How to Price Crochet Amigurumi for Sale
So, you have been practising your amigurumi skills, and you think you’re ready to sell your project. Congrats! But… what do you charge?
There are several schools of thought on this, and it’s a very personal decision. To help you, we’ve outlined four main methods to calculate your price that amigurumi makers often recommend.
For these calculations, we will use our Old Gregg Doll as an example.
Materials x3
Probably the most common recommendation for pricing your work is the 3x Materials Method.
This one is easy.
You calculate your materials and multiply by 3.
The materials for our Old Gregg Doll are approximately $58 AUD.
Using this method, an Old Gregg Doll would cost $174.
The problem with this method is that it doesn’t take into account your time or skill level. It can also be skewed if you are making smaller items with cheaper materials or projects that are time-consuming.
The positive is that it’s easy to calculate!
1 Cent Per Stitch + Materials
The 1 Cent Per Stitch + Materials method is a bit more annoying, as it requires you to calculate the number of stitches in your project.
The easiest way to do this is to add up the stitch counts in the pattern. Make sure you account for multiple rounds / rows with the same stitch count.
Our Old Gregg Doll pattern has approximately 10,000 stitches.
So, 1 cent per stitch = $100 + $58 for materials = $158
I did not enjoy adding up the stitch counts for this method. It was tedious, to say the least.
Again, this method doesn’t take into account your skill or time.
Materials + Hourly Rate
For the Materials + Hourly Rate Method, you’ll need to calculate the time it takes you to finish your project.
I do this using the stopwatch on my phone.
Luckily, I’ve already calculated the time that it took to make our Old Gregg Doll.
18 hours of crocheting and 2 hours of sewing = 20 hours
Now, you have to determine how much to pay yourself. The minimum wage in Australia is approximately $24 an hour. But, is my work worth the minimum wage? I have a decade of crochet experience, and I have worked hard to improve my skills.
For the sake of this calculation, we’ll use the minimum wage.
$24 x 20 hours = $480 + $58 for materials
Using this method, our Old Gregg Doll would cost $538
There are a few issues with this method. First, how do you determine your hourly rate? Second, if you’re a super-fast or slow crocheter, then it can skew the calculations.
Personally, I like this method because it’s the only one that takes time and skill into account.
Etsy Comparison
The Etsy Comparison Method is the easiest of them all!
You simply search for a project similar to yours on Etsy. Make sure that you change the filters to find listings in your area or country. Also, change the filter to ‘physical items’.
Unfortunately, I couldn’t find anything comparable to Old Gregg on Etsy at the time of my search (August 2025).
There were a few less complicated dolls that were selling for between $50 and $80.
I would recommend using this method if you are making a fairly common or popular project that is easy to compare.
Also, it’s ultimately up to you what you charge! You shouldn’t rely on someone else’s pricing, but it can give you an idea of what other sellers are charging.
Things to Consider:
- Your Skill Level – a beginner isn’t going to be able to charge the same price as someone who has honed their craft with experience. Look closely at your project and be honest about the quality before you try to price to sell.
- The Market & Economy – take into account where and when you’re selling. If you live in a big city where people have more disposable income, you have access to a higher-paying market than someone in a regional area. Also, consider the economy. If people can’t buy the essentials, they’re less likely to pay a premium for handmade. An item’s worth is not always the same as the price you can sell it for.
- Mass-Produced Items – thanks to Temu and Amazon, people have access to mass-produced items at ridiculously cheap prices. There are a lot of people who will expect to pay next to nothing for your hard work. These people aren’t your target customers.
- Social Media Presence – do you have a large social media following? If so, you may be able to charge more for your items because it’s easier to create demand. Consider taking a limited number of custom orders or having a stock drop at a designated time.
- Payments – get the full payment and postage cost up-front. I have been ghosted several times by people who have paid deposits and even by people who have paid the full price! This is why I always require full payment and postage before I buy any materials. If you get ghosted, you can still send out the item.
How I calculate my prices:
When I take a custom order, I calculate my final price as:
Materials + Time + Complexity of the Pattern + Frustration (i.e. how annoyed is this pattern likely to make me?)
Sometimes I’ll work out the 3x Materials price and the Materials + Time price, and then meet somewhere in the middle.
To make an Old Gregg Doll, I would charge between $400 and $500 AUD. The pattern is time-consuming, and I don’t like to make things more than once. So, the Frustration Factor is pretty high.
In contrast, my sister loves making things multiple times. She has made Old Gregg Dolls for between $250 to $300 AUD.
This is why I always say that pricing is personal.
I would rather spend the 20 hours needed to make an Old Gregg Doll writing new patterns or working on personal projects. How I value and want to spend my time is different from my sister – she’s happy to crochet the same design over and over and over again.
Hopefully, this article has given you some insights into common pricing methods and the things to consider! Good luck with your business ventues.
