SHOP TALK: The Price Is Right

Have you ever heard of ‘The Lipstick Effect’? It’s a theory in psychology that, in the face of a financial crisis, customers are more willing to buy relatively inexpensive ‘unnecessities’, like a lipstick, as opposed to pricier items like shoes. And I will admit that it had me thinking about making some lower-priced items to list in my shop for this purpose.

However, I don’t want to add pieces of jewellery to my shop just for the sake of it. I’m happy to make jewellery just for the sake of it – it’s something I generally and genuinely enjoy – but that’s not really what I want my shop to be. I want it to be somewhere you bought something you love, for someone you love, that says something about the connection you share.

A lot of customers buy a piece of jewellery from my shop as a gift for a loved one – for anniversaries, birthdays, Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, Christmas, etc. – and as an online shopper myself, I know how nice it is to add a little extra something to your basket just for you; it’s like a reward for finding just the thing you know they’ll love. Or at least for being able to check names off your gift list!

All of the jewellery I sell in my store is made by hand, by me, and as a customer I’m also aware that terms like ‘handmade’ and ‘handcrafted’ carry their own meanings and implications. If someone is looking to purchase a handmade gift for a loved one, they are likely looking for something with a certain quality that reflects the personality or taste of their… giftee? I suppose I could say ‘recipient’, but that sounds too formal, and as much as I like big words, I don’t feel like that one suits.

The pieces of jewellery I make for my shop are reflective of both the time it takes to make them, and what they are made of. It’s not just the fact that something is made of precious metal or gemstones that dictates the price.

When shopping for handmade or handcrafted items we already have that expectation that the maker has given a lot of time, care, and attention to creating that one piece, and so we would be expecting the cost to reflect that.

Having choices is often a great thing, and being able to offer choices is just as good. And I am looking forward to the time when I can offer a wider range of choices that suit a wider range of budgets in my shop.

Out of interest, if I were wave a magic wand and add something new to my shop right now, what would you like to see? More of the same? More colour? Somewhere to store your prized pieces? Or something else entirely? Let me hear your thoughts in the comments.

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Right, that’s all for now. Thanks so much for popping in and having a read, and commenting if you left one. Have a lovely rest of your day! 

If you’d like to see more from me, you can find me on Instagram and Twitter, and of course, you can support me and treat someone (yes, that someone can definitely be yourself) in my Shop, where delivery is free!

Helen x