One of the things I've been very keen to ensure with my jewelry making is that it remains a place where I am free to play, be creative and not so mired down by the practicalities that affect so many aspects of my life and which can, frankly, suck the joy out of them. Of course I sell my jewelry but Quisnam is most definitely not just a business to me. It is also an investment in myself and my well being. When I sit down to make - there might be frequent cursing and even the odd minor injury (hammers can be tricky) but there is also a kind of zen from which I emerge calmer and happier.
The super talented Penny has been having a very interesting discussion about pricing over on her blog. This is an issue I've touched on here in the past and I agree with almost all of what Penny, and and her commentators, have to say. I know when I started I most definitely struggled with a lack of worthiness. Nowadays I use a very straightforward formula to calculate my prices - cost of materials plus an hourly rate plus a percentage to cover associated overheads and things like time involved in photography, listing, administration etc. This approach has, for me, taken a lot of the anxiety out of this aspect of Quisnam. Now, I should caveat this with a couple of points. I buy a lot from etsy sellers but I also source from thrift (opportunity/charity) shops and use, whenever I can, found objects. I rarely use precious metals like silver or gold (generally only on earring wires). The only mass produced bits and pieces I use are generally the ones that come attached to my thrift shop finds and which I usually alter in some way. I also admit to cheating the hourly aspect of my pricing strategy from time time. Sometimes a piece takes way longer to complete because of unanticipated design issues or I find one of my wire wraps isn't up to scratch so I have to re-make it. I don't include all this extra faffing about in the final price. I'll also admit that my 'hourly-rate' for my jewelry making is probably lower than it should be.
I'm not interested in benchmarking my work against the mass produced stuff available in retail stores or online markets places like eBay because that's like benchmarking processed against whole-foods. I have found that most of the people I meet would much prefer to buy something hand made over something mass produced and they are absolutely prepared to pay more for it. But price can be a barrier, particularly in these tough times. Whilst I don't want to use this an excuse to devalue my work it has shaped my approach to making. This means that when I am sourcing supplies I rule out those that will result in the finished piece having what I consider to be too high a price tag.
Whenever possible I take advantage of reduced shipping costs and make multiple purchases from one one supplier, pragmatically waiting until I have a long enough shopping list to make it worthwhile. I now have a core list of suppliers that I use for my most often used components and materials and whose quality I can be assured of - I am loyal to them and they are loyal to me, frequently giving me extras and discounts. Nowadays I am much more ruthless and only use a proportion of the income generated from my sales to purchase supplies and other consumables. If I haven't got the cash-flow I don't buy it!! Does all this sound incredibly business like - hell yes! But the irony is that this pragmatic approach frees me up so that I can relax when it comes to actually making. Does my approach constrain my creativity - yes to an extent, but it is a fundamental part of my aesthetic. I am committed to making my jewelry what I consider to be affordable (of course affordable is a super objective and relative, but that's a whole different post) - that's the challenge I have set myself and it's much more inspiring than it is constraining.
Do I break my own rules - of course I do. This is art after all.
