I beaded my butt off. (Sigh. Don't you wish you could really do that?) I started before 8 a.m. and just quit about half an hour ago, 7:15-ish. I stopped for lunch and dinner and ran a couple of errands. I'll subtract an hour and half for all that, and that still was nearly 10 hours of beading. And in that time I produced exactly two pairs of earrings, a bracelet and a pendant. (Wow! Just another 25 pieces to go between now and Friday! And tomorrow is Thursday.)
I suspect many beaders are like I am when it comes to pricing work -- clueless. Back when I was a freelance writer, I once asked a fellow freelancer how much to charge for, say, writing a press release. The answer was, "As much as you can ask while still keeping a straight face. And if they accept your price without a quibble, you didn't ask enough." Of course, writing is not beading (thank goodness -- I don't want anyone coming back to me with requests for revisions on my earrings!), and I don't think any of us want to have our customers haggle over prices. Nonetheless, when something doesn't sell, I always wonder if I've priced it too high.
So how does one decide how much to charge? I've read in various places that one should charge 2.5 times the cost of materials. That might work for silversmiths or furniture makers, but I think beadweavers are more like painters, in that regard. Does a painter weigh each dab of pigment he or she puts on the palette? My seed beads are like that. Even if I had the discipline to track the price of every tube of beads and record how many of each bead I use in a piece, I'd spend more time counting than creating. And if I had the mindset for that, I'd be an accountant, not an artist. (Before all the accountants rush to hit the "comment" link, let me add that I'm sure there are many artists who are accountants and vise versa. But I'm not that talented!)
Another pricing philosophy is that one should price pieces according to an hourly rate. This is a bit problematic for me, too. Since I have a day job, I rarely complete a piece in one sitting. And if I kept a record of how many minutes I spend on a piece, we're back to the "counting, not creating" problem. Today, however, turned out to be a good benchmark, since I was specifically focused on beading. Ten hours, four pieces. I didn't track how much time I spent on each piece, but if I assigned four hours each to the bracelet and pendant, and an hour to each pair of earrings, the prices I charge for these pieces are very close to the hourly rate I've set for myself.
Is my hourly rate too low? Probably -- but that's a whole 'nother issue. What is our time worth?
Article by Frances of bebop beads.
Great article :)
ReplyDeleteI can totally relate to your pricing issues. I am constantly struggling with these issues. (So although I can RELATE, I haven't come up with an answer to either of your very important questions.)
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on that great show you had! And, those are some lovely pieces you just made. Keep up the good work. 8)
ReplyDeleteGreat article - and I feel like this too! Glad to see that someone else has this same problem! Makes me feel like I am not so alone!
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed the article-- but have no answers:)
ReplyDeleteI think a lot of us have those questions. Ok we make a seed bead piece that uses 1000 seed beads the tube costs $3.00. So that would be 1.50 time 2.5. We are supposed to charge $3.75 for the piece, I THINK NOT! We spend a lot of time putting those 1000 beads into a form that is beautiful. But, I still don't have the answer either.
ReplyDeleteA really nice informative post. Also, congrats on your sales.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed the article. Wish I had an easy answer re: pricing. I try taking a ballpark shot at how many hours plus perceived uniqueness and design and utility and whatever else I happen to think of as I look at a completed piece. But I haven't an actual formula.
ReplyDeleteNice article, congratulations on your success! Pricing is always a problem. If you can pay yourself on an hourly basis, the problem is solved!
ReplyDeleteI am SOOOO jealous- taking off work to bead! Too bad I have a new job and practically no vacation time :( Your pieces are great.
ReplyDeleteWish I could take a day off to just bead. What a luxury that would be!! I, too, deal with the pricing dilemma and have no answers. I try to price where I think things will sell in my area.
ReplyDeletepricing is always difficult! great article!
ReplyDeleteI am so jealous! Can I take a day off from my 3 kids? haha that would be nice, but not possible! Oh well... for now I will just be envious that you took the day off of work to do your more important job of beading (at least beading I consider more of a priority! Who needs a regular job to pay bills) :-D Pricing causes such a delema, I have no idea if mine are even somewhere close to fair... its such a struggle to figure out... when someone gets it figured out let me know!!!
