How to Price Handmade Jewelry
Jewelry prices swing with metal prices, and small findings add up fast. Here is how to cost a piece and keep it profitable when silver or gold moves.
What goes into the cost of one piece
- Metal by the gram: wire, sheet, chain and clasps. Recalculate when the spot price changes.
- Stones, beads and pearls: cost per piece from what you paid for the strand or lot.
- Findings: jump rings, crimps, ear wires, clasps. Small, but they add up.
- Packaging: boxes, cards, pouches.
- Your time: design, making, finishing and photographing, at a real hourly rate.
- Overheads: tools, polishing supplies, software and fees.
Worked example: a pearl bracelet
Materials come to $8.99. Fifteen minutes of work at $20 an hour plus overheads brings the cost to $14.59. Sold on Etsy at $38, after fees you keep $19.35 profit.
Jewelry pricing mistakes
- Using last year's metal price. Silver and gold move every day.
- Not charging for design time on one-of-a-kind pieces.
- Leaving out findings and packaging because each one is cheap.
- Setting the same price for a design in silver and in gold-filled.
The spreadsheet for jewelry makers
The Jewelry Cost & Pricing Calculator includes a metal price helper (spot price per troy ounce to cost per gram and per piece), a material library and a full price list with wholesale, retail and Etsy prices (Excel and Google Sheets).
Work out your own price
Try your numbers in the free handmade pricing calculator, one product at a time. The general method is on How to Price Handmade Products.
Example figures use $20 an hour for your time, $120 a month of overheads spread over 200 items, the 2 × 2 wholesale/retail rule, and Etsy-style fees of about 9.5% + $0.45. Your supplier prices will differ.