[Jewelry making - Article 00064] - Re: [Orchid] Going rates for simple repairs

[Pauline]

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Hi Claudia,

    The problem you express is shared by many professional jewelery
    repairers. I believe the root cause of the problem is we allow the
    price structure for our labour to be set by the business owners. They
    have a selfish duty to maximise the profit they make on our labour
    and they are not going to show us how to make a fortune other than by
    working faster and for longer hours. This does not have to be the
    case and there are ways to take control of our time value. 

    My advice is to go along with it in the beginning so that you can
    learn and get experience, but while doing their work you must also do
    your own work. 

    1. Build your own job/time database. Get a sports stopwatch with
    nice big buttons on top and attach it to your bench. When you start a
    job (before reading the instructions or opening the packet) hit the
    start button. Any time you do something else not related to that job
    hit the stop button, then hit the start button when you return to
    that job. When you have sealed the packet and written up the account
    you will have your own total time for that job. Start your time
    database now because it is the foundation for YOUR price list. As
    your price list grows and mutates, so do you gradually take control
    of the fees you charge. 

    2. Determine your realistic annual income. Calculate your hourly
    rate. Keep a close watch on whether you are achieving your hourly
    rate for each job you do. If you see accurately that you are earning
    $3 per hour on a certain job when your target is $45 per hour, then
    you WILL do something about it. 

    3. Categorise the common repairs in your own way as you see fit for
    your price list. Soldering a charm jump ring is different to joining
    a break in a fine fancy chain. Uncommon repairs should be quoted
    individually and should not be priced on your price list. 

    4. Your repairs should never come back for any reason. To achieve
    this you need to: a) Do a thorough inspection of the item before
    starting the repair and communicate your findings and recommendations
    to your customer so that everybody knows beforehand what to expect;
    and b) Do an excellent repair job as expected. (Murphy's law dictates
    that s**t happens, so you must add a s**t factor into your hourly
    rate). 

    As a rushed employee you may not be allowed to take the time to do
    any of these things, but then your income is fixed regardless and
    your responsibility is less. If you are working on commission or are
    self-employed then the time spent doing the above will be a valuable
    investment towards taking full responsibility for your work, and
    that includes setting your own prices and your own time value. There
    is no course you can take to learn full responsibility but with
    patience and care you can work towards it gradually as many others
    have done. Persevere because the demand is there and the commodity is
    scarce. 

All the best, Alastair
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