lot of money on them.
But that doesn’t mean we necessarily want to sell our patterns “below value” and automatically make them cheaper and cheaper.
The goal of all authors is surely to achieve as many sales as possible for their own creations.
However, we’re always trying to balance how much potential buyers are willing to spend on a pattern.
So we have to find a middle ground where the purchase price doesn’t deter interested buyers but also reflects the effort that went into creating it.

Wishing you and everyone else a good start and a Happy New Year!
Best regards
Monika

 

I used to be one of those complainers (or “thinkers”—I wouldn’t have dared say that back then).

Well, until I started doing handicrafts myself. From then on, it was clear to me that handmade items can’t be cheap if the creators want to make a living from them or at least benefit somewhat from them.

What I’m trying to say is that it’s also simply a matter of background knowledge.

Another aspect is certainly the negative connotation that handicrafts still have in some people’s minds—it’s “just” a hobby, after all. I think we can and should be more confident in this regard. Whether it’s writing patterns, making your own materials like fabric or wool, or creating a finished piece, it’s just as valuable as, say, a piece of artisanal work.

 

Hello.
I’m one of those people who looks for free patterns first. Simply because I haven’t gotten past knitting socks and egg cozies without a pattern yet.
  I’m glad there are affordable patterns here. I’ve already bought a few of them and saved them in my “To-Do” folder. My hope for 2026 is to have the energy to start working on some of them.
I appreciate the work that goes into them, and I can very well imagine how much work it is.
Best regards, Sandra 

I’d say some patterns are affordable or reasonably priced , as SannaApfel writes.
The point is to encourage people to buy.
I wouldn’t consider them to be offered as “cheap and without pride.” 
As the previous commenters have already mentioned, hopefully the income adds up with lots of sales, and I can also understand people who don’t have deep pockets—when they want to make something, the cost of materials comes on top of the pattern, which isn’t exactly cheap either.
In the past, handmade items might have been cheaper than store-bought ones. You can’t necessarily say that today.
Best regards, Claudia

As for the materials: I’ve been using inexpensive yarn for some time now.
Even with expensive materials, there are likely still alternatives to be found.
 

What stops me (as someone with a visual impairment) from buying more expensive patterns is the lack of details. Are there crochet charts or knitting charts that are easy to read—and still legible even when enlarged (since many become blurry or pixelated when enlarged)—or are there only pictures where I can barely make anything out without a lot of imagination?
 

I find it fascinating and impressive how many craft enthusiasts create patterns. And, of course, how many come up with their own designs, bring them to life, and then—if it turns out well—break the process down into steps and write clear, easy-to-follow patterns. You have my utmost admiration!

Ever since I was a child, my crocheting and knitting have been shaped by craft magazines (or craft books), each of which contained a whole range of concise but generally precise patterns. These patterns were likely editorially reviewed by the publishing houses—including the wording used. This ensured consistency in terminology. I could rely on these patterns almost entirely (though not always!).

- The patterns on websites like this one are often very long, and you have to print out several pages at a time if you don’t want to keep looking at a screen while crocheting or knitting. This is certainly often due to the comfortable font size used. (In craft magazines, very small fonts were and are still used to fit many patterns into a small space.)
- Detailed explanations for certain steps are sometimes replaced by photos, which doesn’t always make them easier to understand but does take up a lot of space on paper (or in the file).
- Linguistically, the explanations aren’t always entirely consistent and can be misleading at times.

I suspect that my preference for more concise and less heavily illustrated patterns puts me at odds with the vast majority of customers here. ;-) And I realize that the level of detail and the wide variety of illustrations mean a lot of work for you, the pattern creators.

What also sometimes keeps me from buying: the concern that model photos and patterns might be generated by AI and don’t actually represent tested handiwork. Or is that simply not possible with CP?

Best regards
Wie-auch-immer