Question: Pricing

WSammut

Member
Joined
May 14, 2014
Messages
89
Location
Traverse City, MI
Was talking with Chris D about getting myself some work through some local jewelry stores doing script and boarders and such and he said someone had come up with a pricing list? Did that ever get made?
 

Eric Olson

Elite Cafe Member
Joined
Nov 16, 2010
Messages
221
Location
Louisville, CO
Its not a strange thing that nobody wants to talk about prices - It's different for everyone. Are you the best guy in the county or region? A new guy trying to break into the business? Are jewelers in your area clamoring for engravers? What do local jewelers charge for these services (assuming people want it...)?
If a jeweler can make 3X on your labor they'll love you. So $100 an inch for a border for "them" becomes 33/inch for you.
I read here recently about someone who did a 1/2" cube on all 6 sides in different levels of difficulty and came up with a price for each.
Remember 1/2 X 1/2" square is only 1/4 square inch, so 400/square inch is not unusual as a minimum.
Do the work (the best you can, not the fastest..), time yourself, evaluate your quality and price accordingly.
I agree a price list is critical, so your jeweler customer knows how much to estimate for their clients;
you just gotta make your own. Good luck!
 

Dave London

~ Elite 1000 Member ~
Joined
Nov 12, 2006
Messages
1,764
Location
Colorado
Try the search function, a few years ago a jeweler on this forum published his list of fees. Good luck
 

Southern Custom

~ Elite 1000 Member ~
Joined
Mar 8, 2013
Messages
1,026
Location
Baton Rouge
I don't want to rain on your parade but I can tell you from experience that there's not a ton of money to be made in the jewelry trade for hand engravers these days. I service most all the stores in my city of 600,000 people since i'm the only hand engraver in town. I doubt I do more than $3000 in a good year from this type of work. People just don't want to pay the premium to have items hand cut when a CNC machine can do the same lettering at a fraction of the price. Most people don't care how their lettering is cut. Only how cheaply it can be done. A new engraver recently came to me asking about his plan to leave his card with all of the bridal shops in town thinking that he could make a living lettering cake knives and silverware and such. I had to break it to him that most of this stuff is silver plated these days and I for one refuse to cut it. One mistake can destroy months of profit. Real silver items are a rarity. I may cut 3 Sterling baby cups a year. As for hand engraved rings and the like, most of these things are already engraved by skilled workers overseas that work for a fraction of what I must charge. Of course there are exceptions. This is just my town. Your's may be a different story. I bill out at $60 an hour with a $30 minimum for jewelry items. Generally if you are working for yourself and charging less,, you'll starve. Just be aware of what you are getting into.
 

WSammut

Member
Joined
May 14, 2014
Messages
89
Location
Traverse City, MI
Thanks Layne, that’s a good point. I wasn’t quite looking to fully make a living from lettering. I was more of hoping to get a little on the side of my full time bench job, was hoping to eventually go down to 4 days a week at work with this (nothing but jewelry repairs is killing me), and hoping to get engraving experience slowly instead of just jumping into a gun or something above my level
 
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