Daily Wire Tip Aug. 26: Wire Jewelry Inventory & Pricing Management

Daily Wire Jewelry Making Tip
August 26, 2010

Question:

Love this website and all of the videos and written patterns. Enjoying the DVDs that I’ve purchased also. I have one question, what kind of record do you keep for your purchases of materials, inventory, use of inventory and recording your patterns? I know that’s a lot in one question, but what I’m trying to do is sooo time consuming that I’m not having time to devote to making my jewelry. Appreciate any help!

-Trina in Marietta, Georgia

Answer:

Wire-Sculpture is affiliated with Bead Manager Pro, one of the best jewelry inventory programs out there. Although I have not personally used this software, it has some good reviews and when one is just beginning, using a product such as this can help immensely. This program will document all the supplies you buy and how much they cost, give you a price for each jewelry piece you create based on an hourly wage and cost of materials, and record how you make the piece, which is useful for recording patterns. This is great if you’re starting out, but personally, I just have so much stuff that now is about 19 years too late!

Some of our Faculty members use Excel sheets that they set up according to what they need. I prefer to keep track the old fashioned way, in notebooks. As I mentioned, if you are just starting out and don’t have a building full of supplies, now would be the time to purchase and use a software product such as Bead Manager Pro.

Answer contributed by Dale “Cougar” Armstrong

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14 Comments

1. 

   Jerry Beeman

   August 26, 2010 at 8:06 am

   I highly recommend Bead manager pro. I enter everything when it arrives. It is also a GREAT help in pricing your jewelry. I found that I was not charging nearly enough. I’m now selling at a decent profit.

   P.S. this program allows you to choose your profit margin.
2. 

   Cheryl Dunham

   August 26, 2010 at 8:40 am

   I have used the bead manager program, it works nice, but you do have to take the time to enter each purchase, I agree if you have lots of beads in stock it will be time consuming, but you system you have now is too, so give it a try. I like the program.
3. 

   Joyce

   August 26, 2010 at 8:44 am

   I’ve used Jewelry Designer Manager Pro for years – sounds just like Bead Manager. Love it – just wish I would have had it when I first started, instead of buying it a couple of years after the fact.
4. 

   Gracelyn Tuoti

   August 26, 2010 at 8:44 am

   My business is pretty new, so I purchased Bead Manager Pro, and I’ve found it very helpful. The most tedious part is getting the inventory into it. Dale is right – if you have a lot, it would be overwhelming, but if you are just starting out, like I am, it is a great product. I also use it for my customer list and my invoicing. The support for the product has been good in my experience.
5. 

   Terry

   August 26, 2010 at 8:52 am

   Bead Manager Pro is a gr8 help. If you are not brand new though expect to put in some time entering your data, but it is gr8 when your are caught up. It is also very easy to use,
6. 

   mary

   August 26, 2010 at 9:19 am

   Definitely if you are starting out and your supply inventory is small then using a spreadsheet works really well. Just be aware that this is time consuming as your supply inventory increases tracking everything. A software package like the one Dale mentions would work great. Especially if it has options like including a picture of the special bead or finding that you purchased, etc.

   Like Dale, my inventory is huge and I track it in spreadsheets as well as in a software program. I also keep a design sheet handy as I make something and record all parts I have used and when finished I add it to my records with a picture of the completed item. I make notes on the sheet for the pattern, etc. and that comes in handy as I put it in a notebook when done.
7. 

   Sherry

   August 26, 2010 at 11:01 am

   I got it and it works great. It’ll even show you profit and loss. It’s wonderful. You wont regret it.
   I have to admit it does take a lot of time to get started with it though.
8. 

   DeLane

   August 26, 2010 at 11:27 am

   I have been using an Excel spreadsheet for inventory for years. My husband enters all of the beads, wire and anything else (and the beads are counted and priced individually and the wire is priced by the inch!) and that makes him feel he is part of the business. Since Excel comes on most computers, it is certainly cheaper than a purchased program. Pricing? I do my own, thank you. I know what this area will take, and I know what “beauty price” to put on a piece. But you will probably need help getting it set up so that the tax, travel, and postage can be added to all prices.
9. 

   Lila

   August 26, 2010 at 11:41 am

   I highly recommend Jewelry Designer Manager. It is easy to inventory material and finished pieces. You can print reports and inventory lists. I also manage my database of customers with the software.
10. 

    Kay

    August 26, 2010 at 12:12 pm

    I use both Jewelry Designer Pro and Excel. Jewelry Designer Pro is a great software program, and the owner will spend the time to walk you through any questions that you may have. It is great for pricing and keeping track of your supplies. For the actual sales and inventory I use Excel, as that is what I started with and like using the spreadsheet. JDP will do inventory for you of your sales, but it is less time consuming for me to do that part on Excel.
11. 

    Nathalie

    August 26, 2010 at 2:18 pm

    I bought Bead Mgr Pro. As an ex Information Technology person, I can attest it is a good simple tool. It really allows you to take into consideration all costing aspects of your business (electricity, rent for home office space used, tools, camera, PC, etc.) which should be reflected in the costing of your pieces. It tracks your inventory (bought, used, on-hand, avg unit cost or most recent cost, etc.). You can set-up alerts so you are advised way before you run out of much needed materials. You can track all your vendors & associate them to your inventory. You can track your pieces inventory, associated assembly instructions, associated pictures. The tool tracks how much material was used to make the pieces and adjusts the on-hand inventory accordingly. Based on your operational costs, hourly wages and cost of materials, the tool will suggest wholesale, retail, & direct pricing for your pieces. Finally, the tool allows you to print out your catalogue based on selected pieces… I agree that it is lengthy to start out (I have 2 yrs worth of acquired inventory to put in) but I feel I have a better grasp on what I have on hand, what I need and what I don’t need. It also helps curb my buying as I love beads and impulsively buy beads I may not need right now for my pieces. If you are serious about running a jewelry business, you need a tool like this one. Also, if you have your inventory in Excel and decide to buy a tool like this one, you can import your Excel data into this tool.
12. 

    Gary

    August 29, 2010 at 4:24 am

    Hi Everyone,

    Gary here from Bead Manager Pro.

    We’re really happy to be able to make this offer to all the customers of Wire Sculpture and the feedback that we have had has been great.

    I see from quite a few of the comments here that people are concerned about getting there data in to the program that they already have setup in Excel.

    Well the good news is that you can import your data into Bead Manager Pro from Excel so the chances are you can just get all your spreadsheets imported and save hours of time getting up and running.

    There are details in our knowledge base on how to do this here:

    If you need help the just contact us through the support ticket system here

    Cheers

    Gary

    Bead Manager Pro Jewelry Software
13. 

    Nancy M

    September 28, 2010 at 2:22 pm

    It only comes in a version to use with Windows though. I have a Mac and can’t use this. They need to make a Mac version.
14. 

    Gary

    October 6, 2010 at 7:42 am

    Hi Nancy

    Bead Manager Pro is compatible for Windows and Mac.

    Please see here for details:
    Windows and Mac Jewelry Software