For many artists, pricing is one of those areas with which they struggle the most. There are reams of advice written for those of us wondering how to price our art. The piece of advice that has most often popped up in my research, is to not cheapen your work and the work of others by underpricing it. This really makes sense to me because I'm the one who has time and energy invested in each piece. However, I oftentimes get the feeling that some people are shocked when they see the price of my jewelry...especially the one of a kind pieces. This post is meant to provide insight into what exactly goes into pricing a piece of work.
When embarking upon the journey of pricing, the first consideration is the price of the components I used to create the piece. Obviously, this varies with almost each piece, so I cannot put the same price on each piece.
Next, I must consider time (labor). This does not only encompass the time it takes to craft the piece, but also the time it took to design it, the time it took to acquire the components, and a percentage of the time one spends doing other business activities, such as pricing and various paperwork.
The next part of pricing, is overhead. My overhead includes electricity and other utilities used to conduct business, tools of the trade, fuel for torches, packaging, displays, car fuel when necessary, website costs, Etsy fees, show fees, etcetera.
After considering these items, and to a certain extent, what the market will bear, I set a wholesale price. This is the price for which I would sell a piece to a middleman (typically a store owner); it also comes into play when consigning items. This must be high enough so that I can get a bit of profit on the piece, but also low enough to be raised to create a retail price. If the wholesale pricing step is skipped, I lose out when I sell to a middleman. No good business person would do that.
Lastly, I set the retail price. The retail price is the price by which I sell directly to the consumer. It is the price one sees on the price tag at a show or in a store.
Many times, when perusing Etsy, or even attending shows, a consumer will see comparable work created mostly by hobbyists that is priced much too low. This creates a disservice to those who are seriously trying to make a living with their craft and cheapens the market as a whole. I try not to be one who does that and price my jewelry accordingly...many times at the cost of not selling a piece quickly. However, my wonderfully supportive husband always tells me that there is an owner out there for each piece that I make; I just have to be patient and wait for them to find it!
Hopefully, this entry sheds some light on not only why my prices are what they are, but also the prices of other artists that you may see along the way.
Until next time...
Cheers,
LaLa
www.jewelrybylala.com
lala@jewelrybylala.com
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