Monday, February 21, 2011

The Good, Bad & Ugly

Ugly first...Ouch!! I mean, has anybody checked the $$ of silver lately? That's ugly! Last week, I placed a small order. Then silver was at $30. and change, and now it's above $33. Really? It's gone up over three dollars in less than a week. Prices keep going like this and I'm wondering...Are people going to pay those prices? Or do without?



Bad...I know what your saying...use copper or brass, right? But, that seems to be a hard sell for the shows I participate in. A lot of the clientele want sterling or gold. Not to say that I don't sell any copper pieces, just not nearly as many.

So this big increase in metal prices is leaving me a little anxious about this year's show season. I need to brainstorm, and come up with some creative ideas on how to use less sterling so that my price point will not sky rocket as well.


The good in all this you ask? Last week...the same day that I placed my order, I sent in all my sterling scrap. All 10.5 ounces of it, which leaves me a nice little bonus the next time I do place an order for silver. Yipee!

Which leaves me with this question for you. How are you becoming creative at keeping costs low during this madness?

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4 comments:

  1. JudyFebruary 21, 2011 at 8:32 PM

    I really do not use much sterling, but some designs just call for it. I have never had a customer ask for sterling. Actually they do not seem to care, I think it is just the design they are going for.

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  2. DeeFebruary 21, 2011 at 10:13 PM

    I'm just getting going again with purchasing in a year, and the first thing I noticed was the price of silver!!..Yikes. I had already started cutting cost where I could last year using quality pewter for smaller fillers like spacers or small beads. I would think that even making your own findings would come out cheaper?? Don't know, but I'm sure I'll be asking that question again in a month or two once I really get my head back into creating.

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  3. jessememanFebruary 22, 2011 at 8:30 PM

    I definitely feel your pain! I've pretty much stopped making "all" sterling pieces, but I like using it so much! These bracelets are gorgeous!

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  4. CindyFebruary 22, 2011 at 9:17 PM

    Shelby, I feel your pain! You saw my blog post and what I bought for all of that $$$! I love sterling - it's stil my favorite. But I am certainly cutting back now. I just can't keep replenishing my wire stash at this price. I do use more copper and oxidized brass...and also bronze wire is beautiful. To get that silver look, I use annealed steel wire (but it's just NOT the same as sterling!).

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