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16 Replies Last post: Dec 20, 2007 6:29 PM by Expressions

How do you know if your charging the right amount for your jewelry

Dec 20, 2007 3:21 PM

Expressions 22 posts since
Dec 20, 2007

Hi,
I was wondering if anyone could tell me how to gauge my profit margin for my jewelry business. I started my business in July and my websight Expressionsbydanielle.com in September, the cost to keep the business going is about 237.00 a month not to mention the amount of money spent on tools needed to keep the business growing; how do I guage my price point for each item when I have more then just the cost of product and shipping involved? ps. I was also wondering about my websight in general, any comments would be very much appreciated.
thanks,
Expressions

Tags: advice, marketing, store, traffic, web, website, website_design, jewelry, jewelry_store, online_store, small_business Report as inappropriate

LUCKIEST 7,935 posts since
Aug 6, 2007

1. Re: How do you know if your charging the right amount for your jewelry Dec 20, 2007 3:28 PM

Expressions. You started your business in July. Do you have a Business or Marketing Plan.
Do you have an Accountant?? I am a Quickbooks Consultant.
To start you have to know how much the jewelry costs. You also need a cash flow budget.
If you need help email me at "pdeig@juno.com"
Happy Holiday and good luck, LUCKIEST

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puzzleman 293 posts since
Oct 11, 2007

2. Re: How do you know if your charging the right amount for your jewelry Dec 20, 2007 3:48 PM

Welcome to starting your own business.

Determining how much to charge is very subjective and very formulaic at the same time.

The formula method is to figure the cost of ingredients and double that number then add your labor cost. Your labor cost is the amount of hours it took you to build the item multiplied by your rate per hour (make sure that you are paying yourself a fair wage). The total number represents your production cost. Then mark it up to sell it for retail. I double my wholesale price to sell for retail.

The subjective part comes into play with your customer base. If they are used to paying more for the product, then charge more. I found out that when I started that I was selling my product at what I thought was a fair price. I had some more experienced people tell me that I was pricing too low. I doubled the price and sold more items in one month than I did in the previous 4 months. Because the price was higher, it was perceived as a higher quality.

As far as your website, I felt that you should have more explanation of the size of the piece in inches so that I could tell about how it would look. It is difficult to tell the size on pictures because there is nothing to compare it to. I would suggest that you check out the big jewelers sites to see how they describe their items. Learn from the people that pay high priced people to know all of this stuff.

Also too, I noticed that you stated that each piece takes 2 - 4 weeks to make (put in handcrafted or hand made, reinforce the personal) but a couple of the pieces that I clicked on said they would ship in 24 hrs. This is confusing, which is correct.

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Expressions 22 posts since
Dec 20, 2007

3. Re: How do you know if your charging the right amount for your jewelry Dec 20, 2007 3:50 PM

Yes I do have a business account, as well as accept credit cards - I have a business plan, but at the moment isn't entirely reachable (please see email for full response)
thanks
expressions

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Expressions 22 posts since
Dec 20, 2007

4. Re: How do you know if your charging the right amount for your jewelry Dec 20, 2007 3:56 PM

in response to: puzzleman

Thank you for that information,
I will get on my web sight right away and fix those problems,
have a great day,
Expressions

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LUCKIEST 7,935 posts since
Aug 6, 2007

5. Re: How do you know if your charging the right amount for your jewelry Dec 20, 2007 3:57 PM

Expressions, Thanks for emailing me.
Let me know how I can help you SUCCEED.
LUCKIEST

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Expressions 22 posts since
Dec 20, 2007

6. Re: How do you know if your charging the right amount for your jewelry Dec 20, 2007 4:29 PM

in response to: LUCKIEST

My bigest problem is that I am not making enough to keep my busienss alive - some people are telling me to stop and start again when I can put more money into it, but others are saying that my stuff is amazing and the quality is breathtaking,
thanks,
Expressions

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Expressions 22 posts since
Dec 20, 2007

7. Re: How do you know if your charging the right amount for your jewelry Dec 20, 2007 4:31 PM

in response to: puzzleman

I am trying to keep my price point close to the major retailers - such as k jewelry and others - is that wrong?

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Lighthouse24 2,396 posts since
Oct 10, 2007

8. Re: How do you know if your charging the right amount for your jewelry Dec 20, 2007 5:27 PM

I have four jewelry store clients (all independent, not national chains), and just the on-line portion of their operations alone would have about a 10 to 15 percent net profit margin. If your sales volume is too low to live off that margin, then you're probably right to consider changing some element in the mix, or to modify your competitive strategy. Hope this helps. Best wishes.

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Expressions 22 posts since
Dec 20, 2007

9. Re: How do you know if your charging the right amount for your jewelry Dec 20, 2007 5:38 PM

in response to: Lighthouse24

I am afraid that i don't entirly understand,

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puzzleman 293 posts since
Oct 11, 2007

10. Re: How do you know if your charging the right amount for your jewelry Dec 20, 2007 5:40 PM

in response to: Expressions

Expressions, Are you not making enough money or not enough product?

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Expressions 22 posts since
Dec 20, 2007

11. Re: How do you know if your charging the right amount for your jewelry Dec 20, 2007 5:47 PM

in response to: puzzleman

Enough money -

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Expressions 22 posts since
Dec 20, 2007

12. Re: How do you know if your charging the right amount for your jewelry Dec 20, 2007 5:50 PM

in response to: puzzleman

I am affraid to charge too much for my product, if I charge for the time that I put into it, I don't think it would be fair to the customer

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puzzleman 293 posts since
Oct 11, 2007

13. Re: How do you know if your charging the right amount for your jewelry Dec 20, 2007 6:00 PM

in response to: Expressions

Is this due to low sales or not being able to make enough product to sell?

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Expressions 22 posts since
Dec 20, 2007

14. Re: How do you know if your charging the right amount for your jewelry Dec 20, 2007 6:05 PM

in response to: puzzleman

Not enough sales,
When I have a show I usualy almost sell out, but there is only one place that I can have a show at,
trade shows and fairs arn't good because people are expecting items for 5$ so my best place is to sell at a business filled with working women, sounds bad, but I am having a hard time finding ways to get my product noticed other then going to their work, and setting up shop - so to say,
thanks,
Expressions

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How do you know if your charging the right amount for your jewelry

Dec 20, 2007 3:21 PM

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