How to price your work?

[Tom King]

3 minutes ago, ronnie said:

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.

I have made many set of cabinets with such a router table.  I built new houses for 33 years, and always made the cabinets for them with probably no more of a router table than you have.

You can use the outside edge of the table to let a runner ride along.  You can either use a miter gauge, or make something better pretty easily. Clamp a stop before the piece hits the cutter so you can hold them all at the same starting point.  I even do that with window sash rails that I make these days, as seen on my "Windows" page on my website.  The things I use to hold the sash rails are pretty simple, and thrown together quickly.  
 

[treesner]

Etsy has these ranging from $35-$100 or so for a very similar thing.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/226407494/5-blanket-ladder-rustic-home-decor?ref=market

There is also one priced at close to $500 that does the same thing, but is less functional. Looks cooler though, and I guarantee you he has about $30 in material and less than 2 hours making them.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/177958662/burt-blanket-rack?ga_order=most_relevant&ga_search_type=all&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_search_query=quilt rack&ref=sc_gallery_6&plkey=f7f5553de00cfa5abcb89b1176454d35a8542cbb:177958662

For the second one you have to understand that things that are simple are the hardest to design. He most likely went through many iterations or prototypes trying to figure it out. The curves are refined the wood choice aren't arbitrary and it looks unique. Don't under estimate the least addressed skill in woodworking, design

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[Llama]

I'm not underestimating at all. Just stating the facts. Again, this is another example of the importance of doing market research to price a piece.

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[Pondhockey]

On 2/18/2017 at 7:46 PM, Llama said:

That is how you would calculate your break even point, which has little to do with sale price as a hobbyist.

That we can agree on.  Pricing, in general or on the average, better exceed what Llama calls your break even point.

For another view of calculating the "break even point" try an internet search on "shop hourly costs".  As already indicated you need to consider all your costs.

[Pondhockey]

1 hour ago, Pondhockey said:

That we can agree on.  Pricing, in general or on the average, better exceed what Llama calls your break even point.

For another view of calculating the "break even point" try an internet search on "shop hourly costs".  As already indicated you need to consider all your costs.

What we do in my non woodworking company, and what a friend is doing now for his woodworking venture includes both the market research (in his case some is on line, some is informed opinions of people in the business) and what I'm going to call "cost of sales" (all of your costs associated with producing the piece and getting it sold.)  The cost of sales with an added profit margin (10% is typical) better be below the market research price.

Put another way, there is the "price" (market driven) and the "costs".  You need to understand both.

[treesner]

What we do in my non woodworking company, and what a friend is doing now for his woodworking venture includes both the market research (in his case some is on line, some is informed opinions of people in the business) and what I'm going to call "cost of sales" (all of your costs associated with producing the piece and getting it sold.)  The cost of sales with an added profit margin (10% is typical) better be below the market research price.

Put another way, there is the "price" (market driven) and the "costs".  You need to understand both.

Good point on pricing for selling, takes time talking and messaging people plus sometimes you have to deliver ect that all takes time

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[Merlau]

On 2/19/2017 at 1:25 PM, 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.  

 

 

so where would one go to get these established prices.. Etsy? Custom made?