Jewelry Pricing:

the time factor

© by Lynne Richardson; all rights reserved

Jewelry pricing seems to be a universal challenge for designers and artisans. Many simplify the process by using some variation of a mathematical formula.

Most formulas for pricing jewelry involve totaling up all costs involved in creating the piece, adding in a payment for the time it took to make the piece, and then multiplying the total by two for wholesale pricing and three or four for retail - or something to that effect.

There doesn't seem to be a hard and fast rule for the equation, just suggestions.

The problem most people have with jewelry pricing is factoring in their time. It's easy to figure out the cost of the materials you use, but calculating the value of your time can be a bit tricky because of certain necessary considerations.

Most of us don't come to jewelry making with all the skills we need to work efficiently, and some of us - myself included - are mainly self-taught. There is a learning curve involved in developing the requisite skills to be successful - and not take all day to make a necklace!

Obviously, we don't all learn at the same rate, especially if we are learning on our own. Some of us are blessed with splendid hand-eye coordination and catch on to every technique very quickly, while other equally talented individuals may take a bit longer to get the hang of things.

We put in our time with copper wire and cheap beads until we feel confident enough to work with the "real" materials; however, even at that point in time, we are still practicing. As beginners, we may have mastered the technique, but we may be considerably slower in executing it than someone with more experience.

There is also the matter of time spent on the actual design of a piece. Few artists can go from sketch or idea to finished product without a certain amount of "fiddling" with either the design or the materials themselves.

I can spend an eternity deciding which beads look best together for the design I'm trying to create. Sometimes there's even a little trial and error involved.

For example, my family and I all had a good laugh when, as a true beginner some years back, I tried to make a tennis bracelet out of 5mm hematite cubes. Needless to say, it was stiff and for the most part unbendable, and I had to start all over. I finally made a hematite bracelet, but it was nothing like the one I had originally envisioned.

In this instance, had I charged for the actual time it took me to bring this design to fruition, the cost of that piece would have rivaled some of Harry Winston's goodies!

The point I'm making is that, initially, we have to absorb the cost of our experimentation and education. To do otherwise would not be fair to the customer, and could result in some ridiculously over-priced merchandise that would never sell.

With experience comes the knowledge of approximately how long it will take you to complete a piece. You decide what hourly rate you think is equitable, and if you run into trouble or a design dilemma similar to my situation with the hematite bracelet, you can make adjustments in your jewelry pricing and vow not to make the same mistake again.

Author Lynne Richardson operates Bon Ton Beads, an online bead boutique offering a variety of semi-precious gemstone beads, freshwater pearls, Czech glass, sterling and gold filled wire, and Bali, Turkish and Thai silver beads and components.

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