For jewellers

How to price custom jewellery without underselling yourself

By Eric Kojadelian, VAHÉ Jewellery

Most jewellers I know are brilliant at the bench and nervous about the quote. We pour hours into a piece, then knock money off the price because it feels awkward to charge what the work is worth. I did it for years. The fix is not confidence, it is a method. Here is the one I use, so every quote is built the same way and nothing gets left off.

Start with your true cost, every time

Before you think about price, add up what the piece actually costs you to make:

• Metal, by weight, at today's rate.
• Stones, both the centre stone and any accents.
• Labour, your bench time and anyone else's.
• Findings and extras, chains, clasps, settings, casting and printing fees.

If any of these live in your head instead of on paper, one of them will get forgotten, and it is almost always the small stuff that quietly eats your margin.

Price metal on today's rate, not last month's

Gold moves. If you quote a piece using a rate from three weeks ago and the price has climbed, you are absorbing that difference out of your own pocket. Always cost the metal at the current rate on the day you quote, and factor in whether the piece is cast or hand fabricated, because the metal usage and the labour are not the same.

Charge properly for labour and setting

Labour is where jewellers undercharge the most. Setting a row of small stones, building a hidden halo, hand finishing a shank, these all take real skill and real time. Put an hourly rate on your bench time and stick to it. Price setting by the stone, by size and by how fussy the work is. A quick claw setting and a tight pavé line are not the same job, so they should not be the same price.

Know your margin before you send anything

This is the big one. Add your markup to your cost, then look at the margin that markup actually gives you before the quote leaves your hands. It is very easy to apply what feels like a healthy markup and still land on a thin margin once GST and the fiddly costs are in. If you can see the profit and the percentage on the piece before you send it, you never send a quote that loses you money by accident.

Price the centre stone on its own terms

A centre diamond or a nice coloured stone usually should not carry the same markup as your metal and labour. Price it on its own tier, add GST, and then combine it with the piece for one clean total the client sees. That way the stone is priced fairly, the workmanship is priced fairly, and the customer just sees one number.

Always take a deposit

No custom work should start without a deposit. Half the total is a common and fair place to land. It covers your materials, it commits the client, and it protects you if plans change. Set your deposit as a policy, not a negotiation, and if the client has already paid something toward the piece, credit it so the amount due to start is clear.

Send a proposal, not a text message

How you present the price matters as much as the number. A tidy proposal with the options laid out, each with a clear price, reads as considered and professional. A price typed into a message reads as a guess. Give the client real options where it makes sense, good, better and premium, and let them choose. You will win more of the jobs, and you will win them at a better price.

The short version

Cost it fully, price the metal on today's rate, charge for your skill, check your margin before you send, price the stone separately, take a deposit, and present it well. Do that every time and the awkwardness around quoting mostly disappears, because the number is no longer a feeling, it is a calculation.