[YAK] Price list, don't read if you hate newbie

Jewelry Discussion
1 
Well, as soon as I put a piece out, I had a few people asking me
about making them custom pieces.. Here's my dilemma.. I have no
idea what to charge.

Hmmm. Tough ones first, huh? Here’s my tuppence worth:

Charge:

  1. An hourly rate that covers: labour (what you think is ok) all
    workshop costs (all your yearly insurance, etc etc, including
    tools and other costs, divided by the hours p.a. you intend to
    work)

  2. Materials cost plus a markup.

Charge so both parties feel unhappy about the price (Chinese
saying).

Brian
B r i a n � A d a m J e w e l l e r y E y e w e a r �
@Brian_Adam1 ph/fx +64 9 817 6816 NEW ZEALAND

http://www.adam.co.nz/workshop/ LAST ONE - Queenstown Mar11 to Mar18 '98
http://www.adam.co.nz/ruthbaird/ across the bench from me

2 
     Here's my dilemma.. I have no idea what to charge. Everyone
on here has some experience with the jewelry work, but as I said,
I'm self taught and have no one to guide me on pricing my work (
the one local jewelry store is overpriced and I seem to end up
fixing THEIR repair work for my friends) ..especially custom ...

Hi, Terry. I’m somewhat in the same bag, having just recently
begun selling my work, but I do know this; value and price are
relative. If your local jewelry store charges high prices for work
which is inferior to yours, the immediate and inescapable
conclusion is that you should be charging at least as much as the
jewelry store. There is nothing wrong with charging as much or more
than the competition if your work is better… There is also a
paradox involved with pricing, and that is that if you charge too
little, some will conclude on the basis of your price that your
work is less valuable, and you can lose customers rather than
attract them…

Paul Williams, an incredible teacher and a wizard of wire wrap,
set me straight on this issue at the Quartzite show last month. To
underprice your work is to disrespect your work, and customers pick
up on that.

I’m getting off my soapbox now, hope the preceding helps.

Lee,
the newbie from Phoenix

3 
Hello everyone, I know this is a rookie question,  but let me
 ...
the jewelry work, but as I said, I'm self taught and have no one
to guide me on pricing my work ( the one local jewelry store is

Our basic rule of thumb is 3X cost of materials + labor (retail
labor can range from 45/hr to 90/hr depending on what is being
done ! e.g. : you are soldering a jump ring versus custom bead
setting 1pt diamonds into Mrs. Smith’s late aunt’s Victorian
pendant bail and remember its usually easier to LOWER a price than
it is to RAISE it !! Russell http://www.RussellsofCamden.com