LOW BIDDING A BAD IDEA I know of a wire artist who took on a very large project of wrapping 50 pieces of crystal for a wholesale account. She wasn’t prepared with a wholesale price and quoted a price of $10 per piece. ———-Each crystal was shaped very differently and thus required more time for wrapping than a standard cabochon. She did not feel comfortable with the price that she quoted the company. The lot was finished and when the company sent a second batch of crystals she refused the job and they were not very happy with her and she lost the account.

This was a lose-lose situation. If she would have known how much wire was involved and most importantly, how much time, her price would have been more on target and she would have established a long term relationship with the vendor. Since the price was too low, it didn’t work out for her nor probably for the next wire worker who has asked to do the job for $10 per piece because that was the “going” rate for wrapping a crystal.

If you have to make it, you have to examine how desperate you are to make a little money and believe me I know about desperate money situations so you gotta do what you gotta do. BUT! If you’re not desperate, $15 to the wholesaler (25% off) is a good place to start on handcrafted items properly priced. It’s hard to give much more than that unless your mark up is big. (EXAMPLE 3.) The BIG furniture store sale! Years ago I was a salesman at one of the biggest furniture chains in America and each and every week they would put a big red tag on about 15% to 20% of their furniture and it read: WAS $100 SALE PRICE $69 and at the end of the week they would take all the red tags off and put them on different furniture and so on, round and round. When a customer walked in the salesman could always say: “Good morning mam did you know we have a big sale today?” Yes it worked and sold millions of dollars of furniture each year and still does. You can do the same thing with your own red tag sale. Just remember the original price must be scratched through with the new lower price.

There is no hard set rule for pricing. The bottom line is that you need to get paid for your work and your formula needs to keep that in mind. Frankly when I go thru the Internet I rarely see much work that could actually be sold wholesale because there prices are so low!

And professionals may price there work depending on the venue. It may sound like a flimsy way to price but you might find it difficult to sell a $300 ruby at a flea market so you need to create work for that market and naturally your mark up would be lower.

Pricing is about three things: TIME, MATERIAL AND CREATIVITY

If you can’t price properly, you won’t be able to sell properly. Take it slow and be\ patient. When you are first learning and your work is not exactly up to par, lower your retail prices at least 50% until your skills are perfected. That means if the gold-filled wire name-pendants of your competitors sell for $19.95, you might want to charge just $9.95 till your skills get a little better.

I always anticipate people asking for a discount. I guess its just my background selling at low end flea markets and carnivals._______ If I have a ring i want to get $100 for I mark it up to $120. After all its is my ring, I made it and I can determine the price. There is nothing illegal or immoral about this retail stores do it 24/7.

This way when a customer and myself get down to the nitty gritty I have a $25 buffer zone to still make the profit margin I need to stay in business. And I will sell in a minute if the price is anywhere near that $100 target.

Right off the bat, you need to know you’re not just selling wire. You are selling a small piece of sculpture, if you will, with a whole lot of emotional attachments that may be handed down through several generations.

Keep in mind that the price you charge for a name pendant or name pin is all related to your selling arena. If you sell at a dusty flea market, your price will be on the low end. If you sell at a big time jewelry show where your booth may cost you $500 or more, you better sell on the high end. But your best overall prices and results will be somewhere in the middle.