ReplyDeleteTotally agreed with the pricing of the beaded piece. But when a buyer buys my work, it means that she agree to pay for it.
ReplyDeleteNever bother to crack my brain for the answer cos you will find the right person to buy your great work, keep the great work up!
I did a lot of counting of seed beads when I was initially trying to figure out my prices. Now I don't bother - I just weigh the finished piece and charge an average price per 10 grams (worked out from that year's seed bead purchases) and add on any particularly expensive components such as crystals or stones. Then I multiply materials costs by 1.5 and add on my hourly rate (I am very bad at time sheets so this is a guesstimate) plus overheads. I priced a series of 'test' pieces by both methods and the prices were pretty much the same!
ReplyDeleteGlad to see shows are bringing out buyers. As far as pricing is concerned, I think most of us can relate to the difficulty in calculating what is actually in each piece.
ReplyDeleteI've tried to estimate the time and I charge $15.00 or $20.00 per hour based on the difficulty of the stitch, plus materials, especially if I use expensive gemstones or lampwork beads.
But we truly won't get our prices until we believe we are worth it - and we are!!
This article is great. I was told when I started to make jewelry at a jewelry/bead store by the owner is charge what you pay for the materials plus $10 an hour. Im still amazed that you finished 4 pieces in 10 hours. It takes me a few weeks to do a freeform bracelet I wish I could take off work as well. I think we are all jealous of you that do not have the ability to do this. Congratulations on your sales and many more to come.
ReplyDeleteA wonderful article! I track my components in JewelryDesignerPro to get an estimate of material costs - then mark up (the software includes variables for the calculations). I think I like the thought of pricing by weight, though! I think I'll look into that suggestion.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on the great show Frances! You have a rough time with shows and bad weather, eh? Hopefully the one in Hudson will be better! I look forward to seeing you there.
ReplyDeleteAs for pricing, I have tried various different calculations, but can't seem to find one that works right, so I've ballparked it mostly.
congratulations on the great sales, and thanks for the great article. I sometimes feel I am not charging near enough, but then again, I'm not selling anything, either!
ReplyDeletemarilyn g
Congratulations on such a great sale! We are all pea green with envy. The subject of pricing is a difficult one wherever you live. We have discussed it numerous times at our Bead Society meetings and still do not have a definitive answer.
ReplyDeleteOne of our members keeps insisting that we need to charge $45.00 per hour. I have recently spent 2.5 days making one RAW bracelet and it is still not quite finished. Say around 20 hours. That would make it $900.00 (did I work that out right - good grief). I'd never sell anything. I can't even see $10.00 an hour being a viable price on this one (who is going to pay $200.00 for a bracelet?). I would be happy to get $150.00 but even that might be dreaming.
Those earrings are SO pretty! I don't know how you beaders have the patience to create those detailed pieces! The $$ value of our time and artistic knowledge is something that I struggle with too.
ReplyDeletenameton, I like your very scientific approach to pricing! I may try that (if my records from last year are good enough).
ReplyDeleteYes, I know I am extraordinarily lucky to have a boss whose philosophy is, "As long as you're getting your work done, I don't care how and when you use your vacation days."
I remember reading an interesting article in one of the big bead mags. that had said if your hourly rate (with your wage that seems fair) was adding up to be a way too pricey piece, then sometimes what you most need to work on is not changing your rate, but finding ways to speed up your work.
ReplyDeleteThis was a great article, Frances! I know it's something that all artists struggle with.
ReplyDeleteHate to be a party pooper, but if you are just charging your hourly rate to make the piece, you will forever struggle to make your business viable. You are not including the cost of doing shows...booth fee, display, packaging, your time selling the work at the show. You are not including other overhead costs of doing business...advertising, time spent doing marketing, accounting, etc...or paying someone to do those things for you.
ReplyDeleteIn the end, you should probably charge four times the price you ended up charging. It may not sell, but is it the price, or is it the venue at which you are selling your work? Are you educating the buyers about the process, and what goes into making the work?
It is easy to feel like a hamster on a wheel, running and running, and never seeing a real return on your effort if you don't charge enough for your work. If you double your price, and sell half as many pieces, you have given yourself a raise. You do not have to work as many hours to make as much money. Volume is not the goal. Profit is.