So, after a long week I have returned to write. I guess I should start this post on a high note before I descend into the depths of despair. I wanted to say that I really appreciate those of you who are following my blog, as well as those who have commented on my posts. It's nice to know that people are interested in my career and I'm not just writing to the empty void, and I've received some very good advice here as well. As far as the comments on my little pricing rant go, I mostly agree and I appreciate the advice. Now here's where we start our descent.
Profit is great. I'd love to take the advice I've gotten and factor it in when calculating my prices so I can sell my work for a logical amount. Unfortunately, the reality is that I can't even sell anything at the prices I have now. My website has been up since July and I haven't sold a single piece online. Not one. And I don't do much better offline either. Let me share part of my records. Since January, I've sold 43 pieces for a total of $640. My expenses so far have been over $1500, and I currently have 100 pieces of jewelry lying around which, priced as they are, amount to $3233 dollars.
I know that getting a business off the ground and running in this economy takes time. Or at least the logical part of me knows that. The other part of me is getting bitter and discouraged and frustrated beyond belief. I'm getting tired of working for nothing. I recently finished this beautiful triple-strand necklace that took me several hours and is made of real garnet, peridot, and freshwater pearls. In my mind it's worth $100 at the very least, but I know that I won't even be able to sell it if I price it at $80. I can't even sell my $25 necklaces or my $7 earrings. People love to look at my stuff and tell me how pretty it is and congratulate me on all of my hard work, but no one buys. Maybe it's because there are several racks of $3 necklaces in town. Maybe they don't have the money. Maybe they're just flattering me and my work isn't really all that great. I don't know. I'm not a business-savvy person, so I don't really know what to do. Lately I've been working on exposure and building up my web traffic, but despite the boom in visitors, I'm still not selling anything. I just made some brochures for jewelry parties in hopes that having a group of women shopping at a party in a friend's home will boost my sales, but honestly, I don't know how well that's going to work out either. So until I get some customers who are actually willing to buy my work at their current cheap, illogical prices, I feel like raising my prices would only hurt me more. Most people already tell me I'm too expensive, so I'm kind of caught between a rock and a hard place here.
So there's my tale of woe. No pretty pictures, inspirational ideas, or good news. Sorry to bring a little doom and gloom to the world.
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