Ask the Experts Selling Q&A

Pricing: I have read and followed your suggestions on pricing, but am still unsure if I am fair, too low, or too high. I have seen some very nice work on an artist's website and found similar work priced quite low, considering the high end beads and components used. Back to square 1—how else can I determine if I am fair? Thanks for your help.

- Colleen

One of the most difficult concepts for jewelry artists to master is pricing. More often than not, jewelry artists tend to under-price their work. There are many reasons for this, but the most common is that they are afraid if they price their jewelry too high, no one will buy it. The reality is quite different. Why?

Because consumers associate price with quality and generally assume that the more something costs, the better it is. That's why many jewelry artists experience increased sales after raising their prices. At one of my seminars, a jewelry artist showed everyone in the class a silver bracelet she had designed and was selling for $75. I asked everyone in the class to give an estimate as to what they thought the bracelet should sell for without knowing the actual price she was charging. The majority of the class estimated the value as well above her price, all the way up to $250. Not surprisingly, she began charging more right after the seminar. 

Looking at what you believe to be similar work to yours online and trying to base your price on that will be a challenge. You might do better research by going to a gallery that sells to the market you want to reach and get a sense of what is selling well there.

As in real estate, a piece of jewelry is worth what any willing buyer will pay for it. Therefore, you want to make sure that you are selling to an audience that truly appreciates handcrafted, one-of-a-kind jewelry. There is no simple formula to use, but consider slowly raising your prices by $5 or $10 increments and see what the resulting sales look like.

- Dr. David Weiman