Reduction of the 7.78 limit for silver hallmarking?

[Wallace]

I am with Peter on this one and send most of mine off for marking - in the long run it is more cost effective to send more than less.... weird but true. Even ear wires / posts can get hallmarked now by laser.

[Tabby66]

I am with Peter on this one and send most of mine off for marking - in the long run it is more cost effective to send more than less.... weird but true. Even ear wires / posts can get hallmarked now by laser.

Yup!! Me too......

Just make sure you hsve s good sized parcel together!! It reduces the cost per item significantly..........

[caroleallen]

I think it depends a lot on the way you work. If you get commissioned to make an expensive piece (ie wedding/engagement rings etc) and the customer is happy to wait for hallmarking, that's fine. If you only make one-off things to sell at craft fairs, Etsy etc, that's also fine, particularly if it's not your only income. If, however, you have a largish range and you sell online, with people expecting their items quickly for Birthdays etc, it's impossible to keep everything in stock already hallmarked. In an ideal world, that's what I'd do, but there aren't enough hours in the day to stock up. It's a struggle to keep up with orders as it is. It's a difficult balance with pricing as if I charged more, I wouldn't get the high number of sales that I currently do as it's all so competitive. I'd love to be only making expensive pieces but I don't have the market for that. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that they don't alter the hallmarking limit.

[Wallace]

Good that you are so busy. Good news on your new helper too. I guess your point on alternative incomes is a good one. Personally, I get commissions for birthday, weddings, anniversaries that don't always need hallmarking so the choice is the customers, if underweight. If I Have got time to complete them and they are underweight, it of course is a bonus and they get sent off. However, these are also the items that also help to bump up the amount sent in the batch too.

Charging a fair price is still possible - stones, solder, polish, new tools, increase in utility prices, education etc..can add more costs to the item than the hallmark sometimes. Just getting the balance right. If I was doing this solely, I still think I would follow marking items where possible as it makes it cheaper to mark more than less. In for a penny etc.