Over at the MSJA, website a post has just gone up in which they have compiled a bunch of resources on “Coping with High Precious Metal Prices”.
Now some of the suggestions are rather unusual – (have you ever though about using water buffalo horn as an ‘alternative material’?) or obvious (have you thought about just using less gold?) but there appears to also be some ‘gold in them thar hills’ (if you’ll excuse the rather too-irresistible pun.)
There’s some useful info on stainless steel and other steel alloys, and of course the timely reminder of making sure you have up to date precious metal prices when pricing or quoting in such a volatile market. I don’t use silver plate as often as I used to, so what little I have in stock is at least 2 years old. I shudder to think of the price change in that time, but I also know I can’t afford to replace it if I base my pricing on my 2009 costs.