Holiday season production

Hi Amery

Here's a question or two to think about.... What do *you* want to
make? What inspires you? What inspired you to start making
jewelry? 

Thank you so much for writing. Ihave been thinking about it a lot
too and I think the big thing that is bothering me is the fact that I
want to go from point “A” to about point “Q”…all at once.
Basically, I make 6-strand bracelets for 65 dollars, 10-strand for 95
dollars, earrings 65, and those woven necklaces for 150 to 225. I’m
pretty much in the low to medium price range.

What inspire me are beautiful stones…diamonds and sapphires and
high karat gold. See what I mean? It’s hard to buy material to make
things with gold and diamonds, when your product line has mainly 65
dollar items in it. I know I can go to my husband and tell him I want
to grow the business and it would be totally fine with him if we
(from personal money) financed it.However, I know from being a part
owner in a bead store that I am not good with carrying debt. I
stressed terribly about it (even though it was only 5k) because I
felt that if my business didn’t do well and I wasn’t able to pay back
the 5k, I would let the family down.

Going to the bank is ok with me I think, but I would rather finance
my growth with my own earned money. This is going to take me a bit to
figure out. I’m hoping if I go to the MJSA show in NYC in March, I
will be able to attend some seminars on financing and gain some
insight on growth.

You guys have probably already guessed this, but I am kind of a laid
back type “A”. I’m not exactly Felix Unger, but I like to do things
well. I just want to run my business well and grow (tomorrow or
maybe the next day at the latest :))

Thanks to everyone again for all the encouragement
Kim

So get out there and try it. Raise your prices. I bet that most of
you won't lose 5% of your customers even if you raise your prices
20%. 

I second Daniel Spirer’s advice here. In my experience, the more I
have raised my prices, the more I have sold. One time I had a
bracelet which had been in many shows and never sold. I raised it’s
price and it sold in 10 minutes. Low pricing can work against you
because it lowers people’s perceived value of your work. It takes
courage but it’s exhillerating when it works. I have a little formula
on which I base my prices and sometimes when I price a piece based on
the formula, it seems extremely high to me and I have to make myself
ask that price. In most cases it works. One more point, not only is
pricing that is too low unfair to you, it hurts us all. I do art
fairs and last year I was next to a very good metalsmith with prices
so low I don’t think she even added up her costs. Of course she sold
out and the rest of us, with realistic prices, suffered.

Beverly Jones

Mlou, Just today I quoted on a custom engagement ring…I quoted
high on several configurations and then added at the end…“Oh, one
thing I should say about those prices I mentioned…they include a
dish of your mother’s lasagne” Creative closing!!! Got the job.

Which reminds me of the time when I was an employee(sheesh)… a
salesperson was having trouble closing the sale of a three stone
diamond ring, the presentation fell in my lap(they finally let me out
of the back) , I talked with the customer for awhile. Lady says, “Its
such a good price and the diamonds just talk to me.” To which I
responded, “Yes and they’re saying take me home before someone else
does”. Sale closed.

So maybe a little pointed humor can pave the way?

Daniel, I wonder where the threshold is. While I need traffic, what
I don’t need is a lot of piddley stuff that sucks up time. But, on
many occasions helping people with their ‘problems’ has lead to
meaningful sales later on. And hey, bread and butter fills the gaps
in between, especially approaching an election, when over the counter
sales generally slow down. So I’ll start with your 20% suggestion.
Maybe 30 on the PITA stuff.

Thanks
Neil

Neil,

You can find the threshold by continually boosting prices and
watching what happens. I would do a 20% increase immediately and try
to track how many people walk away because of the price (the price
only–not other reasons). You’ll probably need a good 3-6 months to
track this. If you aren’t losing many than start boosting it another
5 or 10% and wait another 3-4 months and see what happens. Eventually
you’ll start losing some amount of customers. When it gets too big,
back down a little on the pricing or spend the extra time you now
have doing the fun stuff.

Daniel R. Spirer, G.G.
Daniel R. Spirer Jewelers, LLC
1780 Massachusetts Ave.
Cambridge, MA 02140

One thing I greatly admire in my husband is the fact that he never
financed (got a loan) during the running of his business (15 years
and going stong). He managed and restructured during the recession
and insane Workers Comp (we are in California, after all) hikes. As a
result, he (and, therefore, I) didn’t have that immense added stress
of financial overhead in addition to the stresses of running the
business and all that entails.

The best advice he has given me in my endeavors is to manage so you
don’t go into debt, even if it takes a while longer, and work smarter
an be willing to slow it down to maintain financial security. My
admiration of his business sense is one thing, the the fact remains
he has survived during the recession and has no lingering debt to
deal with. Be willing to adjust as you go. It may go slow, bit it
always goes somewhere. The key is to direct it, not follow it.

V.

