WHAT? That's crazy-high, what are you including in that?
The number 500 comes from various studies and it is included cellular
accounts, basic cable, internet access, special subscriptions like
HBO and others, regular phone line, rental fees, and basically all
other expenses that we carry to stay connected. If we add special
taxes and replacement costs, the bill probably would be even higher.
Leonid Surpin
Elaine,
WHAT? That's crazy-high, what are you including in that?
I suspect that he is including 4 expensive cell phones. My basic
service with land phone, dsl and VOIP is less than $70. I am a cheap
bugger but can’t see $500 either. Only one of me and cell dosn’t work
from a river valley, the cat has no friends to call and too fat feet.
jeffD
Demand Designs
Analog/Digital Modelling & Goldsmithing
http://www.gmavt.net/~jdemand
When you get to work that costs $500, you are now at the point where it would require the average American worker's entire week's pay.
well, i can tell you where the buyers were not: at my winter park,
[fl] show the first weekend this month. there were very few show
goers jumping puddles while holding umbrellas against the strong
winds and 7" of rain. the show was otherwise perfectly planned,
directed, laid out ‘winter park autumn show’ in the ideal setting of
central park on park avenue; spaces were generous, level ground,
paved walkway accessible, well advertised, great volunteers, super
security by the winter park police force - everything perfect except
for not having a few minutes without rain. (most of the food people
left saturday or early sunday).
all of which led me to have high hopes for the next weekend, last
weekend’s show at the ‘winter springs festival of the arts’ - we got
dry weather, almost everything at the previous weekend’s show except
-buyers. now to the buyers’ disposable income - on saturday one
retirement-aged lady immediately took to my second favorite neckpiece
and enlisted her friend as translator. having already dropped my
prices a bit for the economy, i was not willing to reduce that piece
any more than a few dollars. she came back a couple more times and
the friend told me she was calling in every penny owed to her by
relatives, etc. finally she came back with money in her hand and a
huge grin on her face - success! so if you catch sight of a
not-quite-five-feet tall, voluptuous lady strutting with a grin and
a great neckpiece, tell her she got the perfect piece for her!
it wasn’t just the piece being bought, but the obvious pleasure of
the buyer that makes me keep at this - especially when the lady came
back on sunday, strutting down the sidewalk like a runway model the
last 20 feet from my booth - her friend told me she was ecstatic at
how much attention she was getting wearing it (obviously a new
sensation for her). so people, don’t give up on the crowds of buyers,
concentrate on the unlikely ones who have that hungry look for your
work - and feed them! ive look into the buyers’ faces, not just their
wallets.
get to $2,000 you are now talking about a person who earns $100,000
per year. Only a small percentage of America earns $100,000 a year.
In my county there are currently 236 people earning $100,000; 122
people earning over $250,000; and 22 millionaires. This from 2010 tax
data. Kinda lays out how much market there is. Ben Brauchler
Those two words were spoken exactly today at a lunch I
attended…“Perceived Value”, it makes no darn difference if it cost
you $100.00 or even $1,000.00. If you can ask $30,000.00! That buyer
will grab his money faster if the price is more outrageous. If it’s a
low number, you’ll loose him in a nano-second! Go figure!
Don’t be afraid to charge as much as you can, you’re the one who is
making these things. Get your monies worth, then run to the bank and
deposit the cash!
As I think it was Jo Haemer said a week ago make less jewelery, but
make more money doing it…:)…
Gerry!
Leonid,
The number 500 comes from various studies and it is included cellular accounts, basic cable, internet access, special subscriptions like HBO and others, regular phone line, rental fees, and basically all other expenses that we carry to stay connected. If we add special taxes and replacement costs, the bill probably would be even higher.
Don’t believe everything you read. Basic cable and special
subscriptions are entertainment expenses. Buy the phone hardware
rather than rent, the hardware lasts for a long time. Taxes and extra
fees are included in regular phone bill. If I need a cell for a road
trip I’ll buy a disposable. Even with a pay as you go cell it is
still less than $100 a month.
jeffD
Demand Designs
Analog/Digital Modelling & Goldsmithing
http://www.gmavt.net/~jdemand
Perceived Value!
