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Pricing your jewelry



Oh, how we hate to talk about money!  We feel like we need to apologize for our prices, explain why the pieces are worth what we're asking, and then when all is said and done, we too often underprice them anyway!  Why is that??

I shared some ideas awhile ago for how to improve your jewelry designs and how to make better art.  Once you've moved past the stage of learning basic techniques and have begun to create pieces that truly bare your mark, your next big decision is whether or not to sell your pieces.  And then...shudder...you've got to figure out how much to charge.  Yikes!  

Let me recommend Alyson Stanfield's excellent post to you: 12 tips for pricing your artwork.  No, Alyson will not tell you how much to charge, or even what formula you should use to determine your prices, but she does give you valuable guidelines for the mindset that you must have in order to figure it out for yourself.     


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Comments

Sarah Sequins said…
Cyndi,

Thanks for all the helpful links! I have a lot of good reading ahead of me.

I struggle with pricing. Not so much on little things like earrings, but on bigger pieces. I have to keep reminding myself that I deserve to get paid for my work.
Good post. I agree with all of Alyson's tips except #1. I wonder why she lead with ...

"1. Start lower. It’s easier to start low and raise your prices than it is to lower your prices later. But . . ."

I strongly disagree. Start as high as your market research indicates the market will bear. Know who your market is.

How does one rationalize raising prices? "My materials costs went up." "I didn't think anyone would pay more."

On the other hand, lower prices ...

"Sale"
"Closeout special"
"Repeat customer discount" ...
Cyndi L said…
I understand what you're saying, Eileen. I wonder if this is something that depends upon the personality of the artist and which approach seems more natural to them?