Price of/for findings...

[smallbitz]

I have recently made some jewelry out of some pattern bar left overs. Gave a few pieces to friends and family and it has gone over quite well. My question is; do you charge a 50% mark-up on the findings, such as sterling chains or 100%? No idea since I've really never sold any jewelry before. Any help would be very appreciated!

[Lynn Perry]

If you are purchasing your findings at retail or in small quantities, you most likely will not be able to add any mark-up. If you are purchasing the findings at true wholesale, you might be able to do a mark-up depending on the value people associate with your work compared to that of others. If you are selling through a gallery that charges 50% commission, you will have to mark-up the finding 100% just to recover your wholesale purchase cost.

Sometimes a nice chain will compliment the piece and lead to a sale. Other times, the higher cost of the piece due to the inclusion of a silver finding or a silver chain will prevent the sale of the item. If you are making pendants and feel they will not sell without some sort of necklace, many people use cheap (less than $1.00) rubber or satin necklaces to make the sale. If the item is being purchased as a gift, the receipent probably has their own favorite necklaces and will replace the cheap one with one of their own. If the purchaser is keeping the item, they will most likely do the same.

There is one simple rule and that is you can not purchase your findings and materials at retail and expect to make a profit unless your transformation process is adding a tremendous perceived increase in value. Unfortunately, glass jewelry is becoming more of a commodity with all work seen as equivalent and priced at the lowest amount. You can look on etsy.com to get an idea of the pricing highs and lows for work similar to yours. You can also see how many sales a seller has made on etsy and it is usually disappointingly low, even for very nice work.

Hope this helps. I have been selling glass jewelry for 16 years, and I get re-educated every year about pricing and customer preferences.

[smallbitz]

Thank you very much for your informative reply. I did check check etsy, as you mentioned. It does seem that the best way may very well be to use the $1 cords or ribbons. Unless I buy in very large numbers, I don't think I could recoup my costs.

[Valerie Adams]

And, the bigger selection you offer, the longer they'll take to make their purchase!

Jewelry isn't something I make a lot of, but I do sell quite a bit at shows. I offer one single type of neck wire so they can wear it home if they prefer. I always tell them that my pendants fit on most chains they probably already have.

[Morganica]

It depends on whether the necklace/chain/wire is part of the design, or it's there simply to allow your customer to wear the pendant home. For my lower-end jewelry, it's the latter, so I pick the best-looking cheap chain/necklace that I can buy in bulk. I generally set a ceiling of $3.50 per unit, and purchase 25 or more at a time. When the price of silver is low, that buys me a thin 16" sterling snake or curb chain. These days it's more likely to buy me silver plate, steel or black leather.

For my higher-end stuff, I'll make my own chains of precious metals, gemstones and glass, and they 're definitely part of the design. Any findings I don't make are chosen specifically for the design, and I price those as I would price the rest of the materials, i.e., double my cost.

[Judd]

I'm like Valerie. I tell my customers I have free cotton cord and I'd give them a 2 foot piece for free (no clasps or findings), or I have silver chain that I charge an outrageous price. I don't want to sell silver at a 50% mark-up. I want to make money selling my glass at a 150% mark-up.

[smallbitz]

Thanks so much for all the info. It really helps me put things in perspective. I do think that the handmade silver bail is part of my design on some of the pieces, but it really does up the cost quite a bit - kinda of need to use a silver chain with it. I guess I could still sell it with something else or, like was mentioned, they could put their own chain on it. Appreciate all the food for thought!

[Lynn Perry]

I once made necklaces with sterling silver findings and West German rubber (very supple and feels like suede). I was only making about $1 per necklace but the galleries convinced me it was essential to have some necklaces in stock. After a while I noticed necklaces were disappearing without me getting paid. I finally figured out what was happening when one of the galleries gave me a returned necklace which had the finding broken from the end of the rubber. The rubber was the cheap, hard rubber and not one of mine. However, if a customer returned any rubber necklace which had failed, the galleries were replacing it with mine. I exited the necklace production business and started encouraging the galleries to buy their own necklaces in bulk and keep 100% of the sale. None did....

I have also had galleries replace returned earrings produced by someone else with mine, and I had one gallery manager insist that a broken pendant was one of mine even though it was wire-wrapped and I have never made wire-wrapped anything. I refused to accept the pendant which I knew was made by an artist in Asheville who did not even sell in the gallery.

[Judd]

Jesus, note to self: avoid galleries in Tennessee.

[Lynn Perry]

Jesus, note to self: avoid galleries in Tennessee.

Actually, those galleries were some I sell through in North Carolina. Years ago I only did stained glass work and it was easy to keep track of what was in a gallery and know when it got sold. The biggest problem then was panels and lampshades getting broken with no update from the gallery until I found it myself usually months after it had been damaged and just sitting there without any possibility of someone purchasing it. With jewelry it quickly becomes apparent which galleries have excellent book-keeping and inventory tracking and which struggle to just write an occasional check.

[lorimendenhall]

I sell tons of pendants. I price them without a chain and give the customer an option of buying a chain from me for $10. there is a big markup on the chain, it's offered as a convenience to the customer. you can markup your findings if the price is still within reason.