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Archive for May, 2008

Tip: Cleaning Sterling Silver Jewelry

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Written by silverman

May 16th, 2008 at 8:58 pm

Posted in People

Wholesale sterling silver jewelry Insider Secrets

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Greg Peterson asked:

Have you seen similar silver jewelry sold at price difference of two to three times from different retailers? Have you ever wondered how retailers mark up the jewelry after they get them from the venders? Here we will show you the wholesale trading secrets of sterling silver jewelry.

Price per gram

The most important piece of information for determining the price of a piece of sterling silver jewelry is the price per gram of the silver. This is the fundamental raw material cost of a piece of sterling silver jewelry due to the fact that silver is considered a precious metal. For instance, the price for silver is $9.5 per ounce, the price per gram is determined by dividing the price per ounce by 31.5, which is 30 cents. Therefore, the cost for the raw material for a 5 gram wedding band ring is roughly $1.5. Some might wonder why people would pay $30 for a silver wedding ring when the silver only cost $1.5. The followings will explain the difference.

Labor cost

To turn raw material into finished goods, it involves a great deal of processing cost. The metal itself has to be melted, molded and cast, polished and assembled. Most of the times, silver jewelry is accented with various stones, the costs for setting the stones are also a major part of the total cost for jewelry, especially for jewelry that requires high level of craftsmanship.

Other materials

Also, the costs for any additional material are added to the jewelry. For instance, a pair silver pearl dangle earrings that has two cultural fresh water pearls with rhodium finish should cost double the price of the silver to make because of the cost of the pearl and rhodium. Note that rhodium is even more expensive than silver itself and it is high tarnish resistant.

Shipping cost

Many styles of jewelry are imported from other countries because of difference in availability of raw materials such as stones and also the specialties in making some particular styles. Hence the shipping cost of transporting is also part of the cost. Usually, for imported sterling silver jewelry, the shipping cost can amount to 10% of what it costs to make the jewelry themselves.

Custom Duties

For the same reasons, imported jewelry incurs duties at the custom. This is a cost that normal consumers are not aware of but it can also increase the price of sterling silver jewelry for 5% to 10%.

Price fluctuations

Some sterling silver jewelry trader, especially wholesaler would associate the price of the jewelry with the current silver price. Therefore, the price of a piece of sterling silver jewelry might be different from month to month, and even day to day in the case of wholesale.

Business Overhead

Just like any other business, the sales have to cover also the overhead of running the business. Normal overhead costs are employees’ salaries, rent, utilities and breakage.

Profit

Of course, the price you pay includes the profit for the sellers.

By knowing the above facts, you can make much more informed decisions when buying wholesale sterling silver jewelry and most importantly, avoid scams. There are occasions when people make fake silver jewelry and sell them at a very low price. If you know how to determine the cost of a piece of silver jewelry, you won’t buy into deals where they offer you a price that is lower than the normal cost of real sterling silver jewelry.

Written by silverman

May 7th, 2008 at 8:04 pm

Custom Sterling Silver Jewelry: How To Manufacture Your Own Handcrafted Designs

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Greg Peterson asked:

Profit demands are reducing the sources for quality wholesale custom sterling silver jewelry manufacturers daily. Some now prefer to produce the more lucrative gold jewelry and most of the others will only accept very large orders. Samsoneinc.com is one of the few quality

wholesale custom sterling silver jewelry manufacturers that will produce small quantities of custom designs at a reasonable price.

Quality wholesale custom sterling silver jewelry manufacturing starts with good craftsmanship and materials. The basic information needed to create wholesale custom sterling silver jewelry are the designs, the volume of the order, the metal weight and, for the manufacturer to properly calculate silver weight and cost, the dimension of the jewelry and gemstones required must be given. Of these, the order volume will have the greatest impact on the final cost.

Once we receive this information and a sample of the design at Samsoneinc.com, there is an $80 charge for making the mold of the design and a minimum order quantity of 50 pieces per style with a required 50% deposit. Usually it takes us 4-6 weeks to manufacture custom sterling silver jewelry.

In cases where the order volume is very large, the charge for the mold can be waived.

If you are using gemstones and/or diamonds in your designs, take care to discuss the selection process beforehand. Be aware when you are choosing a manufacturer for your wholesale custom sterling silver jewelry that very often you will find manufacturers who use extremely low grade diamonds and gemstones, which can be effected by poor color, inclusions, cracks and other flaws to cut costs.

To produce quality wholesale custom sterling silver jewelry you need a certain metal weight. When you use a light weight of silver, the costs may be cheaper, but the result is jewelry that will bend or twist at the slightest impact. It will prevent your gemstones or diamonds from being firmly mounted, resulting in frequent repairs which is not the ideal for sterling silver jewelry.

Bear in mind that wholesale custom sterling silver jewelry manufacturing is a labour intensive process that requires skilled craftsmen, which are not easy to find and whose fees are quite substantial.

Although your wholesale custom sterling silver jewelry will be made by a mechanical casting process, it requires hand finishing by skilled craftsmen to be complete. Time is a factor in this process, but this is the best way to ensure good quality wholesale silver jewelry.

The good news is that re-orders of the same design will cost less than the initial one, because the mold is already made. Outside of this factor, remember that the cost of the silver and gemstones can vary and this will affect the total cost.

Samsoneinc.com can provide you with exquisite wholesale custom sterling silver jewelry pieces, which are perfect accessories for any occasion.

Written by silverman

May 7th, 2008 at 4:19 pm