Thread: Devardi cracks
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Old 2009-11-20, 3:27pm
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Kalera Kalera is offline
I'm a lilac!
 
Join Date: Jun 09, 2005
Location: Portland, Oregon
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When I was figuring out how to price my boro beads, I did some calculating, breaking down the cost of glass in each bead. I was starting with the assumption that I would need to charge more for boro beads because boro color is about $40-50/lb. Clear is cheap, of course.

With my bracelet-sized beads, I get about 96 beads from each pound. Even if I make a set that's solid color, which I rarely do, that makes my materials cost just under .47 per bead assuming a cost of $45/lb. If I'm using Vetrofond, it would be 12.5 cents per bead. I could charge .34 cents more per bead for the boro, but really, whether a customer will pay that depends on how pretty the bead is, which depends pretty much entirely on how pretty the glass is, how well I work it, and how much effort (time) I put into the bead. So instead of basing my pricing on the cost of the glass, I focus on how long it takes me to make each bead... since my labor is the most expensive thing I'm putting into it. I've priced less-attractive beads made out of very expensive glass much lower than beautiful beads made out of cheaper glass.

The beauty and time factors are why a quality glass that's easy to work with are important to me. They're not necessarily important to everyone, but for me it's a prime consideration. Glass that's easy to work reduces the time I spend making each bead, which means that in a day I can be more productive and make more pretty beads, which in turn means I can price them more reasonably, sell more, and put more (figurative) food on the table at the end of the month.

That is my reasoning for spending more on better glass. It's not applicable to everyone's situation, it's just my personal answer to the "it's so inexpensive it will save you money, so why not?" question. In my specific situation, the way I use glass, it actually wouldn't save me money... same reason why expensive silver glasses, with their high beauty-for-the-dollar payoff, are worth it for me.
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Last edited by Kalera; 2009-11-20 at 3:47pm.
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