[Jewelry making - Article 00550] - Re: [Orchid] Wholesaling one-offs

[Lisa Bialac-Jehle]

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    I have been watching this post with some interest as I make one of a
    kind work. In some cases "some" of a kind. I display the work, take
    orders on things that I can repeat without tying myself into a
    pretzel, and sell the ones that I wouldn't make again with a gun
    pointed at me. Too complex. When I first started out, I made one of
    a kind pieces. They were beautiful. No one would buy them. Buyers
    would smile and look at the work, but then not buy. I swore that I
    would never ever ever do production. I lied. 

    After a year or so of sitting without selling, I developed a lower
    end production line. It was really cute. It sold. It sold really
    well. It killed in fact. So there I was in production. Sigh....Not
    what I had planned, but stores loved the work. I started doing
    wholesale, then it really sold. I had moolah, but I wasn't happy, so
    soon, I began putting in a bit of my one of a kind work into the
    cases. To my surprise, bit by bit, they sold. 

    It took a while, some magazine articles, some recognizable people
    wearing my work and a lot of patience, but within a few years the one
    of a kinds were in and the production work was gone gone gone. I was
    a much happier jeweler. 

    The work hadn't changed, people just had to see it over time and fall
    in love with it...and if you have seen my work, some of it takes a
    little time to figure out that you like it. Not everyone's
    taste....lol. 

    Now I have jumped into gold...22k, and I am having show nightmares
    every night. Last night's dream found me forgetting to pack my
    suitcase, and ending up in a tiny booth overwhelmed by gargantuan
    neighboring booths. Pray for me.... :-) 

    The upshot is, that doing what makes you happiest sometimes takes
    more time than the tried and true business plan.....and works better
    for you anyway. Do what makes you smile. 

    Lisa, (carving, soldering and setting up a storm), Topanga, CA USA

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