I am just interested on peoples opinions. Whenever I create something I am always worried about the cost of the end piece and I hate feeling like this as it suffocates my creativity!!!

Kelly
I know this feeling well - the part of me that enjoys creating wants the best silver, stones, lampwork etc but the part of me that wants to devleop my business knows that there is no point in this unless there is a market for the pieces once they are made.
Mary

I know exactly how you feel Kelly. Being constantly aware of racking up the cost of the raw materials is stifling to the design process, especially this year given the rocketing price of silver.
It's taken me a long time to pluck up the courage to break through that mental barrier, and I'm still not quite sure when it happened, but just over a year ago I decided that I had a couple of necklaces that I simply couldn't underprice, so they were tagged at over £100. And they sold. So ever since then I've relaxed about the cost of the materials and done just what I wanted. If a piece calls for oodles of silver or vermeil or expensive pearls, then that's what I'll use.
If I have the materials in stock then I won't hesitate to use them anymore.
Do the expensive pieces sell? Yes, they do. I regularly sell a design at £120, and "good" lampwork/silver pieces go for £70 - £100.
There is also what I call "snob value" at work here. Some people really do believe that unless they've paid x ammount of pounds for something special, then it's just not worth buying.
Case in point - last week I had several people ask me what was wrong with one of my fwp necklaces. I was baffled. It consisted of white BIWA centre-drilled stick pearls, excellent quality, very even, spaced with 3mm clear swaros, finished with sterling, priced (accurately, for my costings) at £70. It seems there was a commercial jewellers on another part of the ground selling an almost identical mass-produced necklace for - wait for it - £165! Did mine sell? Nope. Like I said, case in point!
Hope this helps!
Nia.

I am very aware of it but only because i have to budget my bead spending. I have gone a bit OTT recently but i sold a lot at a bead fair i went to a few months ago, i saved the money and went crazy this month!!!

I also am concious if i want to sell it about the price of the beads as the market i reach is for jewelery between £10-£20

my market is the cheapy end so I am very aware of the cost of materials- in fact a fabby necklace I was planning to make, I dropped as once I had costed it, I knew it wouldnt sell at that price!
People round here( my customers) simply dont have that kind of money for extras, so a few pounds extra on sterling/gemstones/lampwork, could price me out of the market!

Thanks for the replies, it is really interesting to hear how everyone feels about this.

My necklaces are always made with STS or fine silver and gemstones and lampies etc and I normally charge anywhere from £28 to my most expensive which I think is about £48. My bracelets are normally around £25 - £30 mark and 2 weekends ago I made one of my most expensive bracelets for £46 and my friend bought it the next day so it goes to show!!!

I think part of my problem is my hubby...I make something and say 'I have costed this necklace and I am going to charge £40 for it' and he would say, 'really, I wouldn't pay that for it, it's not even Tiffany'!!! This drives me mad as he is a real designer freak and my argument is that anyone can go to Tiffany's and buy a necklace (and I have some so am not knocking Tiffany's) and therefore a millon other people are wearing the same thing and also, mine is handmade and not mass produced...Tiffany may even have little 5 year olds in China making their stuff for all I know!!!

Anyway, off my soapbox now

I struggle with this as well. A lot of people who come to the craft fairs near me seem to compare the prices with the fashion jewellery in the supermarkets and clothes stores. I've even had people umming and ahing over £3 sp earrings before deciding whether to buy or not.
I am planning to make some more up market stuff with more gemstones, lampwork and silver when I start selling once a month at a local art gallery. If nothing else it will make my basic glass beaded bits look cheap by comparison.
I have not found many 'ladies wot lunch' near here, or at least not managed to find where they go to buy yet !! At the local Hestercombe Gardens they do a ladies lunches once a month for £22.50 it includes a talk or demonstration and then lunch and some months they get to buy jewellery. Obviously the jewellery seller has that wrapped up so no chance for me.

Melanie

I decided ages ago that I can't possibly charge what the things I make are actually worth, I'm not being big-headed, they're not that good, it's that I spend ages looking all over for antique beads and things I can recycle, I fall in love with them( I don't buy anything I don't just love).
Also, I use expensive findings and new beads and then it takes me ages to make anything and I can guarantee that every single thing I have made has been taken apart at least 3 times!

So i try to cover the basic materials and always try to knock out some earrings which are great for making a bit extra when the other bits have been slow or expensive.

I've given up on selling to the public, they are not educated enough about beads, beading etc and would rather pay for cheap and cheerful supermarket jewellry, who can blame them, I do it myself sometimes, but it is soul destroying to try and explain why the necklace that looks like the one they've seen in asda is 10 times more expensive. So I don't anymore. I do it cos I love it and if anyone wants to buy stuff so be it.

I tend to only sell to people who ask to see stuff and friends of friends who really appreciate me 'art'. I make enough to cover what I spend on beads.

Sorry, I've gone on, I don't say anything for ages then ramble ramble ramble.