cost of glass

[VickiK]

I wasn't sure if I should post this question here or in Jewelry, and it's probably already been asked, but how do you incorporate the cost of your glass into your beads or jewelry? Do you estimate how much of the rod you use or measure or what? I'm terrible at keeping track of supplies!

[Cosmo]

Well, I know I should have a formula, but I don't. Glass is the cheapest of what you are using to make beads, but it's a consumable, so it needs to be replaced to make more beads. I have a sort of standard formula that I use that is determined by how large the piece is and how long it took me to make it. I do adjust it slightly if the piece is soft glass (I primarily use boro), but I generally just stick to the same price for pieces of similar size.

[misfit]

I'm so terrible on this sort of thing- I just don't think of glass the same way I think of other consumables... I tend to figure my time and stay away from even trying to figure out how much of each different priced glass is in there. ( what a head ache) with a casting I can weigh the metal and KNOW what I have there for value. I can weigh each different stone if I need to before I set it. but I haven't figured out how to weigh the stringer I used ect. :doubt: too much of a headache for me.

A.

[Curly Irish Girl]

Seems to me I read somewhere that "average" (whatever that means) is $1/minute to make the bead....if you string, embellish with other purchased items obviously the price goes up.

[Lisi]

Glass is anywhere from $8 to $30 a pound for the Italian glass and some of the newer Bullseye colors are even more, but.....

I don't let myself worry so much about that anymore, lol. I think you should price your work according to how much time and effort you put into it. Like for example, I make mostly small roundish beads, but if I make something and it has silvered ivory or it took three applications of different colored frit instead of one, I charge more per bead. If I decide to get wild (wild for me, lol) and make pressed beads or other shapes, then I would definitely charge more per bead than my usual.

My advice is: don't go by the cost of the glass, it's relatively cheap, and whether you're using $8 lb glass or the more expensive colors, you will still be coming out ahead based on your price per bead (for small beads in sets). Now when it comes to the larger focal pieces, I view those as miniature individual works of art, so you can price them quite high and people will pay it. It seems like people want to pay less for sets (unless you're Corina or Kim Neely, lol!) and much higher (on the "per bead" basis, of course) for single focal beads which is understandable.

[SuzyQ]

I have pondered this many times. Sometimes it is where my mind wanders when making sets. I use $2 a set for the cost of glass. Sometimes it is more if I am using an odd lot glass and often it is less if I'm using mostly a cheap glass. I figure it all averages out in the end, but my anal side needs a number when I am determining prices.

[Kevan]

No way. Maybe boro.

Seems to me I read somewhere that "average" (whatever that means) is $1/minute to make the bead....if you string, embellish with other purchased items obviously the price goes up.

[VickiK]

Thanks so much for the input, everyone. So it's basicly an estimate, right? With additional $ for pressing or shaping and of course, other techniques. I really can't see myself measuring rods anyway :???:. What about something like organics - not a really, really time consuming organic, but fairly simple?

Lynn, I think I read that somewhere too. Although being pretty new, there's no way I could or would ask that price for my beads. But that's just my opinion on my beads. I'm sure some beads are worth $1 per minute and more depending on the type of glass used. I just don't want to go in the hole - I'd like to at least make enough to buy more glass. Anything above and beyond would be great!

SuzyQ, when you charge $2 a set for glass, how many beads is that?

[lunamoonshadow]

I think the $1 a minute is IN THEORY supposed to work so that you cover:
glass
propane/oxygen
tool use/depreciation
your time in the bead making
time spent dipping mandrels, cleaning mandrels after bead
bead release
cleaning bead
kiln electricity
ebay listing time
photography time
ebay fees
etc...
& still have you end up with a decent "hourly wage" for yourself, profit on the bead, enough to replace your glass stash when you were done....
Not be a "how much does the glass cost you that you're using", lol...
Most of us would be hard pressed to use $1.00 worth of glass in a minute without dropping it on the floor unless we were fusing, lol...that's a lot of glass, esp. @ the $7.00 a pound stuff! :D
~lyn

[Kevan]

Then I should get out of bead making! lol

[SuzyQ]

The $2 is for about 9 beads, or about 1 oz of finished beads.