Jewelry for fun and profit

I took the plunge and ordered some jewelry items for resale. I agonized over the chosen list. Several catalogs were consulted. Many, many things got trimmed from the initial wish list. I opted to not purchase a ring for myself at this time. I put off a couple of SCA type purchases.

Hubby was patient and helped me set up a spread sheet. I had done spread sheets back in college, but every one I’ve used since then was set up by another person. I entered all the items from the order on my little spread sheet. Now I have a much better idea of how much to charge for each item. When they arrive, I will decide what needs to be priced up or down. I’m already planning a new spread sheet set up for the next time. I will pre-program a range for the retail markup so all I will need to do is pick a number and slap on a price tag.

I hope the next sale day is very profitable. Thus far, my hobby has failed to pay for itself. In fact, it got quite expensive. I made things that people admired, but no one would buy. It was quite disheartening. I quit buying supplies and resorted to giving away the things I had made for presents. It was so hard not to take out my frustrations on potential customers when they would ask, “How much would a blah-blah necklace cost me?” “More than you are willing to pay,” I would think to myself, then attempt to politely explain the cost of the supplies and components, not to mention my labor.

I’m hoping the spread sheet will help me to arrive at a fair selling price. Overcharging means you sell little or nothing. If customers find out you lowered asking prices after they made their purchase, there are hard feelings. Undercharging means the cost of the item will come out of my pocket and there will be no profit to reinvest into a business.

I’m just glad I learned some of these hard lessons before I plunged head-long into a failing venture.