Craft market research

I'm sitting here (in the lovely new computer chair that the boyfriend bought at the weekend) feeling pretty smug that I got in from Bluestockings this evening and did all the laundry before either doing any blogging or yet more knitting. To be honest, laundry was fairly necessary after a ketchup related incident at the pub. Amazingly and in defiance of all the laws of knitting physics the only place that the ketchup didn't go was on new knitter Amy's cream lace project. I'm not sure she'd have come back if that had happened!

We had a really great knitting night. There were 4 (four!) new knitters - Amy, Jenny, Jen, and Meryl - Felix came over from Reading and Helen arrived with her new dog Poppy who instantly became the centre of attention. She is a German Spitz and is just the prettiest dog ever and very well behaved. It was our first night in the new reserved spot by the bar and I think it was a success. There was lots of light all evening and enough space for all the knitters. There was even a little spot for Poppy to zonk out - I think she was exhausted by all the petting.

I took advantage of all these knitters to conduct a little market research on my owl brooches ahead of the craft market on Sunday and I'd like to ask you guys the same questions.

First question: do you prefer the goggly eyes?



or the sleepy eyes?



Here's a picture of the two owls side by side to help you out.



Bear in mind that these are actually little brooches so do think about what you would prefer to wear.

Second question: how much would you pay for a little owl brooch at a craft market? (Assuming you wanted a little owl brooch that is.)

For this one there are a few points to think about. The brooch is handmade (each one takes about an hour to make) and I don't want to sell myself short, or undercut other artists and crafters at the market some of whom will be doing this to make or supplement an income (rather than just as a hobby). On the other hand, I know from experience (my own and that of others) that very few people will pay an amount that would be a fair recompense for the time, skill, and materials that go into making a handmade item.

I have a figure in my own head which I think I'm going to charge but I'd be really interested to have your comments on this.

Edited to add: Thanks for all your lovely comments so far. One or two people mentioned that pricing might depend on the size of the owls - they are around 2 1/4 inches high (5.5 cm).