One of the biggest issues artisans, especially the newer ones, seem to encounter is how to price their product for sale.

I remember when I started, and I got my first big order from a retailer – it was for $1,000.00 which seemed (and still does sometimes) like a massive amount of money for something that little ole me had made at home.  It was also my introduction to learning how to price my product.

The first thing to remember when pricing is that what seems like ‘too much’ to you, may be quite reasonable or even cheap to someone else.  And people look at price tags, even in this economy as a status symbol.  The $5 handbag from Walmart is a great deal, but that $50.00 or $500.00 dollar bag is a BIG deal.  When you underprice yourself, you are also devaluing your work in the eyes of the consumer.  (Weird I know, and took me a long time to get my head around, but true.)  So don’t be afraid to price your work as it deserves, a unique, one of a kind piece of art.

I’ve had people at shows say to me “I could get something a lot like that at Walmart, and for a lot cheaper!”  My standard response to something like this is “True enough, but so can 10,000 other people.”  But, what they are buying from me is the only one in the world.  Think about that for a minute – THE ONLY ONE IN THE WORLD!!!!  That’s special, and that is a selling point.

When I purchase supplies, I keep track of the cost – the cost of metal per inch, the cost of a bead on a string of beads, the cost of a finding, the cost of packaging, etc.  This all comes into play when pricing.  When I’ve finished creating a piece, I calculate the cost, multiply it by what seems appropriate, and then add on a certain amount for the work, depending on how complex the pattern is.  That makes my basic price point from which I can move up (if it’s a truly unique piece) or down (in the case of discounting for mass purchasers like retailers, or established clients who keep coming back).  Remember, you can always bring the price of something down, and people are happy to be given a deal, but try to bring the price of something up and you’ll regret it.

The other consideration in pricing is who is your audience.  Do you want to sell only to retailers?  Retailers mark up their stock 50%  and more from point of purchase.  So consider that whatever price you have fixed, they will at least double it.  At their price, will your product sell, and make consumers want more, or will it be seen as “too much” and not be worth your clients investment?  The trick is to make back your cost, plus something on top for your work.  Lower prices vs bulk sales – which do you want?

Pricing for shows or private commissions is different, and that is where I follow the first ‘formula’,( cost X markup + price of my work ) and as long as you are upfront about this with a private client there is never a problem (at least in my experience).

The next time you’re at a craft show that you’re not displaying at, or you’re in a boutique that carries similar items to what you create, have a look around.  Look at prices, workmanship, materials.  Are they in line with your product?  Are they higher?  Lower?  Is it selling?  Do your market research, and then take all of the above and gear it toward your target market.  Teens have a huge disposable income.  New parents, not so much.  High priced products will atttract a smaller crowd, but when you make sales they’ll be high amounts. Lower cost products will attract bigger crowds, but you’ll have to sell more.

I hope this helps encourage those of you out there who are hesitant to price your products at what they deserve to go ahead and do so.  And if anyone has any other pricing and marketing tips, I’d love to hear them! Let’s share.

Working with lengths of wire means cutting the wire, you cut the wire initially to the length you need for a project, and then at the end you end up trimming some off.  In the middle of a project, you might end up cutting more wire, either to get rid of a ‘bad’ bit, or to augment a design that needs a little more.

With all this cutting, there can be a lot of little bits that at first glance can appear to be scrap, and the first thing I tell people in my classes is to never throw these out.  There are a number of reasons for this.

The first, and most obvious reason is that if you are working in precious metal (silver, gold, goldfilled) over time the amount of scrap you generate is going to be worth some money – I probably have a good 1/2 pound of goldfilled, and twice that in silver stuck in baggies on my workbench.  Every so often, I’ll bring them to either my supplier, or to someone who melts down metal and get reimbursed for it.  That’s money that I”ve saved, and it can go toward more supplies, a couple of cool stones, or just a treat of the non-jewelry kind.

The second reason is that unless those scraps are basically dust, they can be reused. A piece of round or square wire a half inch long can make a jump ring, or a small decoration to attach to earrings and pendants and bracelets.  A piece of wire an inch long can be used to make a hook for a clasp, and if it’s an inch of binding wire it can be used to strengthen a small component (like a clasp) or can be used to decorate a bead.  Longer pieces can be used to make interesting chains, bend them into different shapes, hammer them down to anneal them, and then link them using the jump rings you made from shorter bits. 

