Can you restring this for me?

When I get new beading students, one of the first things I tell them is, “decide now whether you are going to charge for restringing beaded jewelry, because everyone you know has a box of broken beads.  And when they find out you know how to do this, they are gonna come a-knockin’ at your door!”

If you have been beading for a while, you know this is true – your family, friends, colleagues at work will approach you with,  “My bracelet broke.  Can you fix it for me?”  Pretty soon you will be spending a lot of time restringing broken items – not a great way to exercise your creative talents.  However, if you choose to charge to do restringing,  it can be some extra money in your pocket.

Should you decide to charge, you must decide how to charge:  by the piece, or by the inch being the usual modes.  You might try calling your local jewelers and finding out what they charge – and base your charges on that.  Being able to say, “Jay’s Jewelers charges $3.00 an inch for knotted jewelry.  My price is $2.00 an inch” may encourage your prospective clients.

I charge by the inch, with one rate for knotted jewelry and another for straight stringing.  I do not charge for stringing material, crimps, or french wire.  I do charge extra for any parts which must be replaced, such as clasps or other components.

Personally, I dislike restringing unless the client has come to me with a piece to be redesigned.  Straight restringing is b-o-r-i-n-g.  So I charge plenty for it!  At least I will be compensated for spending my time doing something I do not enjoy.

At a later date I plan to write more about restringing fine gemstone and pearl jewelry and some caveats to observe should you decide to take this on.