How much do I pay an outworker?

[pink]

Hello.
I need some help cleaning up castings, some soldering of jump rings, some assembly and possibly making bangles. I've found a student who is excellent except, as we are both new to this, neither of us knows much about charging!

I've been told paying by the piece is best but how do I fix a reasonable rate? I definitely don't want to underpay someone. Also, should the cleaning up castings work attract a different rate to making an item? So castings by piece and maybe making, per hour?

Any advice will be a great help Thanks

[sam.k]

I don't know much about jewellery yet but I have many staff.
Why not pick a day/afternoon/morning, pay an hourly rate and get done what needs to be done? Figure out from there if you need them less or more.
Be aware there is a minimum wage to pay and it is applicable to part timers unless they are an apprentice, this Also applies to piece work so the rate (it's called the fair rate) needs to be high enough that you can make the minimum hourly wage per hour.
Also be aware that if they are employed by you then PAYE may come into play.

[Aurarius]

So castings by piece and maybe making, per hour?

Any advice will be a great help Thanks

It depends what your priorities are really, but if I paid by the piece for cleaning up castings, I'd expect a much less thorough cleaning up job on average than if I were paying by the hour.

[Tabby66]

I've done some trade work in the past and depending on the work involved your looking at pence per casting and less than a handful of pounds for a bangle (Cut and part hammered from heavy wire). The castings involved de-spruing, filing and buffing,.....not finishing/polishing and varied from 15-35p per item. Bangles, £2.50-4.50 involved cutting to length from wire, shape bangle, file & shape ends.

There is definitely a big part of 'production' working to manage 100-500 pieces efficiently at any one time!!

[Aurarius]

I've done some trade work in the past and depending on the work involved your looking at pence per casting... The castings involved de-spruing, filing and buffing,.....not finishing/polishing and varied from 15-35p per item.

Taking your average that's 25p per casting, which means you're going to have to do nearly thirty an hour to get the national minimum wage.
I'd challenge anyone to adequately file and buff an 18ct solitaire ring mount, say, including in and around the galleries and prongs, in two minutes. It's not humanly possible, unless the intention is just to make the rough casting look a bit less rough rather than prepare it properly for polishing.

[pink]

My intention is definitely to have the casting finished to just before polishing stage.

However, the price is much much less than I expected.

Taking your average that's 25p per casting, which means you're going to have to do nearly thirty an hour to get the national minimum wage.
I'd challenge anyone to adequately file and buff an 18ct solitaire ring mount, say, including in and around the galleries and prongs, in two minutes. It's not humanly possible, unless the intention is just to make the rough casting look a bit less rough rather than prepare it properly for polishing.

[pink]

I've done some trade work in the past and depending on the work involved your looking at pence per casting and less than a handful of pounds for a bangle (Cut and part hammered from heavy wire). The castings involved de-spruing, filing and buffing,.....not finishing/polishing and varied from 15-35p per item. Bangles, £2.50-4.50 involved cutting to length from wire, shape bangle, file & shape ends.

There is definitely a big part of 'production' working to manage 100-500 pieces efficiently at any one time!!

Thanks for the advice. I'll have to consider what I pay as despite being straightforward castings, the pay seems really low for London.

[Tabby66]

They were pretty simple flat discs in a variety of shapes, nothing as complex as a ring mount

It's also the other benefits in goodwill you gain within the trade that is beneficial and 30 was very double in and hour

[caroleallen]

If you want a good job done you should pay at least the minimum hourly wage. I pay a lot more, but my girls are hard working and committed to doing their best work. I'm so lucky to have them.

[pink]

If you want a good job done you should pay at least the minimum hourly wage. I pay a lot more, but my girls are hard working and committed to doing their best work. I'm so lucky to have them.

Thanks...I think this is the way forward as ideally I'd like to work with the same person long term.