Ah. The age old issue for all vendors. How much can I sell my product for?
I have struggled with this issue. Partly because I personally knew every person who bought from me up until a few months ago. Partly because I can tell you exactly what I paid for the supplies to make every piece I ever make.
Sometimes a necklace can take ten minutes to make, but the beads used to make it cost me $10. Sometimes an intricate bracelet will take me several hours to make, but the beads were all free.
Flipping through my latest issue of InStyle, I saw a simple necklace made of very inexpensive material that was priced at $695. $695!
Selling is about supply and demand.
When I lived in Maryland, I would bring bags of $8 earrings into my office. If the earrings were not selling, I would sell them for $5. Much of the price difference exists when I have different supply costs. Different style complexity will bring the higher cost.
Custom pieces are generally priced based on if I had the supplies on hand already, the amount of new supplies needed for the piece, and the labor involved.
At my home jewelry parties, the women get a little crazy. My first party I had trouble answering all of the questions about varying prices.
My second home party I changed the pricing completely. I only put out the pieces that matched certain price ranges. Earrings were only one price. Bracelets were yet another price as were necklaces. This made it simpler, but limited how varying of pieces I could sell.
With my items on consignment, it is yet another dynamic. I expect a certain amount from each item the shop sells them for. To make it as simple as possible in the consignment agreement, I only provided earrings and bracelets. If those sell successfully, I will introduce necklaces at another higher price.
I see a lot of advice online about pricing your product, but until now it has not really matched my situation.
So how do you determine your price?
It’s a tricky one, isn’t it. I guess it’s a live and learn experience. Aim for the buyers prepared to pay $695! xx
Exactly!! Good point.
I always heard 3 times your materials plus an hourly rate. Of course, I do not make wearable art like you do.
Thanks Lisa! Unfortunately, my audience wants either super inexpensive jewelry.I am learning to take different level of prices to different audiences. No luck on Etsy yet. I have no ideas there.
I generally follow a “materials x 3″ rule – see what the resulting price is and then adjust it up or down depending on how long I spent working on it. For Etsy I then include the cost of the packaging and the Etsy and Paypal fees. Etsy does recommend a formula in their Sellers Handbook.
Thanks Tracey! I have no much advice from so many areas, but using the Etsy seller handbook for Etsy sales is a great idea. Thank you!