Jewellery pricing advice please!

[Arch]

I hope this isn't too intrusive, I need some help please:

The place I work at, St Nicholas Fields in York is a environmental charity, nature reserve and recycling project. We've been given a stall at a recycle and reuse craft fair on Saturday, and I've been making stuff for it, including bike tyre belts and jewellery from various items. The trouble is, we're all a bit stuck on pricing. Most of us are frugal environmental types so what seems a lot to us seems like little to others, and none of the women wear much jewellery anyway! So, what would you pay for:

Earrings, made from the plastic coated strands of alarm cable:


DSCN2841resized by Panticle, on Flickr

Bracelets, made from the same stuff:


DSCN2845resized by Panticle, on Flickr


DSCN2846resized by Panticle, on Flickr

And these earrings are offcuts of wood from a furniture workshop, oak, cherry and walnut:


DSCN2847resized by Panticle, on Flickr

The fixings are all silver or gold plated (not solid silver or gold). Some are neater than others - I'm still getting the hang of the pliers!

We're not out to squeeze every penny out of the punters, but obviously any money we make is good for the charity and we may want to develop this all further if it's a success. It's all been a bit of a rush, so I haven't had a chance to look at much other stuff to compare. So I guess we want tempting prices, without selling ourselves short...

Any comments?

 

[Piemaster]

Never mind the baubles. Show us the belts!
(Seriously, I'm interested)

 

[Maz]

Oh, those are really nice. I like the wooden earings and the bracelets just above them most.

Pricewise - is there anything similar on the web to get a price comparison? Sorry, I'm not much help.

 

[Ashtrayhead]

This is a nice site and could give some useful comparison;


http://www.ethicalsuperstore.com/category/fashion/womens/jewellery/?page=3

 

[swee'pea99]

I know absolutely nothing about such things, but I have to say as one who tends to really not like jewellery, I surprise myself by liking most of those pieces quite a lot. Pricing? I've no idea. But you'll have an inherently positive audience, I would've thought, with many friends to buy pressies for. My wife does glass and was told by an old hand that people buying pressies off stalls tend to lose interest north of £15. FWIW.

 

[junglegusset]

Can we see the bike tyre belts please?

 

[slowmotion]

That is the question that everbody who makes "stuff" ponders over endlessly!

How much do the materials cost, and how much do you value your time at for its production. Add in your overheads. Transport, energy bills, phone, stationary etc etc etc...you will be surprised how much it all adds up to. Don't forget that if you have to buy stuff through the post, the postage charges can be significant for small orders.

Look at your market. If you are selling at a craft fair where people are short of money, price it low. If you are selling in Padstow, Cornwall, on a half-term week-end, hike up the prices bigtime. There really is nothing wrong with selling something that somebody wants at a price that you both find agreeable.

Let me know what you decide on as a price for the cable earrings on the right of your first pic. Miss slowmotion would love a pair, I suspect, and so might her friends.

 

[ttcycle]

I've no Idea about the type of people that frequent the craft fair, if they're more well off then charge more.

My ballpark figure for the above:
Wooden earings £12-15
Cable earings £8
Cable bracelets £10-£12 - £12 for the braided one.

You can judge whether these are suitable for your fair.
Nice work btw!

 

[Steve H]

I've no Idea about the type of people that frequent the craft fair, if they're more well off then charge more.

My ballpark figure for the above:
Wooden earings £12-15
Cable earings £8
Cable bracelets £10-£12 - £12 for the braided one.

You can judge whether these are suitable for your fair.
Nice work btw!

These feel a bit steep to me, but I'm no expert. I'd suggest flexing your prices throughout the day once you have gauged the level of interest and take up. Leave a bit of margin for haggling!

 

[Spinney]

They seem a bit steep to me, too.
The link that Ashtrayhead provided has a couple of bracelets around the £4 - 6 mark. That seems better to me. But what do I know - I tend not to buy or wear jewellery!
Good luck with it, anyway.

 

[summerdays]

Those particular ones aren't my taste (not a red/yellow/brown person), so I find it difficult to guage what price. I would say that under £10 people are more likely to think less about the purchase. The first time you do it I suspect it will be a guessing game, but it will give you a feeling as to which ones sold quickly either because they were priced right/too cheap or because they were a popular design.

It's always worth having some really cheap things that don't cost you too much to make, and some more expensive things. I've just went around an art trail this last weekend. Most people don't buy the art but they buy a card or small cheap side line that the artist does. And every now and again someone splashes out for the more expensive items.

I reckon the bike tyre belts could be worth more as I've seen some on the internet though I didn't buy them at the time, I'm sure they were more like £30/40 which felt a bit steep for me but I would have paid half of that I think. They seemed to charge more for the coloured ones and ones with good markings.

 

[Piemaster]

Arch, I knew I'd seen bike tyre belts somewhere and just got an email shot from SJS who have started selling them recently here.

 

[ttcycle]

They are London prices but the lower end but it's taking into account cost of materials and most importantly time used to make them. I do think that the wood earrings should be priced slightly higher though as they are nice bits of wood.

As I said I've no idea the spending power of your particular market and you should price according to that. I'm of the feeling that £4-5 is too cheap as that to me is more the cost of items that are mass manufactured however, different areas of the country have different pricing! The reality though is that the items are handmade and as TMN has said it depends on what model you're going for waitrose or tesco- I don't know if people will go for the higher prices but anything that is made by hand does need to factor that in.

 

[Doseone]

A friend of mine has got her own business making her own jewellery. It's completely recycled stuff and she sells at craft fairs.

To give you an idea here are a couple of things she makes.








The bracelets range from about £6 - £14 depending on what you go for, the ear rings are about a fiver.

 

[SavageHoutkop]

Also not really my type of jewellry but there's something to be said for a quick 'easy' transaction: so £5, £10 rather than £6 or £12 would be my guess.