Pendant Market

[wfdon]

How is the pendant market ??? do you sell many??? which style is in Shape size tect. i have made many pendants in many shapes, i havint really tried to push them on the market iv sold a few thats about it. i see there is alot of pendants out there and i have watched ebay, and web sites and dont see many that sell.

most of the pendants i see, like in mags, news shows, ect ect. are sculpture, flat glass, stone and beads

[rumplephorskin]

Pendants are a great hustle. Flattened tear drop ones with really little loops seem to sell quickly. The nice thing about them is that you can bang them out at a really fast pace if youre needing money. Theyre also very affordable to make. Another thing about pendants is that almost everyone either wears them or knows somebody that would love one as a present. Pendants also sell themselves because theyre displayed on the necks of customers youve sold to. One customer wears one and his or her friends see it and then you get orders for more. I personally try to keep at least 40 or 50 of them in stock at all times. Sometimes I wholesale amounts of 25 or more for $5 a piece. It still works out to about $40 an hr after supplies.

[glassissand]

I can't tell you about the nation. I produce good pendant work and only get 3-5$ a piece that's in AL and also to keep them from buying from the sale catalogs they get in the mail. But it works I can always look better than a catalog picture. But remember every bead store is only gonna buy a small amount. Never got a big order doin that.

[Orrza]

I agree.
Pendants can be profitable.
I usually don't like the flat teardrop onse since they usually seem cheap to me, they do sell but I wanted more creativity.
If you check out ebay, you can see many styles.
We try to stay loyal to ourselfs nd to mentain out own style, Jeff Welsh was the first to make dragon pendants on ebay but some are copying him now, making the exact design, that is SAD!
I was the first to make "flower in a heart" and some tried to copy that design too, SAD too.
Think of a new thing, a fresh breeze that will definatly make you stand out.
standing out will bring you following, customers that appreciate your oun style.

in a local market, I say, do whatever is in the customer's desire.
but it's true you cant beat the speed of making flat twisties in many colors, Make some of those too, they bring a lot of color to your display, and when everything is in the same shape, you could soon find out what's the best selling color combnation.

Good luck!
Orr (Aka Orrza)

[IrieGuy05]

Copy whoever you want just don't sell them for $3-5 bucks...

[rumplephorskin]

I think $5 is acceptable if its a really good customer and the pendants are just a frit pick up or a mushroom pendant. especially since its fairly easy to make like 10 an hour if you do the prep right and work in an organized manner. If someone buys just one I personally like to sell them for $10 or $15 but if someone is gonna buy a bunch (like 25 or 30); then i feel that they deserve to be treated as a valued customer.

Just my 2 cents

Once again; if I start to feel unhappy with my job or my pay rate; I like to go to a Mc'Donalds or a BK and watch those guys earn their money for a bit. It gives me a quick wake up call and reminds me of just how lucky I really am. Hell; those folks probably wouldn't even hire me :rollin

[wfdon]

im going to Mc'donalds today lol!
i use to see many mushroom pendants out there now i dont see many at all??

[Mr. Smiley]

If you're going to Mcdonalds to feel better about your wages, you're not charging enough. By the time you add in equipment, glass, gas and electricity costs... we should be making way fucking more than some high school kid flipping burgers part time. There are too many lamp workers selling themselves short. If price is your only selling point, find something you are good at and can do well. That's where the money is. Pride... not production. ;)

[rumplephorskin]

IVE got like 20 mushroom pendants made with red exotic sitting in a crown royal bag about 2 feet from me LOL. Im trying to go back in time kinda these days. Nobody is doing the old school stuff anymore. I've been going back to double layered wrap and rake with dots of gold over the top of if and playing with some really weird silver that I've got. When my grandparents passed away my dad gave me a bunch of their things. One of the things that he gave me was a silver platter that they got for their 40th anniversary. I really dont have a use for the platter but it IS silver LOL. Not pure but I've been getting some freaking insane colors off of it. Like a really nice purple and some color that looks like a mix between perriwinkle and gun-metal gray. Anyway; the new colors ive been getting out of fume have been encouraging me to go after more of the traditional techniques that I learned during my apprenticeship. Sorry if i went off on a tangent; thats been known to happen.

[Mr. Smiley]

Sometimes old school style is just as good as the new techs... especially if you are one of the very few doing it. I would encourage people to do something they DON'T see others doing well at. The only way for us all to do well, is to do our own thing... at the very least, put your own spin on it. Tom was talking about find niche markets at AGI... very cool lecture. If you are doing something different, you don't need to worry about somebody else undercutting your price. Great topic... :D

[wfdon]

i have at least 100 of them i give them to my daughter to give to her friends yeh its Old school been a few years since i have made one. u will have to post a pic, i tried gold ring before i didint like it at all.

Brent its not that im not not charging enough, Im not selling enough my marketing skills suck! if i could live with out glass in my life i wouldint even bee in the bussines.

[rumplephorskin]

Try leaving some pieces at friends houses that you trust but dont see very often. If you dont hang out with them all the time; then maybe their scene isnt quite as saturated with glass as your immeadiate day to day circle of people probably is.