Stamping silver 925

**Patstone** · 11-12-2013, 03:06 PM

My last item to be hallmarked was a 9ct gold wedding ring, made to the lady's design, very chunky and big with a very short inscription inside. Plenty of money in the item to cover the cost of the hallmarking, but my bill from the Assay Office was:-
Laser mark 1.00
Sponsors mark 0.20
Post and Packing using my packing !!!! 10.20
Minimum charge 9.00
Lettering M to E 4.50
VAT 4.98

Total 29.88

I realise that people have to be paid and that it takes skill and training to do the marking etc,and my issue isnt with that, but it only takes a couple of minutes to undo a parcel and repack. I have just posted a ring and it cost me £4.00 ish, five minutes to parcel up and take down to the Post Office after finding somewhere to park and sent Recorded delivery. Most of the items that I make are under £30, to add another £30 on the top would make it out of most normal peoples price range in this part of the world. We only make jewellery as a hobby, and sell at local craft shows, normally once a month, and people quibble about the price. We dont normally add in the charge of fuel to get there, or the cost of the table, and keep the cost of labour to a minimum, the most we ever sell is about 3 items each, so 6 in total (that is the average) total sales around £200. On the commissions, we add the charges for it all and make a reasonable profit, but that isnt very often. Our stuff isnt "tat", have a look at our website www.iscasilver.co.uk and you will see what we make and how much it is.

**Dennis** · 11-12-2013, 03:30 PM

All this time I have been wondering about the mysterious 7.7g maximum weight for not hallmarking.

Looking at the conversion tables, it seems that this was originally a conversion from the archaic unit of weight, the grain.

120 grains= 7.78 grams, or roughly a quarter of an ounce. Dennis.

**SteveLAO** · 11-12-2013, 03:39 PM

Patstone - Of course I do understand your situation, and I've already had a look on your website. The items you sell for £30ish and under.....do they still weigh over the 7.78g requirement? Many of them look as if they might be under the weight required for marking so you would not need to have them marked and thus save you some money. They seem very reasonably priced for silver and some with stones!
In addition, as I'm sure you know from experience, sending in one item on its own for marking is also the most expensive way (despite nearly 25% of your bill being post office charges over which we have no control!).
Why not save up all the items you need to mark and if you do your shows once a month then just send us in one parcel a month?

**SteveLAO** · 11-12-2013, 03:40 PM

It was originally 5 pennyweights. One pennyweight was the original weight of one penny in the time of the saxons, and it was the equivalent to 24 grains of barley! So you're right with your 120 grains!!

Originally Posted by Dennis

All this time I have been wondering about the mysterious 7.7g maximum weight for not hallmarking.

Looking at the conversion tables, it seems that this was originally a conversion from the archaic unit of weight, the grain.

120 grains= 7.78 grams, or roughly a quarter of an ounce. Dennis.

**Patstone** · 11-12-2013, 04:56 PM

Quite a lot of the stuff on the website has been hallmarked, sent in a job lot with my daughter's. Normally we do send up a parcel of things, but it cant always be done, as sometimes time is short, and if we have a poor month at the craft fair........ I would love to be able to send everything up to you, I think its quite prestigious to have a hallmark, and it looks more professional too. My "hobby" has to pay for itself so I have to keep the costs down. Sam is working at the Donkey Sanctuary and gets exhausted by the end of the day, she does a manual job, and works 12 hour days so that she can take Wednesdays off to make jewellery so her "output" is minimal. We have three months now until the next craft fair to get cracking, and produce nice things.

**medusa** · 12-12-2013, 08:22 PM

Originally Posted by Patstone

My last item to be hallmarked was a 9ct gold wedding ring, made to the lady's design, very chunky and big with a very short inscription inside. Plenty of money in the item to cover the cost of the hallmarking, but my bill from the Assay Office was:-
Laser mark 1.00
Sponsors mark 0.20
Post and Packing using my packing !!!! 10.20
Minimum charge 9.00
Lettering M to E 4.50
VAT 4.98

Total 29.88

I realise that people have to be paid and that it takes skill and training to do the marking etc,and my issue isnt with that, but it only takes a couple of minutes to undo a parcel and repack. I have just posted a ring and it cost me £4.00 ish, five minutes to parcel up and take down to the Post Office after finding somewhere to park and sent Recorded delivery. Most of the items that I make are under £30, to add another £30 on the top would make it out of most normal peoples price range in this part of the world. We only make jewellery as a hobby, and sell at local craft shows, normally once a month, and people quibble about the price. We dont normally add in the charge of fuel to get there, or the cost of the table, and keep the cost of labour to a minimum, the most we ever sell is about 3 items each, so 6 in total (that is the average) total sales around £200. On the commissions, we add the charges for it all and make a reasonable profit, but that isnt very often. Our stuff isnt "tat", have a look at our website www.iscasilver.co.uk and you will see what we make and how much it is.

Pat, the stuff I sell to commission is worth adding in the thirty quid for hallmarking because, apart from the legal requirements, I usually don't charge less than £200, more often £400. The stuff I sell for under £100 is not to commission and so gets sent in as a job lot but I don't think I would bother hallmarking anything that sold for less than £30, it's just not worth the cost. £10.20 P&P is outrageous and well over actual cost even for domestic customers. What is the lettering charge?

And I know well your stuff is beautifully made and I'm pretty sure I've said before that I think that you seriously undercharge.

**CJ57** · 12-12-2013, 08:56 PM

I've never seen your website before Pat and your work is really well made and beautifully finished and I have to agree that you are underselling yourself, you could/should charge at least that price again I would have thought

**SteveLAO** · 13-12-2013, 09:03 AM

£10.20.......£3.25 handling and £6.95 royal mail.....

Originally Posted by medusa

Pat, the stuff I sell to commission is worth adding in the thirty quid for hallmarking because, apart from the legal requirements, I usually don't charge less than £200, more often £400. The stuff I sell for under £100 is not to commission and so gets sent in as a job lot but I don't think I would bother hallmarking anything that sold for less than £30, it's just not worth the cost. £10.20 P&P is outrageous and well over actual cost even for domestic customers. What is the lettering charge?

And I know well your stuff is beautifully made and I'm pretty sure I've said before that I think that you seriously undercharge.