For slim wire (eg, 26 gauge) use pieces instead of headpins – make a small coil at one end, slide on your bead or pearl, and finish as you would a jump ring.  Saves money, and saves a trip to the supplier if you’re a couple short.

To save wire, I tend to slip the bits back into the bag the original wire is being stored in.  That way, I know the gauge, hardness, and shape and can always find what I’m looking for.  When wire scraps get down to where I can’t use them anymore, they go into a ’silver’ bag, or a ‘gold’ bag to be recycled by someone else.  And if I ever get into soldering or pouring metal into molds, I’ll have a nice little supply too.

These uses can also apply to other metals, in today’s economy everything has value and should if possible be reused, recycled, or saved.  So if you don’t use silver, and don’t use goldfilled, but instead like brass, aluminum, copper, etc, save those too – if nothing else, you should be able to make an amazing collection of jump rings and turn out some spectacular pieces of chainmail.

Thanks for reading, and I’d love any comments on how you recycle or reuse your materials.

How did you decide on a name for your business, or if you don’t have one yet, how do you go about it?

To me, this is probably the second thing anyone in business should look at – because this is your image, it’s how you present yourself, and it’s something people will remember when they look for you online, or at a show, or in a store. The first thing of course is to decide what business you are in!

I’m not a professional ‘namer’ by any means – those guys get paid big bucks.  But here are my thoughts, and I’d love to hear yours.

First of all – what is special, what makes you you?  For me, it was simple – I am, among other things, a collector of dragons – I have ceramic ones, wooden ones, calendars with them, books with them – I even have a tattoo of one.  What has always been difficult for me is to find jewelry with them.  So my jewelry business was going to involve some dragons – and one type of dragon is a Wyvern.  The other thing was that I started doing this on a whim – it was just one of those things that grabbed me one day.  So Wyvern’s Whims Jewelry was born. By a happy stroke of luck, this also led to a bit of alliteration, with all those ‘W’s in there.  And I had a story to tell my clients and a bit of a bio, all in one.

The second thing to consider is what audience do you want to attract?  Kids? Teens? Men? Women?  Are you hoping to appeal to gardeners, cottages, suburbanites?  If you want to sell widgets to an aerospace clientele, , you wouldn’t call yourself “Wilma Wonders Weird and Wonderful Widgets“, would you?  You would want a name that suggested reliability, stability, and advanced technology.  Or if you wanted to appeal to churches and religious organizations, would you call yourself “Naughty Nones Clothing“?  Nuh-uh!

Finally – how well will the name ‘wear’?  If you were a crafter who does something for a hobby, and likes to sell your creations to make more money to buy more material for more creations, you might want to go with your name (who you are), and your craft (what you do).  If you want to do this professionally one day, or even (gasp) leave a dynasty, you might want something that will outlive you.  Joe’s Jeans is great, unless Joe has been dead for several decades and the jeans have morphed into a ladies evening wear line. 

Again – these are just my thoughts.  I know of no companies with the names I’ve used, (Except for Wyvern’s Whims, which is mine) and apologize if there is a company currently out there with one or more of the names I’ve made up for purposes of illustration.  And if one of those names ‘grabs’ you (again, except for mine), feel free to grab it back – and pass my name along to the hall of namers.

Whats in a name?  Everything.

One of the common themes I hear at almost every show I’ve done is “There are too many jewellers here”.  Or ” I did a show last week – and they put another jewelry person right beside me!”  The other theme I often hear as a teacher of wire sculpture (although not from my students, thank goodness) is “How can you teach people – don’t you know you’re adding to the competition?  They’re going to do the same things you do!”

One of my best friends is an incredible beader, she does work of such intricacy it blows me away.  She and I belong to the same craft guild, and we almost always do shows together.  We also like to be next to, or across from one another, and make a point of requesting this when we fill out our applications.  This horrifies a lot of people, and I think they just don’t understand.

To me, our creations are all so unique.  Some of us use the same basic techniques (let’s face it – we all learned from someone, or some book, or some video).  Some of us buy our stones or beads or findings from the same supplier.  But what makes it OURS is what we put into it – OUR style, OUR interpretation, OUR way of looking at how things come together.  And you know what?  Our clients are the same. 

