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.
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Date: 2010-01-30 05:58 pm (UTC)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.