Pricing Help Needed

[Kris Martinson]

Hey guys, I am getting several inquiries to purchase my Scroll Saw Art, especially the Hawaiian-themed pieces. I need advice about how to price my work. I'm sure that the price will depend on many things, but I need a starting point from which to work.

[Riknarr]

Rough guide for me would be cost of materials and how long it took multiplied by what you would like to earn per hour.

[dgman]

For me the formula of triple the cost of the wood plus so much an hour of cutting plus cost of blades and finish does not work for me. I look at the finished piece and ask my self, how much would I pay for this if I wanted to by this. If I used the formula above, nobody would by it.

I still make money from everything I sell but not as much as I would like too.

[WayneMahler]

Pricing things has always been a tough subject. I go my time spent to cut something and finish it. Multiply that by the figure I want to make an hour then add 10% for materials and blades etc. I also take into account if I stack cut projects, but that a different subject. 

[Scrolling Steve]

I do not sell many pieces (give most away)I use a simple formula ..Cost of materials times two...I am retired and take a great deal of joy in time spent at the saw....If I was trying to make  a living it would be a different story!...Just my two cents !

[bandaideman]

I usually look at product and if I am pleased with it I will consider what I think it will sell for and charge that. like dan if putting hourly rate price of material etc no one will pay that much.

[Lucky2]

Kris, no matter what formula you come up with, to figure out what you should charge for your work. Keep in mind that it has to be flexible, most people will try to talk you down in price. I found that it was always easier to give a deal, if I wasn't going to lose money on that deal. For that reason, I always marked my items up by a dollar or two. Then, if a customer asks for a discount, I gladly give them a break of a dollar or two. For the client that doesn't ask for a discount, I give them one anyway. I tell them it's because their a first time buyer, or give some other reason like maybe it's because I had a great day. It doesn't matter why, but, it does make a big difference in getting a customer to return on a weekly basis to see what is new. 

Len

[zimmerstutzen]

The Public is a strange group.  Pieces that take alot of time to cut may not be worth what a simple piece that is novel may bring.  Personally,   complex pieces that took a great deal of time don't really do anything for me except the respect for the time put in to the job.  To me a novel politically incorrect item is worth more.    Or a piece with moving parts.  or even a piece that uses illumination to emphasize light and dark parts of the piece in an artful way.    I come from an area where folks have been known as tightwads for generations.  Spending money of decorations for the house is a luxury and better be good.  

[Fab4]

Hi Kris:

My 2 cents worth:

You will never get what it's really worth

By the time you figure in your time and material the price is too high

As already mentioned above

 

What I've learned over the years

I am into this "hobby" because I love it

Cover the cost of your materials and a bit more and you should do o.k.

We will never get rich doing what we do....scrolling..... designing........etc etc

The satisfaction of seeing the people's reaction to your work is priceless...Especially when you personalize it

 

Be prepared to hear all kinds of comments about your work and prices - Good and not so good

 

 

Good Luck Kris

Hope it works out for you

Fab4

[amazingkevin]

Pricing Your Work

[Ron Johnson]

Integrity plays a part in many things and pricing one's work is no different. I enjoy woodwork emensly always setting my goals higher. In turn I take pride pricing each item individually fairly upon time, material, supplies, and etc. Woodworking for me is an art ( hobby) and not a business. So I'm not afraid of price (it's just a number). Quality also plays a big part in setting a price as one of a kind will do also. You may see what I'm getting at. There are many variables when determing price and everyone has their own thoughts and right arriving at a satisfactory price. So it really depends on what you think your work is worth and considering the market you're selling in. At the end only you know what the right price is.

[ike]

I do this for a hobby not a living. I price by what me and my wife thinks the market will bear then take 10% off that price. if teay are a fast seller I mark them up to what we think the market will bear. I just want make a little profit I am retired and my hourly wage is not important.

IKE

[hawkeye10]

Hey guys, I am getting several inquiries to purchase my Scroll Saw Art, especially the Hawaiian-themed pieces. I need advice about how to price my work. I'm sure that the price will depend on many things, but I need a starting point from which to work.

Kris I don't sell anything I make. It all goes to family and friends. This is a hobby for me and I don't like making the same things over and over. I think I would be more open to selling things if I was younger and more able to go to craft shows. 

