[Jewelry making - Article 01323] - Re: [Orchid] Independent Jeweler in Today's Marketplace

[JSEllington]

========[ Invite a Friend - http://www.ganoksin.com/invite.htm  ]========

Annabell-

    You didn't really say how you are starting out, but here is my
    story: 

    I started 5 years ago and am self taught. This is the first year I
    will make a small profit. I do not own a store or a wholesale
    operation. I create jewelry and try to market it. 

    I started out trying to pattern after a couple of local independents
    who had been in the business longer than me. They were doing art
    fairs so I thought that was the thing to do. I found the shows to be
    a poor business risk FOR ME. I don't mean this to be an affront to
    anyone who enjoys them and is doing well with them. 

    The bottom line is that I did the art fairs for several years and
    operated on credit cards doing them. I would never do that again. If
    I could start again, I would start smaller and closer to home (I was
    going to fairs as far as two states away), only venturing farther out
    as the business began to pay for itself. I was under the assumption
    that I had to do the shows for several years for them to become
    profitable as I built up my clientele, etc. and that I just had to
    bear the debt in the meantime. The truth, FOR ME, is that the shows
    I did were not paying off for me or for other artists who had been in
    the business a long time. I know a lot of others were not making a
    profit because we would all commiserate about the poor traffic. When
    other artists would tell me that they covered their expenses I would
    often inquire what that meant and they would reply that they had
    covered their booth fee. The booth fee was one of the smallest
    expenses we had. Other expenses: credit card fees, cost of goods
    sold, jury fees for that show and for shows you didn't get into,
    photographic/jury slide expense, gasoline, motels, mosquito
    repellent, fans, rain slickers, tent, banners, displays, lights,
    parking expenses, missed work (I have a part time job) both for me
    and my husband, other rained out shows I had to cover the expense of,
    wear and tear on our automobile, meals out, production time missed,
    and I can continue ad nauseum to name reasons why FOR ME art shows
    are not a good business risk. 

    This may not apply to your situation, but I wish someone had told me
    this when I started out. Quite a few other artists have admitted to
    me that they were financing their shows on credit cards and that
    their debt was sizable. 

J. S. (Sue) Ellington
http://www.jsellington.com
____________________________________________________________________
T h e   O r c h i d   L i s t
Open Electronic Forum for Jewelry Manufacturing Methods and Procedures
____________________________________________________________________
Orchid FAQ:
~ http://www.ganoksin.com/orchid/faq.htm
Orchid Archives:
~ http://www.ganoksin.com/orchid/archive
Orchid Galleries:
~ http://www.ganoksin.com/orchid/gallery.htm
Invite a Friend:
~ http://www.ganoksin.com/invite.htm
____________________________________________________________________
Tips From The Jeweler's Bench - Article Archive
~ http://www.ganoksin.com/borisat/tip_sear.htm
The Jeweler's Selected Bibliography List
~ http://www.ganoksin.com/jewelry-books
Buy Orchid Jewelry:
~ http://www.ganoksin.com/shop
____________________________________________________________________
-Unsubscribe:
-Email: orchid-request AT ganoksin.com Body=unsubscribe subject=blank
____________________________________________________________________