Adjusting Jewelry Prices with the Metal Market

Answer:

You know Lia, we had a discussion on this a while back and when I found it . . . Wow! All jewelry making wire prices have really increased since then! (Dec 15, 2009 - Pricing Jewelry Made With Gold Wire) Thanks for asking - it is definitely time to revisit this subject. By the way, at the time I write this, 03/11/2011, Gold is $1420 and Silver is $35 per ounce - that's a big change from $11!

My answer is Yes! When we make a piece of wire jewelry, we have to replace the wire used, therefore the wire used in a piece needs to reflect current replacement prices.

Go back to your records and examine the supplies used in each finished piece. For example, let's say you have a pendant with 5 feet of sterling silver wire in it: when you bought this wire, it was $1.50/ft, and today the same wire costs $3.00/ft. Because 3 ÷ 1.50 is 2, just multiply the wire cost by 2 to arrive at the updated price (remember to add the rest of the component costs as well as your time). Of course, if you have a lot of prices to adjust and are in need of supplies, you could have a "one-time-only" sale, advertising "Yesterday's Prices Today!" to reduce the old stock and make way for the new, generating income to reinvest in materials you may need.

Unfortunately, the future price forecast for jewelry making metals is not encouraging, with predictions of silver exceeding $48.70 per ounce during 2011 (the high range could reach $55 to $65 in the coming years). As the prices of gold began to rise, people turned to more affordable silver, causing the value of it to increase. Now that jewelry making has become so popular worldwide, and due to the above facts, even the prices of alternative metals are on the rise! (Copper is currently low at just $4.18/lb) If you would like to keep an eye on metal prices, there a number of web bases sites to help.

All-in-all folks, if you are in the position to purchase metal jewelry making supplies today, I would advise you to do so. And by all means, re-price your handcrafted jewelry to reflect your rising replacement costs!

Answer contributed by Dale "Cougar" Armstrong