[Jewelry making - Article 00374] - Re: [Orchid] Bench jewellers working for the trade

[John Donivan]

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>     I know this question is one-sided because I have always disagreed
>     to charging less for less expensive goods 

    There are actually two factors at work in pricing - labor, and
    materials, and they are interrelated. First off, retailers do not
    tell me how much to charge. Often a customer will go in, or talk to
    me, and say that they only have a certain budget, and we'll do
    something that fits that budget, but that's not a store dictating
    prices. I had some dealings with a store that would write, "Call if
    over $5". Well, I charge $5 to light up my torch, so there you are.
    Little birdie - cheap, cheap cheap. I charge by labor, but I don't
    watch the clock. And your real question, which is the
    interrelationship, is valid. If you get a 9ct. (10kt in the States)
    ring, you're going to treat it like a 9 kt. ring. If you get a 
$60,000
    piece, you will treat it as such, and give it extra care, which is
    labor. It's not gouging, it's going the extra mile and doing a fine
    job. I will charge $5/per to set melee, but $35 to set a big center -
    that's not because of the value of the stone, it's because it takes
    20 or 30 minutes to do. There are people who charge $/ct. for setting
    - it's like $200 to set a 2 ct. diamond - and there are stores who
    pretend they sold the stone when they didn't - charging $2,000 for a
    ring because they would have made $1,000 if they had sold the stone,
    which they didn't. I had a trader complain to me because a setter
    charged him more to set it than I charged him to make the ring - heh,
    talk to the setter..... Me, I charge for what I do - I also charge
    for rushes - it's OT. 

http://www.donivanandmaggiora.com
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