Pricing projects?

[hanksor]

Do any of you sell any of your work? If you do, do you have a formula or system that you use for your pricing?

[Keith Hodges]

Many of us sell our projects. I'm not sure if their is a formula for pricing. Depends on where your located. Some of the things I sell, here in Arkansas go for $50.00, and in a better economy it may go for $100.00. Just a learning experience at the craft fairs. If people don't buy, then the prices may be too high.

[milo30]

I sell mine. It depends on what you are selling. In the beginning I was asking too little and with some mistakes trying to learn, I lost money on several things that I sold. Not counting the labor, just in the material alone. Now I basically triple the retail price of the material cost, calculate the number of hours involved for machining and finishing. I'm not trying to make a living with it, just a little to supplement my income. What I was selling for $50 before, now are $100. For my work in particular, it was fairly easy to find the going rate by internet searches of companies that do the same thing.

I make plaques. I found the material that I use and got a super deal on it. It costs me about $4 in material, 45 minutes of machining, and 15 minutes to finish. I sell it for $95. Eventually my material costs will go up when my supply dwindles but I have already accounted for it in the price. As far as creating the file, I am selling 50 or more of the same item so I don't even add that in.

If you want to really know what you need to charge, you'll need to calculate what it costs to operate the shop including electric, water, etc. My shop is my garage and the electric usage is pretty minimal so I don't bother. If you do a search on some of the other forums you'll get a lot of information on how different people figure their prices.

[KarenW]

Here's a thread you might find interesting.
Then again, it may cause your head to spin, too. LOL!
http://www.cncsharktalk.com/viewtopic.p ... ing#p14918

Milo, you made a good point about cost of materials and that's a change we've made since that last discussion.
Some of our materials are tougher to find down here - walnut, for instance - and we not only pay a premium price for it but we have to take a day off to go get it.
Thanks to Keith and Kevin we've now got a terrific source for maple, birch and cherry at unbeatable prices but again, it means taking time off, in this case it's 2 full days, to make the drive up there to pick it up. Consequently we now figure in a flat rate for ALL species of lumber at $8/bf. Seems high but it covers the costs associated with the travel time and lost days.