What does pricing have to do with paying yourself?
Everything.
If you’ve taken my pricing course, then you know I focus deeply on the math side of pricing, and the labor and time side of pricing.
Because the math is important to understanding the base or the floor of your pricing model – the formula that takes into account your COGS, your labor, and your padding to account for metal pricing fluctuations.
The math provides you with the floor below which you can and should not go if you want to make any amount of money on your jewelry. This is the part that really informs your profit margin – i.e. the part that helps you get paid.
But your pricing also needs to have an anchor, a story, something that organizes it into the world in a way that makes sense for your target audience.
And that is the ceiling part of your pricing.
Your jewelry and your pricing strategy are both unique
When it comes to jewelry you’ve probably noticed that the ceiling varies for almost every designer. That’s because the ceiling has to take into account every other facet of your business – your brand, your production process, your target audience, how you sell your jewelry (i.e. direct consumer or wholesale), your overhead, your cost of living, how much you want to pay yourself, how much you need to pay yourself – all of it.
That ceiling can be different depending on who you are, what you sell, and how you sell.
It’s the core reason why pricing can vary across the industry – everyone will have a different story behind their business choices and their personal financial needs and wants. Understanding your personal financial needs is part of how you’ll be able to price your jewelry so that you can pay yourself.
Learn how you can create a better pricing strategy
The ceiling can also be determined by who you’re up against. I don’t talk a lot about competition and competitor analysis on my blog because frankly I tend to see the industry as more of a community.
But that isn’t to say that you never have any competition – there are lots of people who make work that’s similar to yours, using similar materials, and who reach a similar audience.
It’s always worthwhile to look to what they’re doing to see where you should be or could be or to note what you’re doing differently.
Competitor analyses can be fraught though because you don’t know what goes on inside of somebody else’s business.
And that’s where the Pricing Strategy for Jewelers comes in.
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You have questions about whether or not your pricing is right to begin with.
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You have questions about whether or not you can profit and make this work as a business (hint – you can!)
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You wonder if you can charge more or if you should be charging less.
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You may have looked at your competitors and noted that your prices are coming out higher than theirs, but you don’t know what their production practices are.
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You see the sales coming in, but the money is going right back out and you’re wondering when you’ll hit that sweet equilibrium of it staying around a little longer so that you CAN pay yourself.
I created this 1-1 consulting plan to help you wade through all of that information, with support and structure, and gain the clarity to see what your best pricing looks like.
This 1-1 consulting is here to help you understand how your pricing fits into the grander scheme of your business, your profit, and your ability to pay yourself.
Because while the math might look the same for most of you, the rest of it will be unique to your business. And that includes how you’ll pay yourself.
I bring insight and a direct approach, you bring your creativity and drive, and together we can craft a pricing strategy that works for you, your business goals, and your money goals.
Who can help you create a pricing strategy for your jewelry brand?
Me! Hi, I’m Sharon Z, a jewelry business consultant.
About me if you’re new to my blog – my background in the industry has been both broad and long.
I’ve made art jewelry, I’ve sold art jewelry; I’ve worked in production jewelry, I’ve sold production jewelry; I’ve had my own production line that I sold in stores; I work on the ethical and responsible side of the industry as a member of the Jewelry Glossary Project; I’ve worked in custom jewelry for other businesses and my own. I’ve given talks at industry events on pricing and ethical marketing.
I’ve been a metalsmith since 2003, and working in and on the jewelry industry since 2006. I bring a long-view to my business consulting that focuses on profit and your economic sustainability.
Most of all, though, I know you’ve got this.
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