What inspire me are beautiful stones...diamonds and sapphires and
high karat gold. See what I mean? It's hard to buy material to make
things with gold and diamonds, when your product line has mainly 65
dollar items in it. 

Tell me about it, me too! Although I think you’d be hard pressed to
find a jeweler who isn’t.

I’m trying to add some gold to my line, but my pieces are “meant” for
silver. Big, chunky, dramatic is what sells in my line. So, what I’m
thinking of doing is adding some gold and nice stone accents to the
heavy silver pieces. That way, I’m expanding the line without
totally going in a new direction. The price point won’t triple
overnight. My work as it is sells well, and I’m worried if I change
gears all of a sudden my current customers wouldn’t respond well.

I tried doing some really small, delicate pieces this summer. Sold
well to those who didn’t know me already, and some of my older
customers actually asked me if i made that grouping. They were
hesitant to try it as the larger pieces already sell well for them. I
offered to trade them in if they didn’t sell, and they seem to be
doing okay. Just got a reorder from someone who has only had her
shipment for a week. The majority of the reorder were the delicate
items.

Good luck Kim, keep us posted.
Amery
Amery Carriere Designs
www.amerycarriere.com

I bet that most of you won't lose 5% of your customers even if you
raise your prices 20%. After all, if you don't try it, you won't
know if it will work and you can always go back down in your
pricing if it doesn't. 

I tried just that at last Sundays Artisans Market. Not much of a
crowd, in fact probably much less attendance than normal even though
it was finally a beautiful day for October in Michigan. Not that this
is the best test market but I have been doing this venue all summer.
The 20% markup was mostly across the board, give or take a couple of
dollars. It could have just been by chance, just the right customers
shopping that day, but my sales doubled from any other Sunday this
last season. No one gave a second thought to the prices. I needed the
increase to bring my retail in line with wholesale prices. I haven’t
raised prices since I started this line and with the cost of
materials it was long overdue. Now, I don’t have a retail store, just
do retail shows and sell wholesale so these customers had no idea
that it was the first day of new pricing. Maybe my prices were way
too low in the first place, but doubling my sales… way cool! Thanks
for helping me with the courage to give it a try.

Cande

Cande,

Now try this: Mark them up another 10%. See what happens. If no one
balked at the 20% increase you haven’t reached the right point yet.
You should really reach a point where some (not a lot, just some)
people walk away because of the price.

Daniel R. Spirer, G.G.
Daniel R. Spirer Jewelers, LLC
1780 Massachusetts Ave.
Cambridge, MA 02140
617-234-4392

Veronica,

Does your husband want to hold a workshop? Sign me up!

I agree with Daniel about raising prices. I raised mine this year
for the first time in 4-5 years and I did get a little bit of
resistance, but I was already getting that before I raised my
prices. I probably wrote a few less orders, but with the increase I’m
making the same amount of money and not scrambling as much. My prices
are a little high for the cost of silver right now, so while I can I
give my good customers a discount. Anyone who orders over a certain
amount gets 10% off. Not too shabby for them and it makes the size of
the orders a few hundred dollars more each.

Trying to stay out of (any more) debt!

amery

A good friend of mine is a jewelry artist, her husband is a
painter/jewelry artist. I always ask her how I should price this or
that. Her answers always scare me with the amount (higher, certainly,
than I would have ever thought of). But she makes a living at it and
does well. But pricing relates to self-confidence (she has a ton),
and that’s the rub. We need the confidence to be bold. I know it
relates, for me, to a sense of lack of worth (blaming my original
family only a little). It does take courage, which can be exausting!

V.

Daniel,

Thanks for the advice. I’m sure you are right. I still want to test
the new prices at the upcoming shows. The original test show was very
small. I will keep an eye out for the customers reactions and adjust
my pricing accordingly.

Cande

Hi Amery,

I agree with Daniel and You about raising prices. I will raised my
prices on my repair,custom piece and my jewelry. I am in debt too
and maybe this will help. Thank You ALL…

Renato
www.rlrdesings.com

I always ask her how I should price this or that. Her answers
always scare me with the amount (higher, certainly, than I would
have ever thought of). 

I haven’t read all of this thread, so I am responding just to this
post.

Someone told me, a while ago, that if your toes don’t curl when you
give a price, you’re not charging enough. I’m not sure I totally buy
this, but it can be helpful. Recently (last couple years) I have
been charging more and more, and people have been paying it. This is
very gratifying, and will rapidly increase your confidence.

I think it helps to “add value”. In my work, people are paying
primarily for the design and my time, but they seem to be a lot more
willing when I add a pin-back to a pendant, and/or include a bit of
gold, or throw on a few little diamonds (tiny diamonds really don’t
cost much at all). Then this perceived value seems to “bleed over”
to the pieces that are, say, just silver and pearls. If they feel OK
about the $900 for a pin with gold and a couple of stones added to
silver, then the $275 for the all-silver necklace doesn’t seem bad,
either.

HTH,
Noel