Pricing Jewelry
for Maximum Profit

© by Patricia Snow; all rights reserved

Pricing jewelry is a tricky issue. I've been selling my handcrafted jewelry for about a year now. I sell through home shows, art and crafts shows, and online. Recently I've also started buying sterling silver pieces wholesale and selling them along with my handcrafted jewelry.

My jewelry business has been a learning process, and I've found that - like me - many artists who are new to the business have questions about pricing jewelry. Here are a few tips I've learned this past year.

1. Since the jewelry is yours and you made it, you can place any price on it that you want to. You can even raise your retail prices about 15% before you enter the selling arena (home party, gem show, etc.) in order to "give" the discount that may be expected of you. That way, when someone asks, "What's the best price you can do," you can usually give anywhere from 15% (built in) to 25% off without a problem.

2. Your jewelry pricing may not be the reason why an item hasn't sold. Don't reduce your prices or give a discount until you're absolutely sure the price is what's killing the sale. Most of the time it's not the price but the jewelry's color, size, metal, etc.

3. I've found that for me, pricing jewelry higher actually results in more sales. In the beginning, at my first few shows, I was only asking lower prices. I made a profit on the cost of materials, but not my time. And everyone - from customers to fellow crafters - commented that my prices were too low.

   So I raised my prices and discovered that my sales actually increased! I learned that people equate the value of a piece of jewelry with its price. At my lower jewelry pricing, some people wouldn't even glance at my work - even though it was made with real pearls and semiprecious gemstones.

4. Along with increasing my jewelry pricing, I re-evaluated my display.

   At the lower prices I was trying to sell on volume and had crowded my table with too much jewelry. Now I have fewer pieces, but each is displayed attractively so it can stand out.

   I bring extra inventory to shows and parties so each time I sell a piece of jewelry from my display, I can replace it with another piece. Now I find I'm selling many more items and working less.

Changing my jewelry pricing has changed my business.

Now that I've put aside my previous "dollar store" mentality, I have the time to make some very nice pieces. I can put more creativity into my work and have a classier jewelry display.

And best of all, I'm making more sales!

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