And so it begins

I have entered the land of the blog. Seems like a good time since I am starting a buisness and a web site.
I make jewelry - hence the name - and I am strange - hence the first part of the name - and unique
at least I think I am.

I seem to have a lot to say regarding different processes in making jewelry, the different types and the whole kit and caboodle about buying the stuff to make the jewelry. Not to mention the process of starting my first online buisness. My first buisness in general.

If people start reading this they can ask me for certain topics they wish to learn more about and I will in turn learn and share.
Till that happens I will share what I find interesting.

So here is the topic for today - Priced to rip you off-

I guess its a pet peeve of mine, trying to suck people dry of money. For example during the Christmas holidays there was this store in my local mall - I don't remember the name - anyways this store sold jewelry, the sparkly eye catching kind. Rhinestones galore, shimmer and shine up the wazoo ( I just wanted to use that word)
So I go in the store and look at the prices and see what they have to offer. Lets just say the prices were 30-125 average. Guess how much it probably costs them to make these items? Well chances are they are shipped from China so the materials and production are very cheap. I will be generous and say it costs them between 1-7 bucks to make each item. Now if I were to make the same thing it would cost me more because I cant get the materials that cheap.

General rule of thumb that I have heard is that you find out what it costs you to make the item and you x3 so say it costs me $7 to make a necklace I should charge $21 - should - dont because if something I make costs me $20 then I would have to charge $60 and I am just starting out so I generally x2 - sometimes I add a few bucks if I wanted to choke myself while making the item because it simply would not cooperate.

K back to the store - sorry I go off on tangents
I have an inquiring mind so I ask what types of materials are used. First off chain - is it Sterling silver, silver plated, gold plated.. you know the drill. I do believe she said it was silver plated.
Next I ask if the Crystals were Swarovski - Nope but they were Austrian she says.. I still have to look that up, see who else in Austria makes Crystals. (Swarovski is exclusively made in Austria)

So for $58 I am looking at a silver plated chain necklace with Crystals that are second rate. What the hell would you be paying for? I really don't know. I would charge about $15 for an item like that - and it would be hand made not machine made.

There are many places that tend to suck the money out of your wallet with little return. I just recently visited an Antique shop ( this does not pertain to all Antique shops, just the one I was in) So I am looking around at the various pieces of jewelry through out the store and wow.. not wow in a good way, wow in a "are people seriously spending $10 for 'antique' plastic jewelry" We are talking made in China in the past decade kinda 'antique' Give me a friggen break.
I ask the lady if she sells broken jewelry in bags ( I like to take parts of old broken stuff and make new stuff which is called harvesting) She said she did have some, but she couldn't find it. So as I am looking around she finds it and wants to sell me this bag of stuff.. I look inside and see broken clip on earrings, plastic ... very cheap... pearls and various other pieces of crap. She then looks surprised when I am not interested. I may be new at this jewelry stuff but I am not new at walking into stupid. Why would I waist my money on things a thrift store wouldn't even put in their broken jewelry bags. So that lady is off my list of places I would consider buying stuff from.

There are sadly so many more ways people try to rip you off when it comes to buying jewelry or buying products to make jewelry but my rant here is done for the moment.

Coming up next time - How to spot a fake - how to spot fake Swarovski Crystal. This is something that really bothers me.

My web site ( though its not ready yet so its not published is www.sylverdawncreations.com
I make and sell unique and custom jewelry.
Thanks
Till the next time...