Tube setting

[Patstone]

Hi Jules,

You have echoed my thoughts about doing bigger shows, unfortunately down here the bigger shows are a bit few and far between, my daughter also does jewellery making as a hobby and is working full time, plus I have a hubby that works odd hours and between us we have three dogs, so travelling is something that has to be planned when hubby has time off so he can dog-sit. As far as I know there is only one big show down here, which is at Westpoint, an annual event, (on this weekend actually), and they have a craft section which is fully booked this year, I enquired about four months ago, but they invite the stallholders back every year so unless they have a drop-out we cant get in, but our name is on the list, how far down the list I don't know. I don't think there are any others in the area, we were invited to one in Salisbury but it would take us at least 2 hours to get there, that is a bit too far away, especially when you add the cost of the fuel into the equation. We are hoping that the website will attract people to buy, but you have to let people know your name to get anywhere and without going to shows you hit a brick wall. We are selling some stuff but to people we know, rather than to general public, the last three local shows have been a complete wash-out, organised by the same woman, the first one wasnt advertised well enough, the second one was the same and the third one was advertised well, but there was a huge book sale in the town on the same day and as we were a good half mile uphill people didnt come up to see the craft fair. It wasnt just us, nobody sold anything. As far as Artisan fairs, I dont think they hold those down here, never seen one advertised anyway. We were thinking about asking one of the few galleries down here if they would take some of our stuff to put on show, but havent done so yet. Perhaps now would be a good time to do it.

[Patstone]

They are really out of this world, never seen anything like it, for once I am speechless! If you dont have a website, and you dont go to craft fairs, how on earth do you sell it, especially as you would be talking of thousands of pounds not the paltry sums we have been charging. I suppose if you are well known, you get asked to exhibit stuff, and can sell that way. My only requirement is to pay for the silver and stones and to be able to buy some lovely tools, bit of a tool freak I'm afraid. If I go into a DIY store I am the only woman drooling over the tools. Sad isnt it.
Best wishes
Pat

[art925]

Hi Pat,

Pricing is always a difficult issue. I price my things at x 2 the cost of silver/copper etc, plus my hourly rate. Some people charge upwards of £10 per hour. I tend to charge depending upon how many processes I use to crate the item. If there's soldering etc then I would charge more, if its chainmaille, sawing etc I would probably charge around £10 per hour.

hth. xx

This seems still a little on the lighter side for pricing your handmade quality jewellery. I take a model similar to above as my trade price for products, then when a gallery or other retail outlet sells, I still take a profit for my business. For items in my own shop I then convert the wholesale to retail price. In my shop I also the products from 3 german factories, and the mark up is generally 2.5 times the wholesale price. When I sell other handmade jewellery and art in my shop I take 35 -40% of the retail price, which is light, but I like to promote handmade.

Good luck with the tube setting Pat, I find it a really satisfying method of stone setting.

Lesley

[Goldsmith]

They are really out of this world, never seen anything like it, for once I am speechless! If you dont have a website, and you dont go to craft fairs, how on earth do you sell it, especially as you would be talking of thousands of pounds not the paltry sums we have been charging. I suppose if you are well known, you get asked to exhibit stuff, and can sell that way. My only requirement is to pay for the silver and stones and to be able to buy some lovely tools, bit of a tool freak I'm afraid. If I go into a DIY store I am the only woman drooling over the tools. Sad isnt it.
Best wishes
Pat

Pat, most of my work over the past 25 years was commissioned from designs, although I have made a few pieces which were sold to West End dealers who sold to middle eastern customers. I am now retired after 50 years without break working in this trade. I did have a book showing my work published a couple of years ago, but as it was a specialist book and limited print amount, it's price is quite high, but if you wish to see some of my work just Google/Images my full name of James Miller FIPG and you can see some of my work featured on various websites and also by clicking my tag, "Goldsmith" I have an album of some of my work on this website.
Yes my work does cost thousands.
James

[Patstone]

