Llama Posted February 19, 2017 Report Share Posted February 19, 2017 2 minutes ago, JosephThomas said: Fixed. My point is, if you want to sell things at a higher price find clients with more money. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JosephThomas Posted February 19, 2017 Report Share Posted February 19, 2017 2 minutes ago, Llama said: My point is, if you want to sell things at a higher price find clients with more money. I know, I"m just messing with you. You probably knew that too, though I don't think you're wrong. Part of doing what you say is also making products that "people with more money" will want to buy. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Llama Posted February 19, 2017 Report Share Posted February 19, 2017 1 minute ago, JosephThomas said: Part of doing what you say is also making products that "people with more money" will want to buy. Funny thing, most of those people live by you So, I ship things 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JosephThomas Posted February 19, 2017 Report Share Posted February 19, 2017 2 minutes ago, Llama said: Funny thing, most of those people live by you So, I ship things If "live by you means" san francisco again, then no. That's like saying you are near Salt Lake City (Utah), or Lincoln (Nebraska). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Llama Posted February 19, 2017 Report Share Posted February 19, 2017 1 minute ago, JosephThomas said: If "live by you means" san francisco again, then no. That's like saying you are near Salt Lake City (Utah), or Lincoln (Nebraska). 480 miles. I'd drive it there for what I'm paying to ship them! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JosephThomas Posted February 19, 2017 Report Share Posted February 19, 2017 3 minutes ago, Llama said: 480 miles. I'd drive it there for what I'm paying to ship them! I might too if that was my only job. But it's not Edit: @Llama has a real job too. I wasn't implying anything other than the fact that I don't have time to drive 500 miles because of my day job. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gee-dub Posted February 19, 2017 Report Share Posted February 19, 2017 Although this will vary greatly with what sort of things you are trying to market, here's some food for thought. When a family member started his business (auto repair and restoration) he did his research and focused on a large radius from his location. Turns out you can get a Porsche, Mercedes or a BMW fixed anywhere. He focused on Jaguar, Aston Martin, Ferrari and the like. He has a much smaller customer base but, his customers are more affluent, better educated and appreciate quality and value at the more esoteric end of the spectrum. After about 30 years he sold off the repair and restoration business keeping the parts and supplies end for another decade. The point is, if you make a bathroom vanity that looks like something that can be had from the BORG, you are competing with the BORG. If you make something that looks like it was custom made by <insert your favorite here> then you are competing at another level. I price my pieces in the range of similar items in the area and keep busy. If no one in your area is making or offering that sort of item, you have the challenge of selling via photos and shipping large cumbersome pieces. Look at your area, look at your competition and position yourself accordingly. If nothing lines up with what really floats your boat about the craft in your area, you could always just enjoy being an enthusiastic hobbyist that occasionally sells something. This is how I see myself, at least until I quit my day job ;-) 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillyJack Posted February 19, 2017 Report Share Posted February 19, 2017 You really just have to compare what you make to what you can find in comparison. I use to build a lot of cheaper poker tables and sold them for $299. But this wasn't for a living but for fun and a golfing habit and bought my PING clubs. One hobby to pay for another. When I built cabinets for a living I didn't compare to pre-made cabinets. If they wanted pre-made pricing then go for it.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 19, 2017 Report Share Posted February 19, 2017 Does GM tell you how many hours it takes to build a car? No. They decide they can sell a mid sized car for $25,000 (or whatever) and then engineer a car to that price point. Furniture builders should do the same thing. Figure out what kind of table you can build for $1,500 (or whatever) then engineer a table that is profitable to build at that price point. A client shouldn't overpay because your are slow, and a client shouldn't underpay because you are fast. The market price for pretty much everything we make is already established. It is up to you to make a profit at that price. 