Pricing when you get a deal

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Permalink Reply by Lorri Ely on October 23, 2008 at 6:44am

Hello! I have purchased from Pizzazz Works on eBay - they have some great auction deals. As far as pricing goes, you can only price what your market will bear, and that means understanding your demographic and what your customers are looking for in quality, uniqueness, and pricing. If you are making upscale, one-of-a-kind designer pieces, and your customers are willing to pay upscale prices, or you are selling in a high-end boutique, for example, you can get away with pricing higher.

You can use whatever pricing formula that has worked well for you, but I would avoid using the inflated "suggested retail price" of a pendant if that isn't what you really paid to buy it (after all, they were using a marketing strategy of their own to give it a sense of higher value), and try to use a more realistic base number closer to what you paid for it, otherwise your piece could be priced too high and may not sell. Of course, as always, when pricing your jewelry, you may need to experiment a bit to hit the right number (too low and it isn't appealing and people might think it is cheap or inferior, too high and they won't buy it). Just don't sell it for less than it cost to make, plus your time and energy.

That being said, it would not be unusual to sell a huge amber focal for several hundred dollars because amber (especially if in sterling silver) is rare and expensive on its own. I know I have seen amber pendants in the store for more than $200. If you paid $20 for the focal, and they said it was "worth $160", it is probably really going to retail for somewhere in-between. You might start your base wholeale price using a cost at say $40, then use your formula from there to calculate retail plus cost/time. From that point, you can use whatever sales and "special price" technique you like to make it appealing. Good luck and I hope this helps.

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Permalink Reply by Leigh on October 23, 2008 at 7:23am

What pricing formulas do you all use?

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Permalink Reply by Carolyn Nau on October 24, 2008 at 7:59am

Leigh
I've been using the formula from Rena Klingenberg's website. She's got lots of great info, and her site is what connected me to Lorri.
Between these two awesome ladies I'm getting a crash course in the jewelry making/selling business. So valuable, and it's certainly taking out a lot of the trial and error!
http://www.home-jewelry-business-success-tips.com/pricing-your-jewe...

How have you been pricing the pieces you make with the Pizazz Works focal pieces. That's where I got stumped, since there (obviously inflated) retail prices are so very different than price paid.

Leigh said:

What pricing formulas do you all use?

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Permalink Reply by Leigh on October 24, 2008 at 8:50am

This is the same website that I got my pricing formula from! Good to know.

Leigh

Carolyn Nau said:

Leigh
I've been using the formula from Rena Klingenberg's website. She's got lots of great info, and her site is what connected me to Lorri.
Between these two awesome ladies I'm getting a crash course in the jewelry making/selling business. So valuable, and it's certainly taking out a lot of the trial and error!
http://www.home-jewelry-business-success-tips.com/pricing-your-jewe...

How have you been pricing the pieces you make with the Pizazz Works focal pieces. That's where I got stumped, since there (obviously inflated) retail prices are so very different than price paid.

Leigh said:

What pricing formulas do you all use?

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Permalink Reply by Carolyn Nau on October 24, 2008 at 9:04am

It just made sense. I'd been doing 4X materials and adding a couple dollars...but hadn't been adding in time or the extra 10%.

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