As a crystal rhinestone supplier, we get lots of enquiries from businesses about how much to charge clients for their embellishing work. As a business owner, you are in the industry to expand your customer base, grow your business and make profit. Many small and large companies in the creative arts industry are now looking to increase their product offering and incorporate rhinestones within their service, as well as selling the embellishing service itself.
Do your market research.
- At what prices will your product reach audiences and sell well?
- What are people willing to spend on that particular item? If you are selling the same item on other platforms such as eBay or Etsy, people will expect to pay less.
- What are your competitors charging for similar products/services?
- How do you know if you will make money?
Communication is key.
Before quoting your client, take some time to discuss exactly what they are looking for and understand their budget and time frame. This will give you both an idea of which crystal brand to use. If money is no object, go for Swarovski crystals, which are excellent quality but costly. For a medium cost but high quality, we recommend using Preciosa crystals, or if the client is on a tight budget, Zodiac crystals are the best option. Zodiac is a cost-effective, new brand on the market and has received brilliant reviews. You also need to decide who is providing the item to be blinged, if they are providing it, there is no need to include this in your costings.
How to arrive at a price?
To make it a viable option for you and your business, you must ensure you are pricing up the job correctly. Here’s our handy guide to accurately pricing up an embellishment service, let’s use the example of a simple rhinestone covered notebook:
Cost of materials (all prices shown here are examples, not true representations of cost)
- Measure the area to be crystallized in mm, then divide that by the size of the crystal. We will be using Preciosa SS16 (4mm) non hotfix rhinestones. EXAMPLE: If the height of the notebook is 96mm, divide this by the crystal size (4mm) which gives you 24 crystals per row. If the width is 48mm, use the same method - you will need 12 crystals per row. 48 x 12 = 576 crystals required.
Decide which glue to use, for most projects we would recommend Gem Tac. You will only need a small amount for this project but you will have opened a brand new bottle that cannot be re-sold, so charge for the bottle.
576 crystals cost £5
Glue cost £3
Cost of labour (all prices shown here are examples, not true representations of cost)
- Even if you are doing the crystallizing yourself, you still need to be paid for this. So, work out your hourly rate, (if it is outside of regular working hours you may want to consider charging more).
Example: £10 per hour for 90 minutes work = £15 labour cost
Profit
- So far, to make your rhinestone encrusted notebook, it has cost you £23. Remember, if you plan to sell the product on another platform such as Amazon, Ebay or Etsy, you may be charged extra to list the item. So don’t forget the include this when calculating a price for those other platforms.
- Work out your profit margin and add this to the cost so far. Generally, companies like to make a 35% margin to cover other running costs and profit so let’s use this as an example. With a mark-up price of 35%, you will need to charge £31.05.
- Don’t forget to add VAT and postage costs on top.
Need to embellish an unusual shaped object?
Calculating the cost of crystallizing a simple shape like in the example above, is easy. But items that are curved, 3D, textured or have any other unusual features can be tricky. At Crystal Parade, we have over 12 years of experience in embellishment so we can offer expert advice and helpful tips & tricks. For more information, contact us today and we would be delighted to help.