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Your post came up twice and I’d go with Wendy’s answer on the other one. They are paying for your design process and everything else that goes into making a piece not just the materials. You can’t put a price on that plus all the invisible costs they wouldn’t even have thought of. If people want a complete breakdown then they are looking for cheap and they can go to some of the more questionable pages on Etsy. The price is as it is
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Its like going to a posh restaurant and asking how much they pay for beans or asking the cashier at Tesco what they pay for bread. Its irrelevant its the finished item they are buying your hard work, contacts ,knowledge and skill. I wouldn't feel bad and I'm sure if your customer was selling you jewellery they had made they wouldn't answer the question. I had a customer tell me a silver ring I made bespoke for them, wasn't worth a fiver at a pawn shop after they had paid £90 for it. I had to explain it was bespoke and built to there requirements they still thought they had been ripped off but what can you do. the truth was for the messing about I did on the ring I should of charged a lot more. Life's funny sometimes.
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When I had a lot of work done on my house I sourced a lot of it myself from websites, eBay etc. Builder amazed. Said my retail was loads cheaper than his trade prices and I ended up teaching him how to! Tell them that you are happy to work with any materials they source (with a bonus that they can't bitch about quality or colour etc)
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Just don't talk about it. It's like those customers who ask how your business is doing? I mean, what business is it of theirs whether I am rolling in money or about to go bankrupt. But again they wouldn't summon the manager of the local Tesco and ask how his business was going!
You need to make clear this is you being a professional, not a friend