I have over 100 pairs of production earrings.. All of them are well made, one of a kind earrings.
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| Production earrings blue and white glass |
Here is a sample to get started:
My production earrings require the following supplies: wire cutters, round nose pliers, in-expensive nickel free ear wires, head pins, focal beads, and embellishing beads.
My production earrings are priced at $10.00 each. I make a good profit on the earrings. They are intended as impulse purchases.
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| Sample focal strand of mustard colored cinnabar |
You begin with a strand of focal beads. I always buy my beads in strands. These cinnabar beads I will price at $0.78 each when calculating my final retail price.
Next are the embellishment beads. First are crystals. These are small crystals, 2mm, 3mm, and 4mm. They are all fire polished Czech crystals. I am guessing the average cost per crystal is $0.06. I buy them by the strand and I am always on the lookout for more. They are handy for earrings and for spacers in larger necklaces.
You may also use small round stone or glass beads as well as pearls.
After my last necklace I discovered I did not have enough brightly colored crystals, so I purchased a few strands on my last visit to Manhattan.
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| Large seed beads |
Then there are seed beads. I really like size 6 and size 8 seed beads.
I do not even price these.
The secret to production is organization. Take a look at some more production earrings:
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| Production earrings yellow stone |
Each pair is different. There are three different red beads in these yellow stone earrings. There are 6 mm round red stone bead, 4mm red crystal rondelles, and 4mm round fire polished Czech crystals. You will also note grey rondelles, clear purple lined size 6 or 8 seed beads, indigo blue seed beads in size 6 or 8, and blue drop glass beads.
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| Carved rose quartz production earrings |
My production earrings are all simple loops. Wrapped loops require more time.
I use the entire strand of focal beads in a single sitting just to be sure each earring is one of a kind.
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| All my seed beads |
As I said, the secret to production is organization. When I was making these earrings I had some bead trays that were more like paint pallets. Each filled with embellishment beads, each tray organized by color. You know it takes time to organize your bead stash, but it is time well spent.
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| Production earrings, quartz |
One more set of production earrings.
These are not as creative as my usual work. They are fun and quick. And, as I said above, are intended as an impulse purchase. These replace a purchase your customer would make at a big box store or even a smaller reseller like TJ's. They are priced not to put a big dent in your customer's wallet. They will give an outlet to the desire to purchase something different, something handmade- which is what drew them to the venue in the first place.
I always place a big price sign in front of the display. I also have a separate suggestion sign that these make great stocking stuffers, birthday gifts, teacher gifts, secret santa gifts, etc...
One final thought. If you are selling high priced pieces, lower priced earrings might well imply that your higher priced items are over priced. I still have not finished that debate with myself.
Good luck in your sales.
