Jewellery pricing advice please!

[Night Train]

That's a good turnover for a first time out, well done.

 

[Arch]

Thank you! Yes, we probably priced the belts low, but I needed to gain confidence in them, and myself.

I will make more, maybe edge the price up a bit, but I'm sure I could retain a special price for CCers...

(Admin, hope this is ok? It is for charidee....)

 

[Red Light]

Congratulations on the outcome. Ludwig makes an important point though which your £40 lady needs to heed and you should consider. I've helped a few people running such stalls. Getting them to sit down and cost out just their costs of materials, stand and travel without even considering their time is usually a complete revelation as they realise that "Great day, I took £80" was actually a "Crap day, I took £80 but it cost me £100 so I lost £20 and wasted 8 hours". Often the buzz of people liking your stuff and paying for it overrides the financial realities. Which is fine if you consider it a hobby you can afford to subsidise but not if you're trying to supplement your income. Many stall holders would be far far better off using the time to stack shelves at minimum wage than run a stall unfortunately.

 

[Piemaster]

Well done Arch!
Looks like you may well have a market on here for the belts. I like them but £40 for the Velo-re ones seemed a bit steep and I'd much rather support your charity efforts.
You could try an ad in the 'wanted' section here for old tyres too.

 

[Red Light]

Thank you! Yes, we probably priced the belts low, but I needed to gain confidence in them, and myself.

I will make more, maybe edge the price up a bit, but I'm sure I could retain a special price for CCers...

(Admin, hope this is ok? It is for charidee....)

Subject to seeing a photo I'd make a donation for one.

 

[summerdays]

The other thing about this site that I saw and can't find the link to (sorry), is that they charged different amounts depending on whether it was a normal black one, or more for the coloured tyres (rarity/desirability value).

 

[Arch]

The other thing about this site that I saw and can't find the link to (sorry), is that they charged different amounts depending on whether it was a normal black one, or more for the coloured tyres (rarity/desirability value).

Was it Velo-re?

http://www.velo-re.com/sales.php

I think with any craft hobby/business, you have to almost write off your time to start with. I have a friend who's building up a business selling yarn from her own Shetland Sheep, as well as items knitted from it, and craft fairs and farmers' markets are part of that. I've helped her enough times to know that sometimes you barely cover costs, if all - those days have to be outnumbered by the good ones of course, to be viable. She knits stuff in the evenings, and has people who do work for her too, for a cut of the sale price. But she also has a husband in a good job....

In my case, I've donated the small cost of the findings and buckles, and the time I spent in the evenings working on stuff this time, but I'll be taking time off in lieu for the day I worked yesterday, and there have been a few hours spent within my normal working time preparing for it - add them all up, and the profit isn't going to be big. But I'd be at work anyway (the time spent working on stuff was those few hours a week when I'd otherwise be doing little maintenance or tidying jobs), and we now have a) some stock in hand and b) useful experience, as well as £200 extra dosh. These days, it's good to diversify, and have a few ideas under your belts, whatever they are made of!

One day, I'd quite like to try and make a living, or at least a partial one, at this sort of thing, but I know it's hard work to get going, and some sort of safety net is essential.

 

[Night Train]

I was just wondering if there was anything that could be done with the mountains of waste CDs I seem to be developing during my 'tidy up day'.
Just thinking of little versions of the vinyl record bowls.

A quick google shows it does work.

 

[rich p]

Arch, I'm intrigued as to how you get the belts to lie flat and not curve into a semi-circle, if that makes sense.

Well done on the sales front though.

 

[Arch]

I was just wondering if there was anything that could be done with the mountains of waste CDs I seem to be developing during my 'tidy up day'.
Just thinking of little versions of the vinyl record bowls.

A quick google shows it does work.

Hmmmmm. There was a lady there yesterday with some very nicely done melted vinyl, not just bowls but three-tier cake stands too! Of course part of the joy is looking at the labels, and cringing at all the naff ones that you suddenly remember buying....

What will the craft world do when the vinyl and CDs run out? You can't make a bowl out of an MP3....

 

[Speicher]

I was just wondering if there was anything that could be done with the mountains of waste CDs I seem to be developing during my 'tidy up day'.
Just thinking of little versions of the vinyl record bowls.

A quick google shows it does work.

They can be recycled by some of the bigger plastics reprocessers. Try googling "recycling cds in your county".

 

[ttcycle]

Arch, a good place to sell handmade items is Etsy. Google it - also for other CCers it can be a lovely place to get presents.

It is hard to make a living from this and there will be many off days and rarer big sales..

Still there is something lovely about making things, something really connective about it.

Well done on taking £200. It's a shame about the earrings - I thought they were great..oh well!

As for the belts - I'm sure £15 would be fair as £10 seem rather too cheap.

 

[Arch]

Arch, I'm intrigued as to how you get the belts to lie flat and not curve into a semi-circle, if that makes sense.

Well done on the sales front though.

Do you mean across the width, or the length?

Lengthwise, once the tread is cut from the sidewall, it'll stay unrolled - I roll them up to display, and once unrolled thay are like any belt.

Widthwise, it varies depending on the robustness and profile of the tyre. Some flatten out easily, but some will retain a certain degree of curve. In practice, it doesn't matter much, as they are held flat by the buckle and the trouser belt loops.

They also develop a nice patina over time - the more you handle them, the shinier and smoother they get, until they look rather like shiny leather with a tread tooled into it... I wore my own yesterday, so was able to demonstrate this to people....

Wear one to a bike geek gathering, and you'll have people trying to identify the brand of tyre from the tread....

 

[ttcycle]

Wear one to a bike geek gathering, and you'll have people trying to identify the brand of tyre from the tread....

Lol - I got one for my birthday - straight away I could tell it was a Vittoria rubino tyre in a very unusual turquoise shade!

 

[Arch]

Arch, a good place to sell handmade items is Etsy. Google it - also for other CCers it can be a lovely place to get presents.

It is hard to make a living from this and there will be many off days and rarer big sales..

Still there is something lovely about making things, something really connective about it.

Well done on taking £200. It's a shame about the earrings - I thought they were great..oh well!

As for the belts - I'm sure £15 would be fair as £10 seem rather too cheap.

Thanks for the tip, I've had a look and will study it more later!

Of course online is the big leap forward for this sort of thing - no need for shop or stall premises, and with Ebay, Paypal, Etsy and so on, there are lots of possibilities. Of course the flip sode is that there are lots of people selling too, so getting a high profile is important. Plus of course, many people prefer to see and feel things like jewellery, and there's no substitute for actually handling something, especially stuff like wood which is very tactile.

Now, I really MUST get on with my tidying up, or I won't be able to find anything to make!