Hi Les
That pricing structure takes a bit of getting your head around doesnt it, maths were never my strongpoint. I really love making jewellery, and realistically I have to sell it before I can buy more silver etc to enable me to make more. I have already spent several hundreds of pounds on silver and tools of course, and sold probably in the few craft shows that the public actually turned up at, around £250 - £300, that is over the last 18 months or so since I started. I think the problem with me is I feel a bit disappointed because like I said, the last three craft fairs were a complete waste of time and money. We have very few shops that would sell hand made jewellery and a lack of galleries etc down in this part of the country (Devon), although it is quite a tourist area, mainly around the coastal areas, but most of the shops sell tacky rubbish. Thanks for the price structure, have a look at our website and tell me what you think, dont be polite, tell me what you really think please.

Website: www.iscasilver.co.uk

Best wishes
Pat

[Patstone]

Hi James, you are quite a famous chappie arent you, I didnt realise you were known world wide, I feel very privileged to have had advice from you, which I have taken on board and will put into practice. I have also retired now, after having been stuck behind a desk all my working life, and have tried different hobbies over the years until I had a moment of gung-ho after losing my eye three years ago after a cataract op went wrong, the attitude was "well if other people can do it, so can I", hence the trying to have a go at jewellery making, little did I know that I would get hooked on it, and wish I had found it years ago. It is a steep learning curve though, what I find difficult with only having one eye is the distance things are away from me, so occasionally I end up burning things because they are closer to the flame than I thought. One thing I would like to know is about the scorper set-up, if you look at the business end of the scorper (the one with the rounded end) end on, should it look like a "v" and do you sharpen the edges of the "V", or the top. I am struggling a little bit with this because I haven't got a grinder, only the attachment on a pendant motor, and I will have to buy an Arkansas sharpening block too. I am sorry to be a nuisance keeping on asking questions, I have also bought a .6mm flat scorper as I think that could be useful to finish off my bezels a bit better. Regards, Pat

[Goldsmith]

Hi Pat,
I have been around a bit within my trade and luckily have worked at the top of the trade tree for many years. First may I suggest that a bench grinder is a good addition to your workshop tools, here is one on Amazon for just over £18, see; http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B002QS0HN...SIN=B002QS0HNY
And with the addition of a polishing spindle or two, it can be converted into a bench polisher also. see;http://www.amazon.co.uk/Bench-Grinde...sr=1-1-catcorr
Yes the scorper end should look like a V and you only need to sharpen the flat of the V as it's only the half round section that needs to be sharp,
I use a piece of 4/0 emory paper on a flat surface, and rub the flat scorper's straight flat cutting edge of the scorper to give it a shine and when used the scorper will cut a shiny cut.
These photos show how I hold the scorpers for sharpening on a stone and also polishing the cutting surface on Emory paper.
James

[Patstone]

Hi James
The scorper in the photo is a different shape from mine and I cant understand from the pic shown which way up you are holding it. If I hold mine with the thick side upwards, all that it touching the bench is the point of the V. Mine has a thick flat side on the top and goes to a knife edge underneath the whole length of the blade, it isnt chisel shaped like the one in the photo.
Regards
Pat

[Petal]

Hi Pat,
Take a look at www.craftanddesign.net I subscribe to their magazine; its inspirational and informative. Even if you are not exhibiting at a large event yet, its worth attending to check it out and see what others are making and what prices they are selling for etc.

[art925]

Hi Les
That pricing structure takes a bit of getting your head around doesnt it, maths were never my strongpoint.

Hi Pat, maths is also not my strong point, but for me this is not a hobby, this is how I make my living, so I require a good pricing structure, it is amazing what can be acheived with an excel spreadsheet. I understand your need to sell product in order to buy more materials, however what I think James was trying to point out is that if you undersell the maximum potential of your quality products, it is a cycle you will find hard to break. It is clear you and your daughter are having great fun with your business I like the name change. Please let us see the ring when it is complete.
Les