How much is a regular hot-dog with the trimmings, these days $3.00=>
$4.00 tops? Well in NYC there is a restaurant selling a single
hot-dog on a bun, double plate, nicely cut up in sections with some
dainty looking (mediocre) trimmings! It is selling this simple hot
dog for…$69.00. The worst part is there are no fries of even a soda
drink, the quench your thirst. Is it worth it? You tell me!
Gerry!
Of course, the trick is getting in contact with the individual affluent buyers
Larry makes some good points, but I’m afraid there’s more to it than
this incarnation of this thread would make one believe.
Good steak? How about a nice piece of pie and some coffee for
dessert? Here’s the check - $100 for the slice of apple pie, $50 for
the coffee and $10 because you wanted cream. Why? Because we decided
to charge that much… Since you, the readers, are not stupid,
let’s not pretend everybody else is, eh? Of course, you’re just
going to go next door and pay five bucks for the very same dessert,
just like everybody else is.
It’s about value, you see. And in our business it’s also largely
about venue.
The people who are shopping for $250K jewelry are going to Harry
Winston, Van Cleef and Boucheron. The people shopping for $100K
jewelry are going there or maybe Cartier or even Tiffany’s, which is
kind of the Sears Roebuck of jewelry these days, but still
venerable. By and large they are jewelry educated, discerning, and
nobody’s fool.
It’s a maxim of business that you ~might~ be able to sell anything,
once. So you CAN set a $50K diamond into a brass, jewelry student
bezel ring and it’s not impossible that you could sell it. I’m
guessing you’ll have a long wait, especially if you are showing it
in a crafts show. Value of jewelry goes hand in hand with quality,
and the world has standards and expectations.
Take it for what you want - instead of looking for “the big score”,
which happens now and again to be sure - be a good business person
and go for the long haul. Instead of setting $5 stones, set $20
stones. 2x$5=$10, 2x$20=$40, it doesn’t take a genius. Mark up your
work so that it sells well, and if it stops then either nobody wants
it or maybe it’s become overpriced. The notion that there is no
limit to pricing is what set the world into it’s current recession,
largely. I had rather one-sided conversation with a realtor I know
about the housing bubble, some 10 years ago.
He said, “Of course it can go up forever, what do you know? I’m the
~expert~…”
And yes, those big deals happen, at times. First you need to put
yourself in the place where it’s likely - another analogy: Don’t
fish for marlin in a trout stream. Then you need to never, ever
forget that you have competition. All of the somewhat fantastical
posts on this thread seem to have forgotten that… Stop building
monuments, make stuff that people actually want to buy, too.
Cable $62-00, VOIP never more than $30, and I can take the number
with me around the globe, mobiles $19 for mine, and $23 for my
Missus, paid $30 for a pre-paid phone for my daughter… which she
never uses.
Comms in Australia cost a little more than in the states.
Regards Charles A.
I find it ironic that people will spend a fortune on a TV, new
electronic gagnets, sport entertainment, but nickel and dime you for
everything else. I would dearly love a iPad 2, but not willing to
cough up the cash for it - rather put that toward mortgage, silver or
replacement tools these days. One of my jeweler friends was
commenting that she, as part of a library board, spent several years
trying to raise 2 million dollars to rebuild the library, and yet
people would gladly spend 2 million $ on an entertainment arena in a
heartbeat. Goes to show people value entertainment over education.
One side effect - an arena was built in my hometown, costing $67
million, which we are still paying for, 15 years later. The city
promptly hiked the parking fees and parking meter times to 7am to
10pm, Monday to Sat. It was quite a pain in the neck, esp, when you
are teaching all day, and have to keep moving your car around, and
having tons of quarters. All we can hope for that people will keep
on buying jewelry and keeping us in the black. Joy
Don't believe everything you read. Basic cable and special subscriptions are entertainment expenses. Buy the phone hardware rather than rent, the hardware lasts for a long time. Taxes and extra fees are included in regular phone bill. If I need a cell for a road trip I'll buy a disposable. Even with a pay as you go cell it is still less than $100 a month.
Here are some rough numbers which anybody can verify for themselves.
