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Background: I make, among other things, handmade chainmail jewelry. /bg
I went to see a good friend of mine, L, this weekend who is also into making and selling crafts and jewelry. She is better at networking than I am and has a lot of local connections in the town she lives in with small local businesses. One place where she sells her own work is a very small, very specialized little consignment shop. L is friends with the owner of the shop, T, and said that T might be interested in some of my pieces, so I brought a variety of things with me since L and I were planning on going to T's shop.
So, we go and meet T and she has a look at my stuff. Of all the stuff I brought, the items she was most interested in were some chainmail chokers, which happen to be the "biggest" and most labor-intensive pieces I had with me (compared to bracelets and earrings.) She asked me how much I wanted for them -- she doesn't actually technically sell on consignment, she buys items outright and resells them in her shop, which is nice for people like L and me. I told her I normally sell the chokers for $22 but that I was thinking $15 for her (if she bought a few of them) and that she should be able to sell them for $25. I have had no trouble selling them for $22 so I didn't think $25 would be unreasonable.
She said $15 was too high because she would want to sell them for $20, so she offered me $50 for 5 of them, or $10 each. I was reluctant to let them go for that amount but I was also eager to know how well they'd go over with her clientele, so I agreed. I told her that if people were interested in them and they sold well, I would prefer $15 in the future if she wants more.
I'm curious if this sounds reasonable. $10 really is pretty low for the amount of work that goes into them, especially compared to some of the other things she has in her shop. As an example, I saw a pair of earrings that she was selling for $10. I know exactly what materials were used for these earrings because I use them myself and they are pretty specialized so I know it's the same as what I use. Basically all it is, is a charm on an ear wire. There is no alteration, no additions of beads or chain. The charms themselves are 12 for $5, so 2 of them for a pair of earrings costs less than $1. The ear wire, unless it's sterling silver or gold (which I'm sure it wasn't) is probably less than $.20 for 2 of them. The jump rings used to connect the charm to the wire come in packs of a few hundred for $3. There is around $1, possibly a few cents more, in materials for these earrings. It takes maybe a minute to connect the charms to the ear wire. And she wants $10 for them?
My chokers, on the other hand, take 45 minutes to an hour to make and have around $3-4 worth of material in them, and she thinks they're only worth $20? Half of which she's keeping. I know there is overhead and everything else that goes with having a store front, but the benefit is that people can buy pieces from her and not pay for shipping, not have to wait for the item to ship, not have to wait for the item to be MADE (if I happen to be out of stock), etc. I don't think it's unreasonable for her to add a few dollars to my price in order to cover her own overhead and other costs.
Chainmail is a new medium for her, so I'm sure she is worried that people won't be interested in them and they won't sell. I just hope that if they do sell, she is willing to give me a bit more for them.
I went to see a good friend of mine, L, this weekend who is also into making and selling crafts and jewelry. She is better at networking than I am and has a lot of local connections in the town she lives in with small local businesses. One place where she sells her own work is a very small, very specialized little consignment shop. L is friends with the owner of the shop, T, and said that T might be interested in some of my pieces, so I brought a variety of things with me since L and I were planning on going to T's shop.
So, we go and meet T and she has a look at my stuff. Of all the stuff I brought, the items she was most interested in were some chainmail chokers, which happen to be the "biggest" and most labor-intensive pieces I had with me (compared to bracelets and earrings.) She asked me how much I wanted for them -- she doesn't actually technically sell on consignment, she buys items outright and resells them in her shop, which is nice for people like L and me. I told her I normally sell the chokers for $22 but that I was thinking $15 for her (if she bought a few of them) and that she should be able to sell them for $25. I have had no trouble selling them for $22 so I didn't think $25 would be unreasonable.
She said $15 was too high because she would want to sell them for $20, so she offered me $50 for 5 of them, or $10 each. I was reluctant to let them go for that amount but I was also eager to know how well they'd go over with her clientele, so I agreed. I told her that if people were interested in them and they sold well, I would prefer $15 in the future if she wants more.
I'm curious if this sounds reasonable. $10 really is pretty low for the amount of work that goes into them, especially compared to some of the other things she has in her shop. As an example, I saw a pair of earrings that she was selling for $10. I know exactly what materials were used for these earrings because I use them myself and they are pretty specialized so I know it's the same as what I use. Basically all it is, is a charm on an ear wire. There is no alteration, no additions of beads or chain. The charms themselves are 12 for $5, so 2 of them for a pair of earrings costs less than $1. The ear wire, unless it's sterling silver or gold (which I'm sure it wasn't) is probably less than $.20 for 2 of them. The jump rings used to connect the charm to the wire come in packs of a few hundred for $3. There is around $1, possibly a few cents more, in materials for these earrings. It takes maybe a minute to connect the charms to the ear wire. And she wants $10 for them?
My chokers, on the other hand, take 45 minutes to an hour to make and have around $3-4 worth of material in them, and she thinks they're only worth $20? Half of which she's keeping. I know there is overhead and everything else that goes with having a store front, but the benefit is that people can buy pieces from her and not pay for shipping, not have to wait for the item to ship, not have to wait for the item to be MADE (if I happen to be out of stock), etc. I don't think it's unreasonable for her to add a few dollars to my price in order to cover her own overhead and other costs.
Chainmail is a new medium for her, so I'm sure she is worried that people won't be interested in them and they won't sell. I just hope that if they do sell, she is willing to give me a bit more for them.
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