jewelry.

[kleenexwoman]

By itself on an upholstery background:


On my wrist:


It's glass pearl beads with metal spacers, base of tigertail. I'm trying to figure out how much to sell it for--one friend said $50, another said $7. That's kind of a wide range.

I might need to take a better picture of it; the dark beads have this really nice, slightly iridescent property the camera didn't quite get. And I'm thinking I may need to restring it, since it's been a while since I've worked with tigertail. I have materials for two more identical bracelets, though, or one necklace with the same materials.

I want to put this up on Etsy, but I looked at the "featured" stuff and they're all real gems and silver and gold with glowing descriptions, aah can't afford that shit. And I think it may be too monochrome and restrained to be popular. I think it's classy, but chunky colorful stuff seems to be in right now. I don't know, would you buy a bracelet like this? For how much? (and if anyone wants to make me an offer and save me the twenty cents of listing it on Etsy, let me know.)

drworm suggested I learn to make bead flowers. I do have a lot of seed beads.

Comments

[blueeye-jedi.livejournal.com]

That's more like something I'd buy; the chunky bright stuff is obnoxious to me.

The real question is "how much did it cost you to make?" Once you figure that out -- to the cent -- then start thinking about what you'd sell it for.

[kleenexwoman.livejournal.com]

Ah, good. :) I like making simple things, actually. Minimalist and satisfying.

I used old materials for this, but I think the tigertail, findings, and beads + spacers all ended up costing about $10. Maybe $20 would be a good price?

[itcomesinphases.livejournal.com]

I'd say about $30 if you plan on making more. $10 to recover the cost of materials, $10 to purchase new materials and $10 for profit or for more materials. My general rule of thumb is to multiply the cost by pi.

[blueeye-jedi.livejournal.com]

Bead flowers are a good idea...

[kleenexwoman.livejournal.com]

They're pretty, and they don't seem expensive to make, but they do seem to take a high level of skill and experience...thereby justifying a high price.

I just need to find some easy-to-read patterns (or hit my mom up for her bead pattern books)...

[ladybugandbee.livejournal.com]

When I sell 'real' art(if anyone will ever buy it.. erf) I determine the price by total amount the materials cost + 25 bucks for every hour spent. So if the paper and materials cost about 20 and I spent an hour on it, 45 seems fair to me.

[pianolessdevil.livejournal.com]

I agree with the Lady. Add up all your materials used, time you spent on it and you've got your price.

I find it difficult to price my work. I have one that's still waiting for its potential owner to send the money that's priced at $100 from $200. My husband said I should've asked for $500, but eh, I dunno about that. : /

[morgandria.livejournal.com]

Random LJ passerby. I own a jewelry business online and have sold on Etsy in the past; I have a couple observations to share, for whatever they're worth.

1) It's nearly impossible to charge what your time is worth when making beaded jewelry. There's a fairly slender profit margin, and it's a fairly competitive market. Some people will see it as an art and factor in the time you spend doing it if it's unique enough, but the majority won't, and won't pay for it. It's annoying but a reality.

2) As you noted, wire-wrapped items like bead flowers, and other styles of pendant, sell at a little higher price than basic strung jewelry. Those items are unique, and thus people buy what they like when they find it, rather than trying to find something similar for less., as they may never find another.

(ETA: I seemed to miss you were talking about the stitched seed-bead style ones. In that instance you can expect people to pay for the time you put in, but not as much for the materials.)

3) Don't stress about your colour palate. There will always be people who will enjoy it. You're going to do your best work inside our own comfort zone, and then after a while might find you're driven to experiment with a different style, or move outside that colour range.

4) Another annoying reality: people will not pay as much for glass, compared to stone, no matter how much that glass cost you. The exception to that is handblown lampworked glass, and Swarovski crystal. Somehow people think glass = cheap/fake, and thus assume it will cost them less; I've had no success explaining that glass costs the same or more as stone, in the past.

The bracelet you've shared is very attractive, simple and clean. I would say realistically you could expect to sell it for $15-20.

[dmilanflash.livejournal.com]

Survey the retail price of similar bracelets on Etsy and other sites. If you price it to high it won't move. Once you have this information, you can figure out what you want to invest in components in each jewel assembly.

Maybe there a few customers for $30 braclets with small stones. Maybe they'll bit at $15. Make a few different bracelets and try them at different price points.