Great video Lisa and Mel!! Had struggled with pricing for a long time before I worked out that I was 'allowed' to charge for my time! Had made that beginner's mistake of looking at the cost of the materials but not at the other costs then wondering why I seemed to be working 'all the time' for so little. I decided one day that my time WAS worth $1 for every 2 minutes ($30/hour). A few more years and it's now '$1 for every minute' ($60/hour), have stopped there for now. Also now have lists for materials and overhead costs. Business is an evolving 'sport' as I still learn more rules! TFS!!
I have an excel spreadsheet I designed, I input all items included in the piece and the spreadsheet calculations my price, it also tracks were and how the piece sells. I keep all beads and supplies in plastic bags marked with price per and where purchased! Hope this helps someone.
Thx for the tip, I’m hoping to do Etsy sometime this year, I have a lot of handmade jewelry I’ve created over the years and want to make room for more design pieces people might like. Problem is I never kept track of everything I’ve so I’m forced to guesstimate. Yes, I’m aware that’s not always the best approach but I believe that these pieces will sell I can come up with reasonable prices. I’m very meticulous about how I work a certain piece that I know how long I’ve been at it, like stringing an elastic bracelet would not doubt take less than 20 minutes but there have been times I’ve had to take them apart when I’ve made a mistake in terms of designing so it takes longer to finish. I’m very in tune with how long I work on a piece of jewelry, of course using a stop watch helps but I do this almost every time I sit down and work one a piece. I am going to try pricing everything right eventually, I just want to see if I can make extra money with what I have. If fact, I practiced on a bracelet I made just to see how it works.
When I make macrame jewelry, my gemstones are high-end and range in price from $15 to $150 for just the stone. Then it takes me 8 hours sometimes to make a piece of jewelry. How should I price my work? I’m using waxed polyester, not precious metals. People have told me “it’s just knots in string.” Part of my problem is that because my niche is a “fiber art” everyone thinks it should be cheaper than sterling silver jewelry. The materials aren’t as expensive as silver but the labor, at times, is more intensive for complex, intricate pieces. Should I still multiply my materials and packaging by 2 if my gemstones are super expensive?
yeah that is a toughy. I have made seedbead pieces that took 10 hours and have run into the same issue. The general formula of "materials x 2 plus hourly wage" doesn't really work for things with either incredibly expensive materials or things that take a very very long time to make. You really just have to look at it on a piece by piece basis. A friend of mine once told me, reimburse yourself for at least 25% more than the cost of materials and then just kinda look at it and decide what YOU think it is worth. I thought that was good advice :)
In pricing do we need to include the cost of the materials like the tools,beads, wires? Its length? Number of beads?;And whats the formula for me to be able to come up with the price?
Yes, you should include the price for all your materials. A general formula is materials x 2 plus your hourly pay. Of course there are many factors in there but that is a formula that a lot of people use
