How to calculate the total budget

Disclaimer: This article is written by Primarose company,  one of the leading silver and brass jewelry manufacturers in Thailand. We also wholesale sterling silver jewelry. All information is based on our 20 years of experience. 

To answer this question, we produced a 3-part series, including (1) where to find manufacturers, (2) how to select the best ones, and (3) how to calculate the total budget. In this article, we will focus on part 3 “how to calculate the total budget”. If you are interested in other parts you can check the links below. 

1. where to find manufacturers
2. how to select the best ones
3. how to calculate the total budget

Although mold and product costs should be the primary concern, there are approximately 4 types of costs involved. 

Mold cost

Mold cost is the most difficult to estimate because it varies, depending on many factors such as the method to present your designs, the difficulty of the designs, and ordering quantity. 

The method to present your design(s)

From our experience, there are approximately 3 ways to discuss the designs. These different ways lead to different mold costs. 

• Show sketches on papers/documents: This method leads to the full-price mold service, the most expensive one. 
• Give us a complete 3D file to print: Manufacturers can deduct the mold cost for customers as it saves time for mold-making. 

However, the typical price for creating a typical 3D file tends to be around 30$++. Thus, it may be cheaper in some cases to let manufacturers do the whole process for you. Additionally, some designs, such as detailed gods or goddesses, are far more expensive to be created by a computer when compared to a hand method.  

• Send us prototypes: This way is the cheapest one (around 10$ for a typical product) because manufacturers can use prototypes as molds themselves. However, using this way, the sizes of the final products tend to shrink by about 3%-4%. 

The difficulty of the design(s)

For an average difficulty, each manufacturer tends to charge you approximately 50$ per design. For example, the minimum mold cost for the minimum quantity of Primarose is 40$. 

For those designs with special requirements, including spring-able and very thin products, or something that has special mechanics, the mold cost can be very high or even reach 200$. 

Ordering quantity

Finally, the mold cost depends on the ordering quantity as well. In general, if the ordering number reaches 300 pieces/pairs, the mold cost can be FREE. On the other hand, some manufacturers charge customers TWO times higher than usual for a mold cost if they order just only 1 piece. 

Product cost

Raw materials, gemstones, and plating can leverage prices significantly. Even though other costs such as laboring affect the prices too, the effects tend to be much weaker. 

Raw materials

If your targeted materials are not valuable such as brass or pewter, this factor can be neglected. However, if you are interested in silver or gold, you should be aware that the final prices should not be lower than the raw material costs.

For example, if you look at silver prices online, you will find that, on average, the price is approximately 0.7$ per gram. Therefore, if your silver piece of jewelry weighs about 2 grams, the final price should not be lower than approximately 0.7×2= 1.4$. 

Any products that are sold at prices lower than raw materials should be considered a red flag. 

Gemstones

We can tell you that if your stones are CZ or glass, the prices will be around 0.1-0.4$ per piece, depending on the sizes, colors, and quality.

However, if you have an eye on real gemstones, please research more as the prices vary too much, depending on quality and types. Additionally, please bear in mind that you should find WHOLESALE prices, not retail ones. 

Plating 

Plating actually depends on the surface areas of products, types of plating, and thicknesses of plating, but the weights of products do not matter. 

Regarding types of plating, the most expensive one is rose gold, followed by gold, rhodium, and silver/e-coated, respectively. Moreover, shades of gold such as 14k or 18k, do not matter.

Moving to thicknesses of plating, in general, they can be up to 10 microns, and the prices will be higher accordingly. 

Shipping cost

We recommend you check DHL or FedEx. The prices to deliver a not-so-heavy order should be around 30-70$, including the insurance. 

However, if you want to receive just only one or two samples, can wait, and can accept the possibility of losing, you can pick the economy service whose prices are about 7-10$. 

Fee

In the case of first-time ordering, we recommend you to transfer money using Paypal, which will charge you about 5%.

However, if you have bought products several times and built trust, you can choose to pay directly to cut the fee.  

Example of calculation

We can give you one simple example. 

Conditions

Design = simple silver pendant without gemstone and plating

Quantity = 50 pieces 

The estimated weight of the product = 3 grams. 

Presentation method to make a mold = provide pictures of a design

Shipping method = priority

Payment = Paypal

Calculation method

1) mold cost (for simple design, not-so-high quantity, and pictures provided)= 50$ 

2) product cost

If raw material cost is 0.7$ per gram and assumes other costs are 30% added. Therefore, the price will be around 1$ per gram. 

If one product weighs 3 grams, the price will be 1$x3 = 3$ per piece.

You order 50 pieces. Therefore, 50×3$ = 150$ 

3) shipping = assumed 40$

4) fee = 5% of (50$ + 150$ + 40$) = 12$

Total = 252$