It's the day before my first show, and I think things are pulling together nicely. I had saved some finish work on a bunch of pieces till this week because I needed to glue them all at the same time. Of course, after you glue, things need some time to set, then you've got some final finish work to do after that... So, last night was a tad tedious.
That, plus, under the assumption that I'm selling jewelry, I figured I should probably be wearing something with what I had picked out for the day. I came up with a long (50", at least) knotted strand of Swarovski pearls in mystic black. It's versatile, I can wear it doubled into two strands, or as a lariat, hung scarf style. Knotting approximately 300 4mm beads took awhile. I even had to change my knotting process. Normally I make my overhands by pushing the yet to be beadless side through the hole, but the nylon I'd cut was so long that it was easier for me to put my beaded end through instead.
Also, getting tags together has been a bit epic. First, type them, then get them printed, adjust the print settings, then final print. Get them separated, get them punched, get them ribboned, then get them on the right pieces of jewelry! Crazy. But they will look great.
Husband's been putting finishing touches on my jewelry display board. He's pretty anal retentive, and he's mentioned a few boo-boos, but I'm thinking that the point is to have folks looking at the jewelry, not his very-handi-work (which I'm sure is spectacular). He's put a lot of time into it, so I owe him big time.
One thing I've struggled with is pricing. For certain of my items, like holiday ornaments and cell phone charms, I've made an array of them that cost me similar amounts in time and materials, so the price on each of them is really an average price. For other things, like actual necklaces, bracelets, earrings, the prices differed widely.
But where does the price, averaged or not, come from? I take the prices of each of my components (and I buy in large amounts wherever I can afford), and add them up (MAT). I add up the time I spent putting something together, and charge that at a labor rate (LAB). (My labor rate is currently cheap because I'm psyched out. I add up MAT + LAB, get NDY. NDY to me is "Not done yet." Because I haven't added in for my overhead costs (OHD), or any profit (PRO). Not that I charge much for either, I'm still getting an idea of what exactly to charge. Overhead and Profit will be in percentages, for example, 5%. But to apply it NDY, you'll need to move the decimal two places to the left, and add one. So, instead of a 5%, OHD or PRO would be 1.05. Then the "wholesale" (WH) price is NDY * OHD * PRO.
I've been told if I find someone to sell my wares at a retail location, I'll expect them to charge about twice my wholesale. Which, means retail (RET) = WH * 2.0. I was also told that if I'm selling some jewelry by myself, that I couldn't charge less than retail. But I couldn't stomach that. So, I'm charging a small percentage over WH in order to cover the costs of getting the display together.
How does that compare to what you buy in the store? Well, ask questions. Is what you buy in the store only solid 0.925 sterling? Or is it merely plated? Was it made in China, or handmade? I try to focus on using only sterling, and I make as much as I can of a piece. Extra bits like special items set with cabochons may or may not be obtained under a fair trade (FTA) agreement--and I note if it is. Items that are produced under FTA tend to be more expensive, as compared to items produced without being under it. I'd love to say all of my items were, but I can't afford it, and neither can anyone else. We do the best we can though, with what we've got, don't we?
As I get back to work, I feel a little homesick for my mother. She would be having a blast getting everything ready and organized just so, looking at all of the pieces I've made, talking with people, helping set up the Grange. She's listening from the sidelines back in Texas, but some day, I'll have her here to see what all of us are doing.
Best,
Posey
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