13 hours ago, JosephThomas said: Fixed. I know you are joking. But I know a lot of seriously wealthy people. They are not idiots. It is difficult to get rich and be an idiot. But as you have more money, you value different things. For example, my time is way more valuable to me than it was 15 years ago. That is why I do "dumb" things like pay a plumber $300 to replace a toilet I could replace myself or pay an electrician $2000 to install a sub panel in my shop, something else I could do myself (or with a little help from two of my best friends, who are electricians). I simply don't have the time. That doesn't make me an idiot. It makes me understand that time has value. And like my dad said, you can't take it to the grave. So you might as well enjoy it while you are alive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JosephThomas Posted February 19, 2017 Report Share Posted February 19, 2017 2 hours ago, Mike. said: Does GM tell you how many hours it takes to build a car? No. They decide they can sell a mid sized car for $25,000 (or whatever) and then engineer a car to that price point. Furniture builders should do the same thing. Figure out what kind of table you can build for $1,500 (or whatever) then engineer a table that is profitable to build at that price point. A client shouldn't overpay because your are slow, and a client shouldn't underpay because you are fast. The market price for pretty much everything we make is already established. It is up to you to make a profit at that price. I know you are joking. But I know a lot of seriously wealthy people. They are not idiots. It is difficult to get rich and be an idiot. But as you have more money, you value different things. For example, my time is way more valuable to me than it was 15 years ago. That is why I do "dumb" things like pay a plumber $300 to replace a toilet I could replace myself or pay an electrician $2000 to install a sub panel in my shop, something else I could do myself (or with a little help from two of my best friends, who are electricians). I simply don't have the time. That doesn't make me an idiot. It makes me understand that time has value. And like my dad said, you can't take it to the grave. So you might as well enjoy it while you are alive. I was joking but I was also talking about a different kind of person than you are. You are talking about wealthy people. I'm talking about people with high incomes that have no wealth because they spend every single penny they make. There are a lot of these kinds of people in my area, at least in the industry I work for. Mostly people under 45 that don't yet understand how to manage their finances. You're right, you can't take it with you, but you also can't retire if you don't ever set any aside for the future. But anyway, as far as the OP's question is concerned, people with either lots of wealth or high income will potentially pay a fair price for custom furniture, so it doesn't matter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ronnie Posted February 19, 2017 Report Share Posted February 19, 2017 I've heard, How much your material cost that should be how much your labor is. Is this right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 19, 2017 Report Share Posted February 19, 2017 16 minutes ago, ronnie said: I've heard, How much your material cost that should be how much your labor is. Is this right? makes no sense at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mat60 Posted February 19, 2017 Report Share Posted February 19, 2017 21 minutes ago, ronnie said: I've heard, How much your material cost that should be how much your labor is. Is this right? I heard material x3. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tpt life Posted February 19, 2017 Report Share Posted February 19, 2017 There are some industries where a proportional relationship to material cost can be a rough guide. I am not sure this is one of them. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
krtwood Posted February 19, 2017 Report Share Posted February 19, 2017 Materials x 3 can be a decent estimate if you are really shooting in the dark. If you build with cheap materials you're probably going to be doing simple construction and if you are using expensive materials you are probably going to use more complex construction. It's one number you can throw into the mix. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillyJack Posted February 19, 2017 Report Share Posted February 19, 2017 4 hours ago, Mike. said: Does GM tell you how many hours it takes to build a car? No. They decide they can sell a mid sized car for $25,000 (or whatever) and then engineer a car to that price point. Furniture builders should do the same thing. Figure out what kind of table you can build for $1,500 (or whatever) then engineer a table that is profitable to build at that price point. A client shouldn't overpay because your are slow, and a client shouldn't underpay because you are fast. The market price for pretty much everything we make is already established. It is up to you to make a profit at that price. I know you are joking. But I know a lot of seriously wealthy people. They are not idiots. It is difficult to get rich and be an idiot. But as you have more money, you value different things. For example, my time is way more valuable to me than it was 15 years ago. That is why I do "dumb" things like pay a plumber $300 to replace a toilet I could replace myself or pay an electrician $2000 to install a sub panel in my shop, something else I could do myself (or with a little help from two of my best friends, who are electricians). I simply don't have the time. That doesn't make me an idiot. It makes me understand that time has value. And like my dad said, you can't take it to the grave. So you might as well enjoy it while you are alive. Actual furniture pieces can't be priced that way. Most of the time they are unique pieces only made once and priced once. