What to charge?

[SoCal Dave]

I've been fooling with these horseshoe/cowheads making some for a craft fair. The big question is how much? And yes, I got carried away with the long, long horns on the one photo. It was one of those things where if a little is good, longer has got to be better. It has a funny character look to it, so I kind of like it. So, tell me what you think I could reasonable charge at a craft's fair? I understand that it depends on where the fair is located. The horseshoes are free, but not the propane and stock I use for the cow heads, not the welding, wire brushing, and clear coating I use to finish them. I hope the pictures show up with this posting.

[HWHII]

I would say $45 to $60. I would bet you have about 2 hrs in the one. You might already know if you plan to make several at one time in steps, your production time will come down. If you can get them done in a hour you will be doing all right.

[dablacksmith]

i would charge 65 for that....figure 20.00 a head and a bit more for the assembly ..you could turn it into a door knocker .. I make those and sell um for 75.00 not the same but similar...

[Frosty]

I think the $60 range is reasonable if you can make them fast enough. If you have much time in them it needs to go up to suit. I was getting $20 for leaf coat hooks in the mid 90's and I could turn them out in about 6-7 mins. 10 during a demo. Horse shoe art is a bit of a niche market though so I don't know which way that'd drive prices, probably depend on who the market is.

Frosty The Lucky.

[JNewman]

Replacing the the weld with a rivet. would make that hook look better If you just drilled the holes and used a factory made rivet I don't think it would take much longer than the weld and maybe less if you count weld cleanup time.

[Yetti]

just a thought. if you turned the tips in on the horns and made them longer could it hold a cowboy hat? may make them more salable

[ThomasPowers]

A square rivet would deal with rotation issues. Also some folks charge by the head for stuff like that so a that would be a 3 head piece as it's the heads that take the time to make.

[SoCal Dave]

The photo with the realllllly long horns has a longer tail, if that's what you want to call it, I'm not sure, but I've tried my cowboy hat on it and it worked fine. I'v tried different types of curves on the tail portion from long to short thinking about hanging a coat, bridles or reins. I'm thinking about making a door knocker with a long horn head and a tail that would knock on the bottom of the horseshoe. The head would have to be higher and I would have to figure out a swivel method but that shouldn't be to difficult. Of course, people might not want an old used horseshoe on their door but a new one would cost $. I'll try the rivet. I think that would give it a nice look also.

[seldom (dick renker)]

SoCalDave,
I make horseshoe lamps and just sold two to the same party. While I was heming and hawing about he price, I really didn't know what to charge, she said don't sell yourself short. I also get my shoes for free for the most part, I buy for special orders, but there are lamp parts and shades not counting cleanup and finishing. So far my price ranges have been from 100.00 to 150.00. If you go to the forum horseshoes as the metal you can see one of the lamps.

[SoCal Dave]

Seldom: I saw the lamp and nicely done. To be honest and detailed, don't we have to include every minute spent on a project plus materials, cost of a wire brush, finishing, welding rod, propane or coal, electricity, etc The first to go in the calculations for me is my time, or more exactly, the amount I'm charging for my time. And, that is why I started this post to figure out what to charge. For your lamp, I would start at $150.00. Also, I would ask some friends what they would pay for something. I did for the horseshoe projects and interestingly they were all pretty close in price. I haven't sold any yet, and that really is the telling reality. I do this as a hobby but could use some extra money. I just saw the taxman! I ask myself what would be a good price be for me and for the buyer, or what would they reasonably pay. No clear answers yet.