Starting a jewelry business, how do I price my work?

[skewefiets]

I’m starting a little shop on Etsy for handmade jewelry- I make clay charms, usually of animals that I’d say are fairly detailed, and I want to sell them. The thing is I’m not sure how to price my work while keeping it affordable so I can draw in a customer base. I was told to add the cost of your materials then multiply by 2.2, but I’m not sure if that means the materials total or just what you use, but then do I have to divide? If I buy 55 lobster claws for 8.99, and I use one, do I then have to divide 8.99 by 55 to calculate how the lobster claw affects the price? Or do I just tack on 8.99? Advice appreciated

 

[meow69]

@skewefiets https://www.canr.msu.edu/news/pricing_my_craft_item_how_much_should_i_charge

You need to take into account labor, at least minimum wage, and all costs of products in what you make,

Because you are selling on Etsy you need to include their fees as well. Also packaging and shipping supplies.

If you do free shipping over $35 on Etsy, you need to account for that too in pricing.

People constantly blame etsys listing fees for losing money on products. But those fees need to be built in to pricing.

 

[skewefiets]

@meow69 Thank you! I was thinking of paying myself maybe… 18 an hour? $3 above minimum wage where I live and factoring that into pricing but I don’t know if that’s too high or too low.

 

[godislove1993]

@skewefiets A friend of mine does eBay and made about $1500 a year doing this. Make sure it’s something you can support yourself on.

 

[graff5501]

@skewefiets This might help you: https://www.growingyourcraft.com/bl...sy-handmade-items-formula-strategies-examples

 

[skewefiets]

@graff5501 Thank you

 

[graff5501]

@skewefiets We also have a free guide when it comes to selling on Etsy.

Let me know if interested

 

[dekta09]

@skewefiets How much does it cost you to make the entire product + hours to make x hourly rate= your total cost per item in inventory.
Revenue is whst you decide to sell your item for say. $35.00
Your cost of sales
Shipping. 10
Etsy fees. 5
Returned items.
The avg of all returns
Cost per item. 2
Net revenue. 18

Make sense ?

 

[dekta09]

Crazy reddit alignment destroyed report but the numbers are the same.

 

[jpp]

@skewefiets Hey there! Pricing handmade items can be a bit tricky at first. When calculating costs, you'd definitely want to divide the total cost of materials by the quantity to get the price per item. So in your lobster claw example, you'd do 8.99/55 for each claw. This gives a more accurate representation of the actual cost for each piece you create. Remember to factor in labor and any Etsy or packaging fees. Wishing you success on your Etsy journey!

 

[groundball]

@skewefiets The cost of supplies and wages tend to go up, so it’s also good to think about how you might increase your margins (per item profit) over time. Two basic strategies are scaling and differentiation:

Scaling - One way to do this is to simplify your product line to the most popular items. This might allow you to buy supplies in bulk** at discounted rates. You can also reduce wage costs by developing processes that increase the speed and efficiency of production.

Differentiation - You could test this concept by creating a unique and exclusive ‘one off’ pieces (perhaps with elements that aren’t widely available) and charging a much much higher price. If you sold one of those a month it could inspire new lines of higher-end pieces and allow you to phase out cheaper, lower margins, items over time. The exclusiveness of the one offs, particularly if you can get the price for those quite high, should allow you on to increase prices along the whole product line—because your other items will seem like a bargain comparatively.

Another benefit of these strategies is that it engages your mind in a creative development process that should keep things interesting over time.

**Don’t guess on any bulk purchases because carrying extra inventory can hurt your margins. Only do it when your sales data supports it—when you know you can sell as many of an item as you can make.

 

[nun]

@skewefiets Start by looking for comparable products and what their prices are. Once you have that price work backwards removing all of your costs. When you are done decide if you want to produce it for that amount of profit.

When using a cost plus method suggested by many here may produce a profit but ONLY if the items sell. And they won’t sell if there are similar quality products at a better price. Good luck!!

 

[themartinfamily]

@skewefiets If you were basing it on material costs, you would divide the 8.99, but it seems like the labor involved is what is going to add all the value. I would decide how much you think your time is worth per hour, divide this by however many pieces you can make in an hour, then add the material cost per piece on top of that. That will be a good starting point, then if you can't keep up with orders or decide it isn't worth your time anymore down the line, you can raise the prices from there.

For example, let's say you want $40 an hour and use a dollar of materials per piece and it takes 30 minutes per each piece.

$40 per hour × .5 hours+$1=$21 per piece.

 

[eyebrowup]

@skewefiets Hey you need packaging for you product?