When your studio starts to look like a dragon's treasure stash, it's time to start selling your handmade jewelry! Why not? You've been making jewelry for some time now, and all your friends and family have hinted they have all the jewelry they need for now. You're so addicted to the relaxation and enjoyment of creating lovely pieces of jewelry that there is no way you can, or want to, stop. It's really time to make your hobby pay for itself and earn some cash for yourself, too! Determining fair prices for your jewelry isn't nearly as complicated as it first may seem. Here are three simple steps to help you know how to price your jewelry.
?Take inventory of your jewelry pieces for sale and calculate the costs of all materials and tools you used to make them, including any shipping and handling costs.
?Pay yourself. Your time and labor have gone into the making of your jewelry, so you deserve to be paid, even if at first, it's only $10 an hour!
?Tally the costs of your overhead, such as a business phone line, power usage, rental fees for booths at crafts fairs and festivals where you will sell your wares and the costs of building and maintaining your own jewelry web site. An easy way to estimate these costs is to total your other costs and divide by four.
Using these steps is an easy way to decide how to price your jewelry that is fair to you and your prospective customers.
There is a good variety of ways to sell your jewelry from a home-based business, and it's sensible to start from, home. Setting up in a shop or boutique may seem glamorous, but it takes time, and usually eats your profits and some personal cash. Starting out small can be so much fun! With the methods below, you'll have the opportunity to interact with your community and make it aware of your business, and form a network with other crafters, which can be a wonderful source of design ideas and support! Home Jewelry Parties: This is one of the least expensive, fun and profitable bases from which to start your home-based jewelry business. You can host the party yourself or have someone you know host it for you. Invite several people, serve refreshments and show off your jewelry to your guests. Let the guests try on the jewelry, and provide mirrors large enough to allow them to see how well a necklace fits. Have a receipt book and plenty of cash change on hand, because you're sure to sell some of your beautiful jewelry items!
Arts and Crafts Fairs Shows and Festivals provide a fun and exciting venue for selling your jewelry. It is a great way to meet fellow artisans, as well as establishing yourself in the crafts network. While you sell your jewelry, you may visit other jewelry booths, make friends with the owners and pick up tips to enhance your business, learn the latest trends and learn new designs. You may enjoy haggling with customers and learning how to correctly price you jewelry for optimized sales and profits.
Online Jewelry Shops are relatively low-overhead/high exposure venues for selling jewelry without leaving your home. You can join an online shops network that specializes in jewelry and accessories, or build your own web site shop. Online auctions are immensely popular, and generate tremendous exposure! E-Bay shops are one of the most cost-effective ways of displaying your jewelry, especially since e-Bay has such a vast customer base.
These are just the three easiest and least expensive ways to start your home-based jewelry business. You may want to start with just one method, then gradually branch out into the other areas, concentrating on the most profitable. For instance, you may start giving home jewelry parties, and as that venue begins to slack off, set it aside for a while and venture into online sales. Once you've established your online business, it will need only periodic updates for adding new designs or retiring those that don't sell well or are out of fashion. Then you can start making the rounds of crafts fairs and festivals, while having the occasional party and taking care of web site maintenance. This is a sure way to maximize your profits, build a solid customer base and participate in a network of crafters who are just as enthusiastic about the jewelry-making business as you are!
Handcrafted jewelry makes a lovely Christmas present for women and teen girls. Handcrafted jewelry is also often referred to as Artisan jewelry. Artisan jewelry is some of the most beautiful handmade jewelry in the world. With skilled craftsmen working hard to make it meaningful, this jewelry is desirable by women all over the globe. It excels store-bought, mass-produced jewelry in a number of ways. Here are five reasons why Handcrafted Jewelry is a wonderful gift, followed by five things that you should know about Peruvian Artisan Jewelry in particular.
1. You get what you pay for. While most handcrafted jewelry is more expensive than store-bought jewelry, it is also typically better constructed and from better materials. Cheap jewelry requires the use of cheap materials and fast, often careless, labor.
2. Human Touch. Most people value goods which are handmade over those which are machine made or produced by nameless people. Cheap jewelry does not become a family heirloom the way handcrafted jewelry does.
3. Sweat shops. Mass-produced jewelry is typically made in factories with poor working conditions, where labor laws and safety codes are often violated. When you buy handcrafted jewelry designed and created by an independent craftsman, you can be assured that your money is not going to further fuel child labor or sweat shops.
4. Microeconomics. When you support an artisan or artisan community, you are supporting people, not large businesses. Your money doesn't go to a rich CEO or celebrity spokesmodel; it goes to the person who made the jewelry.
5. A Living Wage. If you examine a $5 department store bracelet and calculate the store's markup, the middle-man's markup, the transportation costs, the material and overhead costs, and then the worker's labor, you can assume that the person who made it received no more than a few pennies for her labor. Artisans who sell directly or through a company that promotes socially conscious consumerism, can enjoy a living wage.
Artisan Jewelry from Peru
1. Artisan Jewelry from Peru is made with natural materials by native people.
2. The silversmiths that are the creators of this wonderful jewelry work in family owned workshops, passing the traditions from generation to generation.
3. Each piece of jewelry has a special meaning to the craftsman that made it. Coming from a long history of craftsman tradition and using materials with a symbolic nature each piece deserves to become a keepsake.
4. Each piece of jewelry is handmade, making it unique in character. This means that you are wearing a piece of art, something that is hard to put a price on.
5. All of the jewelry that is made is from genuine sterling silver. These pieces will last a lifetime and can be passed from mother to daughter through generations.
Artisan jewelry is a meaningful gift, one that reflects not just your appreciation of the person who will be receiving it, but your understanding that she appreciates true beauty and meaning.
Both Gary Capps & Elaine Rojas are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
Gary Capps has sinced written about articles on various topics from Jewelry, Home Based Business and Jewelry. To find out more about how others are running jewelry business visit. Gary Capps's top article generates over 4400 views. to your Favourites.
Elaine Rojas has sinced written about articles on various topics from Silver Jewelry, Jewelry. Elaine Rojas is a writer, entrepreneur and inveterate traveler and is partner in an e-commerce site, Tikanchay.com that sells designed and produced in P. Elaine Rojas's top article generates over 40500 views. to your Favourites.