How to raise your prices (and what to tell customers)

You may feel like the bad guy when you raise a price, even though the cost isn't your fault. That feeling is understandable. It doesn't change what your supplies cost.

Silver itself rose a long way. Spot silver reached $77.12 an ounce on December 26, 2025, up 167% for the year, per CNBC. The sterling wire at Beadaholique rose less: from $12.59 a foot in January 2025 to $15.24 now, up 21%.

Here is what that did to one pair of silver hoops. Only the wire price is changed, because it is the only supplier price we have for both dates.

Suppose you kept the old price. Today's wire would leave you $2.29 profit a pair, not $4.38.

Three signs it may be time:

• A supply costs more than when you set your price.
• Your price pays you less than your hourly rate.
• A fee changed where you sell.

To check the first, enter what you paid before and what you pay now. The calculator shows your new price.

A price has to rise by more than your costs do. That surprises people. Fees and profit are a share of the price, so they grow with it.

On Etsy, fees take 9.5% of the price, plus a few fixed fees. The example keeps 20% as profit. That leaves about 70.5 cents of each dollar to pay for your costs.

So each $1 more in materials needs about $1.42 more in the price. The hoops' materials rose $1.62. The price rose $2.30, from $19.54 to $21.84.

Wire rose 21%, and the price rose 12%. Wire is only part of what a pair costs.

Round up to a price that's easy to read. For these hoops, a tag of $22 works.

If you worry people will walk away, that worry is real. Nobody can promise they won't.

What you can see is how much room you have. At $19.54, a pair of hoops keeps $7.29 on Etsy today, after materials, fees and overhead. At $21.84, it keeps $9.37.

So you could sell up to 22% fewer pairs and keep the same each month. Fewer pairs also give you hours back.

Take 20 pairs a month. At $19.54, you keep $145.80. At $21.84, selling 16 pairs keeps $149.92, which is $4.12 more. It also gives you 1 hour back.

Both are fair. It depends on how big the rise is and how often people buy from you.

• All at once. One change, one date, one message. It is simpler to explain. It is a bigger jump for a regular customer.
• In steps. Smaller jumps are easier to take in. You earn less in the meantime, and you tell people twice.

Either way, start with what is new. New listings and new batches carry the new price from the first day. Tell regular customers and shops before their next order, and give a date.

Pieces you've already made are worth what it costs to replace their materials, not what you paid. Re-tag them when you can.

You don't owe anyone a long explanation. One clear reason, a date and what stays the same is enough. Then thank them.

Here is wording you can copy. Replace the [brackets] with yours. The numbers are from the silver hoops.

Keep it short and kind. You don't need a long apology.

• Raising by the cost rise alone. A $1.62 rise in materials needs $2.30 in the price.
• Waiting until you lose money. At the old price, the hoops' profit fell from $4.38 to $2.29 a pair. Watch the profit, not only the red.
• Telling shops nothing. A shop prices from your line sheet. Send the new price with a date.
• Pricing stock from what you paid. Price pieces from what it costs to replace them.
• Leaving out the date. Say when it starts, and let orders placed before it keep the old price.