If you put one piece in front of five people, you’ll get five different reactions.  And if you put 10, 20, or even more jewelry people in one room, YOUR client is the one whose going to find you.  Or your creation will find them. Customers tastes, styles, personalities and moods are as unique as your jewelry, so how can someone take away a client?

So – what competition?

The flip side of this is that we ARE all unique, with varying talents and arts.  I have one client who does a lot of shows – and she buys my work because while it ties in with hers, it is different.  We both win – I have a great business relationship, and she gets something new to offer HER clientele.  Win / win.  I have certain shows I love to do, and I share these with my network of jewelry friends.  Because I do this, I often hear about other shows long before people who keep everything to themselves.  Again – Win/ win.

The same thing happens with my students – I have learned soooo much from the people I teach, because they’re the ones who will say “OK, but can I do it this way?”  or “What if I did this?”  Bingo – a whole new outlook or concept!  I’ve also had students come to me and say “I have this great stone – I don’t think I can do this on my own so would you set it for me?”  And there is a new client, and a new friend.

The point of all of this is that contrary to popular belief, other jewellers are not the enemy – they can become friends, clients, and allies.  So the next time you’re at a show and near another artisan, take some time to talk with them, because you never know where it may lead.

OK, so you’ve done it – you’ve made some great pieces, sold some to friends, family, and those around you.  You’re now a professional jeweller earning money with your art.

How do you get it out to others who are going to appreciate what you do, and hopefully appreciate it enough that they’ll spend good money on it? 

First of all, wear it.  Wear it to work, to the gym, when your out with friends.  Wear it grocery shopping, at the laundromat, at the videostore.  Everyone you see is going to see this fabulous jewelry, and some of them will ask you where you got it.  And that is your cue to say – “I’m a jewelry designer, this is what I do”.  Make sure you always have business cards with you with your name and phone #, and an email address and website.  I’ve gotten tons of business this way.  If you check online, there are sites that will give you free business cards if you’re not comfortable printing your own.  Free is good.

Another great way to get recognition is to offer to donate a piece to a charitable event.  I’ve contributed to many, you can write off the value of the piece as a charitable donation, and when the event raffles or has a silent auction including your piece it is seen by many folks (who usually have disposable income) along with your business card.  It also gives your business name online exposure, as they will usually list the companies who donated to their event.

A third way is to market your creations on Kijiji, Craigslist, and any other free site you can find.  The one thing you want to be cautious of is scammers – and most sites will warn you of this.  Be wary of anyone who wants you to ship the piece to some relative in another country.  My stand is I only deal face to face, and only in cash!    Having said that, I’ve acquired a lot of new and repeat clientele using these sites, and again – it’s free publicity and free marketing.

One of the things that is most challenging to my newer co-artisans seems to be setting up and tearing down for a show.  Here’s a couple of quick tricks I use that saves me about an hour both ways.  Invest in some of the jewellry flats with the velvet inserts – they come in gray and black mostly.  Using the round tip pins, pin your pendants in place in the boxes, all you have to do when you get to the show is straighten the chains (if you use them) and lay the boxes out – all the pendants are already in place.

For earrings on a stand, run paper tape along the sides of the earring stand runs, from top to bottom after you’ve placed the earrings in the order you want them to be on the stand. Wrap a towel around the whole thing, put it standing up in a large plastic bag, (I use a clear one so I can know what end is the top).  At the show, remove the bag, towel, and tape, and the earrings are all set.

I’ve been a wire sculptor and jewelry designer for 5 years now.  In addition to designing, which I love, I’ve also had the privilege to teach others techniques I’ve learned. In future posts, I want to share tips and tricks and a few opinions on everything from ‘how to’ to sales and business.  I hope you find this helpful, and I’d love to hear your tricks as well.

In the industry I’ve found there are two types of people, those who teach, and learn from others, and those who jealously guard their secrets.  My best friend, who I do shows with on a regular basis is also a jewelry designer who does incredibly intricate beadwork.  People are often shocked that we share space at a show, thinking we should be competing.  But there really is no competition – we all have our own strengths and styles, and our work appeals to different people.

 To me, we’re a community of artists and artisans, so let’s help each other out.