How do people go about working out how much silver they've used in a design so they can price it correctly? I noticed on Betts that they sell a scales where you can enter a silver price and it will tell you the cost. Does anyone use these?
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How do people go about working out how much silver they've used in a design so they can price it correctly? I noticed on Betts that they sell a scales where you can enter a silver price and it will tell you the cost. Does anyone use these?
I work out what I'm going to need for it and price on that.
If, for example, I need a 20mm by 10mm sheet the customer will be charged for the whole sheet as the offcuts are no longer the same value to me as the sheet cost.
So if you only charged for the weight used you would soon be out of pocket.
I'm the same in that i'll work out the amount of material I'll buy to make an item and work out a cost from that. I often use cookson's product pages and input the length of wire I will use or the size of sheet and it will give me a price based on that.
Even though I don't sell I'm now used to friends asking me how much I'd charge for things I make so I make sure to weigh and price my metal before I start, not just weigh it once it's all finished. Don't forget your hourly rate and all of the other sundries.
There is a formula for working out pricing which is:
Materials ( purchase price ) plus hourly rate = X
times by 1.2 to cover the cost of consumables/tools etc
Then add 100% to give you the sales price.
Personally I think that comes in too high for many to be marketable but it is what a lot of shops/galleries will want to sell your work so is certainly something to consider.
Im currently working on plus 50% which still comes in fairly high.
Thanks everyone. Won't bother with the scales, one less expense. Enigma, i like your pricing sum. I won't be able to charge + 100% either but it's always good to know what to aim for.
The offcuts then can be made into something and its your profit
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Exactly Mandy.
Its not my formula, Sheen, its one that our moderator , Ps Bond posted a while back on a thread about costing, I think its a standard formula.
It's not mine, but it's one I work to. FWIW the 100% markup is not so much an arbitrary doubling of price but more because many galleries will charge 50% commission - and you still need to be paid.
If you're selling in a gallery, you cannot undercut them (or, not unreasonably, you won't be selling there much longer); however, the costs of selling online still need to be covered in terms of time, photography, listing costs, commission and general aggro. Lest we forget, if a customer asks questions, the time it takes to answer them still needs to be covered too.
Offcuts (for me) usually go in the scrap pot rather than being turned into new pieces; as scrap recovery isn't as lucrative, it doesn't represent income as much as "stuff I should have been charging for".