Last quarter Verizon took in 27.536 billion, AT&T - 28.696, Spring -
8.311. The largest 3, in total 64.533 billion. That comes to 21.5
billion per month. T-Mobile is a private company, so we do not know,
also couple of small ones like Metro and others. Taking only largest
3 revenue and dividing it by USA population of 300 millions - yields
$72 per person per month. So only cellular bill already approaches
300 dollars per month for family of 4.
If we add revenue from smaller companies and other things, $500
becomes very conservative number. The bigger point is that telcos
know how to present and value their products, but a lot of jewelers
do not. Very few people actually need cell phones, but people buy not
what they need, but what they want. Less and less desire jewellery.
Reasons are many, but price is not one of them.
Leonid Surpin
Cable $62-00, VOIP never more than $30, and I can take the number with me around the globe, mobiles $19 for mine
Even though I don’t think it means much, and yes I do know people
who spend a lot of money just to watch TV.
We pay $49.95 for our two cell phones (T Mobile family plan - 400
shared minutes and we never use them up), around $25 for a land line.
We have line-of-sight to the broadcast towers here, so we don’t have
cable or satellite at all. Our business line, DSL and website hosting
costs $125/month, but that’s a business expense. I’m sitting here
right now accessing that account via dialup, at home, for free.
That’s it, that’s all. Don’t want an I Phone, don’t need an I Phone,
ain’t gonna pay for an I Phone.
Ben, where are you getting these figures? There are more than 236
metropolitan areas in the USA; are you suggesting that there is less
than one person per area who earns $100,000+ ? That’s less than one
sucessful businessperson, less than one banker or executive. I find
that extremely hard to believe.
Jamie Hall
Those are just the figures for where I live. To sell successfully to
the 10 0K+ demographic, well, there are under 300 in my county. Such
is life in rural NY. I would say we have 1 Jewelry store for every 8
people in that income range.
Ben Brauchler
To put things (and opinions) into perspective, I believe that Leonid
had on his old website, when he was still making and selling
jewelry, a ring selling for $50,000, made of sterling silver with no
stones. If I am incorrect, I am sure he will let me know!
Those are just the figures for where I live. To sell successfully to the 10 0K+ demographic, well, there are under 300 in my county. Such is life in rural NY. I would say we have 1 Jewelry store for every 8 people in that income range.
Next to where I live, we have large outside shopping center,
comprised of 300+ top designer outlets. Every day it is absolute
full, but very few locals are shop there because prices are quite
high. 99%percent are tourists and most of them from China. My wife
manages one of the stores, so I have inside Chinese walk
in and ask for the most expensive items. And they do not buy just
one, but several. It is not uncommon for a chinese client to purchase
in excess of $10,000. The point of all this is that we live in Global
Economy. Geographical location must not define what one can sell and
for what price. We have literally millions of people around the
world, joining ranks of upper middle class every day and they hungry
for anything they can get their hands on.
Leonid Surpin
To put things (and opinions) into perspective, I believe that Leonid had on his old website, when he was still making and selling jewelry, a ring selling for $50,000, made of sterling silver with no stones. If I am incorrect, I am sure he will let me know!
It was actually $35,000. The ring was Hephaestus. It was a limited
edition, available in silver and 18k gold. In order to guaranty that
it will be a limited edition, I had to do everything in my shop.
Every was was retouched individually and gravity cast using cire
perdue technique. After casting every ring was hand chased to refine
the details. Only 24 rings in both metals were made after which the
master model was destroyed. I kept one for myself and it is in
silver. I probably have to post a picture, but I do not have one
handy. May be later.
Leonid Surpin
into perspective, I believe that Leonid had on his old website, when he was still making and selling jewelry, a ring selling for $50,000, made of sterling silver with no stones.
Well, sort of, Lee. Having a ring ~selling~ for anything doesn’t
mean much of anything. Having ~sold~ something for some amount is
pretty much all there is to know. I’ve been asking $10,000 for this
old piece of copper pipe from my basement (50 years old!!!), but
somehow I haven’t found any takers. That’s the perspective, and
that’s the point. Good business, the general topic of this thread,
means connecting buyers and sellers and consummating transactions on
a regular basis, not fantasy.