Selling my jewellery to shops

[*karen*]

I have my own website and have started to sell at craft fairs but I now need to take the plunge and see if I can sell my jewellery through some shops.

I think my items are fairly priced if not very reasonable (I have been told on several occasions that I could charge more but I am happy with my pricing structure) but am not sure how much I would ask a shop to buy them for.

I basically work out my materials x 2 then add on for my time for which I allow myself a reasonable hourly wage which I divide into 15 minutes slots. I do not add on any other charges or a profit percentage. Therefore the price this works out as is surely the lowest amount I would accept from a shop, would this be reasonable?

[AmyE]

I think that sounds fair - we all need to make a profit.

I spoke to a shop owner yesterday (she bought some of my jewellery) but she did say that usually she charges 2 1/2 x what she paid for it! We both decided that would be too much for what I wanted for my pieces.

But she did buy them at the price I wanted and she is going to make sure buyers are aware that they are handmade. I guess her profit will be less than she wants really but she also said she wants to support local businesses - so play on these points when you speak to shop owners.