Dale Russell Posted June 29, 2006 Share Posted June 29, 2006 G'Day blokes ( & shelias ) Ian & i's is wonderin' on what youse lot use ta work out what u'll charge for youse work . Ian's been " asked ta make some towel rail's " & don't know what ta charge ,,, Ideas greatfully recived ... Chopper ( aka ) Dale Russell ... & Ian ... :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ten Hammers Posted June 29, 2006 Share Posted June 29, 2006 Hello men. I'll just start by asking, what is your time worth ? I rate this by the hour. Then, what is the energy cost to forge the item ? Material cost will be probobly be the least but hard to say. Don't forget consumables. Can you make this in one hour ? One or 2 per day ? Consider time from drawing or inception through finish work (get it all ). I still charge $3.- for lotta hooks but some have went to $5-. If this is an item that MAY be used as a stock item later, you may take this into consideration. Do you have tooling to build for this ? Not that I would scalp a one time special deal for a customer, just think if this item may really be saleable to future customers. One off items ( special things ) usually bring more. Stock items can have a pretty much standard price. If you price yourself too cheap, you will NEVER recover this. Ask yourself what the market will stand for pricing. Good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted June 29, 2006 Share Posted June 29, 2006 So ApprenticeMan, when you hire help do you pay them a variable hourly wage? There have been some very good discussions over at AnvilFire on pricing work to include shop overhead, design work, etc One of the points was that you were lucky if you actually got to spend 50% of your time at the forge making the thing! Thomas Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rthibeau Posted June 29, 2006 Share Posted June 29, 2006 A blacksmith once told me to look out the window before you quote a price to the customer. That was to see what kind of vehicle he had driven up in - a Rolls Royce or beat up VW. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nolano Posted June 29, 2006 Share Posted June 29, 2006 Well, the more intricate something is, the longer it takes, generally.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ten Hammers Posted June 29, 2006 Share Posted June 29, 2006 After having been in business for a number of years, I guess I just have ways of doing things that work for me. TIME is the real killer. Can you make the item in an hour, a day, a week ?...This time MUST be worth something and this something HAS to have some sort of worth in a unit of measure. Production work for me means piece work and of course the faster and more efficient I can be the better. I barely have time to meet myself comin the door now. I have things that I have commited to that have not been finished ( orders outstanding ). Richard nailed the head with his analogy but we aren't always given this choice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Smith Posted June 30, 2006 Share Posted June 30, 2006 I think apprenticeman has a point - Would you pay a plumber or an electrician the same hourly rate as the guy out front raking your lawn? If you've invested the time to learn something as difficult as repousee, by all means charge a few extra bucks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nolano Posted June 30, 2006 Share Posted June 30, 2006 Well, What I mean is that you should judge what your time is worth, IE how much things sell for, how much you can make in an hour, then add in materials, and you have a general idea. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FredlyFX Posted July 1, 2006 Share Posted July 1, 2006 Another thing to factor in, or at least give some minor consideration to, is wether you are trying to make a living at it, or is it just a hobby. Personally, my smithing is just a hobby. I have a good job I am very happy at which pays the bills. My ultimate goal is that some day my smithing will break even. However, I found that when I first started and I priced stuff way too low that I was actually hurting the professional smiths in the area. If I price stuff way too low it reduces the percieved value of hand made blacksmithed items. For example, if someone buys a fireplace set from me for $50 but a professional smith needs to get $500 for the same set to pay for his time etc, then I have dragged down the local market. That personas friends and neighbors will be looking to pay a similar price for that set in the future. (btw, that's an example only, I would never charge that little for something like that) I have now taken to pricing my stuff at a more reasonable rate. It's still probably lower than the pro will charge because I don't feel my quality is where it could be, but at least now I am not dragging down the market. The other thing is that even if I don't think about other smiths in the area, I am also dragging down my own future market. Once you start selling an item at a certain price, then it is tougher to raise it by a large amount later. Charge a fair price and give them a faire product that is the best I can make. It may not be perfect, but it is the best I can make, so I feel ok with the transaction. That's how I look at things now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bbb Posted July 1, 2006 Share Posted July 1, 2006 If they don't cringe when they write the check, you didn't charge enuff. Rich folks don't mind over paying for quality work, and they don't respect you if you don't charge enuff. You can get full on a fast food burger combo, and at a fancy steak house at twice the price, wonder how the fancy steak house stays in business? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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