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My Jewelry Pricing Confidence Conundrum

by Stacey Danevicz.
(Michigan USA)

I have been making jewelry for about nine years now, and was completely shocked to find I was not only interested in it, but that I could sell my pieces quite easily to friends and family, and even the general public.

After a lot of initial encouragement, I quickly entered into local craft shows, and had moderate success. However, in the beginning my main focus was to make enough money to cover my costs in order to validate my “hobby”.

Although, deep down I have always wished my jewelry-making could become supplemental income, I feel pigeon-holed into my low prices because the alternative, I fear, is to not sell anything.

I have three young children, and I work 50-60 hours a week, so I am only able to participate in one or two craft shows per year, and I do not spend any time marketing my jewelry.

I end up having a “sale” at these craft shows where I offer all of my necklaces for very low prices (sadly, my actual prices are not much higher), which is bittersweet for me.

On one hand, I feel great because I actually sell quite a few pieces, but on the other hand, I feel disappointed because I know (think?) I should be asking more for my work.

I am probably also upsetting other crafters, which makes me feel horrible as well. In my defense as far as other crafters are concerned, I lack confidence in pricing because I purposely do not use precious or semi-precious stones or metals in order to keep my prices lower.

I also tell myself I am not an artist because, although I create my designs myself and try not to completely duplicate anything I make, I constantly worry that my style is more like costume jewelry.

I guess my question is, if you are not using expensive materials, are you justified in having jewelry that is more highly priced?

How do you overcome the fear of working all year for a craft show, pricing your items correctly, and then possibly not making any sales?

Stacey Danevicz
Jewelry Designs by Stacey at facebook