Hone your jewelry: price the metal, charge the bench
Count the silver, then count the hours. The hours are where the money is.
Handmade jewelry is one of the most underpriced crafts, because the maker prices the metal and forgets the bench. Here is where jewelry leaks margin, and where it makes it.
Where the margin leaks
The pricing traps that quietly cost makers money.
Under-pricing the bench time
Sawing, soldering, filing, setting, and polishing are real hours. Price the metal plus a little and you are working for free. Price the time.
Forgetting scrap and sweeps
You lose metal to filing and sawing. Carry a loss allowance, and recover precious-metal scrap and sweeps; they are worth real money.
Pricing off a stale metal cost
Silver and gold move daily. A price set on last year's spot can quietly go underwater. Keep the per-gram cost current.
Where the money is
The levers that actually move your take-home.
Charge a real hourly rate
Decide what an hour at the bench is worth and hold to it. On a labor-led craft, the margin lives in that line.
Move up in metal
The same hours on gold-filled or gold support a far higher price than on base metal. Match the metal to the buyer.
Make multiples and small runs
Cutting and soldering a batch of the same design amortizes the setup. Your effective hourly climbs with the run.
What to track
The few numbers worth watching.
Hours per piece
Everything. Log the real bench time; underpricing it is the craft's number one mistake.
Dollars per hour
What you actually earn. Watch it, and retire designs that pay too little for the bench time.
Metal grams per piece
Your headline material. Track it per piece, and keep the per-gram cost current with the market.
Set Anvil up for it
How to make Anvil price your craft the honest way.
Use the metal calculator
A sheet or wire's dimensions give grams and cost via density, into the estimate.
Lead with the hours
Anvil shows bench hours times your rate plainly, so the price reflects the work, not just the silver.
Keep metal prices fresh
Update each metal's per-gram cost in Settings when the market moves, so quotes stay whole.
Know your craft.
The cost engine is free. Put your real numbers in and see what to charge.