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom King Posted February 20, 2017 Report Share Posted February 20, 2017 2 hours ago, ronnie said: I've heard, How much your material cost that should be how much your labor is. Is this right? When I was building new spec houses, that's pretty much right, with me doing almost all the labor with only a couple of helpers. With anything else I've done, sometimes the materials cost is a very small fraction. Check out the shutter, or window pages on my website, and see what you think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ronnie Posted February 21, 2017 Report Share Posted February 21, 2017 Right now we are doing a little contract work for a customer and I said that what the material cost that's how much the labor is. Well I needed to hire a some help with the project. As we are about half way through, I am beggining to question weather I should have priced my labor a little higher or not. You know auto mechanics have a set price for the work that they do. All they have to do is go into the computer and the auto program that a lot of them have and find the work that needs to be done and it gives an estimated time it should take and how much it should cost. I think that some if not most have a program like this they can go to. To bad we don't have some thing like that... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tpt life Posted February 21, 2017 Report Share Posted February 21, 2017 There is...Mel called it market research. He looked for what other people sell things for. Rarely is the thing we are making so truly unique. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Llama Posted February 21, 2017 Report Share Posted February 21, 2017 Somehow the point is being missed here... Do some research... Seriously, 5 minutes on google and you will be able to see what to sell things for. Unless you're the next Maloof or Krenov, the information is out there. The idea of charging an hourly rate is ridiculous. The reason is simple. If I can make a thing in one hour, and you take 5 you can't charge more for it because you are slow. You can sell it for $50 (or whatever), and you simply make less per hour due to your slowness. It doesn't work the other way. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coop Posted February 21, 2017 Report Share Posted February 21, 2017 Mel, I don't disagree. Henry Ford proved that years ago. But your time has to be worth something. That and the quality of your product. The oldest profession in the world confirms that. I don't know the answer other than test the waters and see how receptive the buyers are. Thus the reason I don't sell my stuff! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dylder Posted February 21, 2017 Report Share Posted February 21, 2017 The best advice I have here is to make multiples of your item you plan to sell. It will cut down on labor costs. I used to make an item for ebay sales. I'd make 30 at a time and sell them over a couple months. This also helps to eliminate the burnout of making the same item over and over. dw 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Llama Posted February 21, 2017 Report Share Posted February 21, 2017 8 hours ago, Dylder said: I'd make 30 at a time and sell them over a couple months. That's how I sold my Reindeer. Batch those critters out! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom King Posted February 21, 2017 Report Share Posted February 21, 2017 Just one example, but I do have an hourly rate when I work for other people, or organizations. It's a flat rate per hour, plus expenses on top of that. I do so many different things though, and don't spend time giving estimates, and dont' do deadlines. My jobs are typically a year or two long though, and will only rarely take small jobs. The window sash given as an example were part of one such job, and the shutters part of another. I have 43 years of experience in building stuff for a living though, and a long list of examples of stuff I've made. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ronnie Posted February 22, 2017 Report Share Posted February 22, 2017 On 2/19/2017 at 11:39 AM, BillyJack said: You really just have to compare what you make to what you can find in comparison. I use to build a lot of cheaper poker tables and sold them for $299. But this wasn't for a living but for fun and a golfing habit and bought my PING clubs. One hobby to pay for another. When I built cabinets for a living I didn't compare to pre-made cabinets. If they wanted pre-made pricing then go for it.. I know this is a little off topic but could you give me some advice on making cabinet doors. I have a home made router table with a regular router screwed to the bottom of it. I find it kind of complicated to set up. And get the rails and stiles to line up. And I don't have one of them sliders that ride along the router table. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.