[Kepy]

I solved the problem of pricing by just accepting donations for my work.  So far it has worked although one time I must have had a surprised look as the donation was increased without me saying anything.  I have even returned some as felt it was too much.

[Bill WIlson]

This is always an interesting topic and even though I don't sell anything, I like to follow these discussions to see where they lead.

 

As I see it, the main issue with pricing scrolled work is that the single biggest component of the cost is labor.  Very detailed pieces like portraits or the big fretwork clocks or an elaborate intarsia, are very labor intensive.  Some of these works have hundreds, perhaps thousands of cuts in them and might take more than a 100 hours, start to finish.  It's practically impossible to charge a fair hourly wage for these kind of pieces without pricing yourself right out of the market.

 

I'm considering donating a portrait I made to a group I'm involved with.  It could be used for a private auction at a future group meeting.  I expect that if I donate this piece for this purpose, I will be asked what it's relevant worth is, for the purposes of valuing if for the auction.  The piece I'm considering donating is a portrait if the John P. Cable Gristmill in Cades Cove, the same one Zen Scroller uses for his avatar.  It's cut from 1/8" BB ply, with a black backer, then framed with a simple, yet tasteful walnut frame and finished with shellac.  I have probably less than $10 in materials invested in this piece.  I don't know how many hours it took me, because I don't keep track of that, but if I had to guess, I'd say at least 40. 

 

I don't mean to hijack the OP's thread, but under the circumstances, what would you folks estimate the value of such a piece to be, for charity auction purposes?

 

Thanks

[NC Scroller]

This is always an interesting topic and even though I don't sell anything, I like to follow these discussions to see where they lead.

 

As I see it, the main issue with pricing scrolled work is that the single biggest component of the cost is labor.  Very detailed pieces like portraits or the big fretwork clocks or an elaborate intarsia, are very labor intensive.  Some of these works have hundreds, perhaps thousands of cuts in them and might take more than a 100 hours, start to finish.  It's practically impossible to charge a fair hourly wage for these kind of pieces without pricing yourself right out of the market.

 

I'm considering donating a portrait I made to a group I'm involved with.  It could be used for a private auction at a future group meeting.  I expect that if I donate this piece for this purpose, I will be asked what it's relevant worth is, for the purposes of valuing if for the auction.  The piece I'm considering donating is a portrait if the John P. Cable Gristmill in Cades Cove, the same one Zen Scroller uses for his avatar.  It's cut from 1/8" BB ply, with a black backer, then framed with a simple, yet tasteful walnut frame and finished with shellac.  I have probably less than $10 in materials invested in this piece.  I don't know how many hours it took me, because I don't keep track of that, but if I had to guess, I'd say at least 40. 

 

I don't mean to hijack the OP's thread, but under the circumstances, what would you folks estimate the value of such a piece to be, for charity auction purposes?

 

Thanks

Bill, in the past when I made pieces for charity auctions I valued my time at $25 - $30 per hour. I did not apply an adder for wood, blades, and other supplies used in the process. If I make items for sale I price according to what I think the market will bear.

[hawkeye10]

Another thing is location. If you live in a popular vacation spot where you have different clients coming in every week with money to spend then you have a very good chance of selling a lot. There is so much to consider. Another thing is it more than likely will take several years to get things going. It will also take hard work and long hours and what now is fun will not be as much fun. Just something to think about.

[NC Scroller]

Another thing is location. If you live in a popular vacation spot where you have different clients coming in every week with money to spend then you have a very good chance of selling a lot. There is so much to consider. Another thing is it more than likely will take several years to get things going. It will also take hard work and long hours and what now is fun will not be as much fun. Just something to think about.

Excellent point. I know a lady scroller in Maryland who sells the mini bird house for $10 each. She sells about 100 each year. I tried here and the best I get is $5 each. At that price I sell 10 to 15 a year. At a higher price I sold 0 (zero). (Material wise they probably cost me less than $0.25 to make.) Now she does attend many more events than I do.

 

BTW I have one of her houses and they are exactly the same.

[Denny Knappen]

This is always a difficult subject.   I normally take cost of materials times five.  I don't consider my time as it is a hobby.  As for portraits, cost of material is so low I use 20 times.

 

Scott, I also sell the Miniature Birdhouses for $10.  Last month I sold 20.

[Clayton717]

I normally charge by time and materials. I use this method for intarsia, some scrollings and other things I make. for my portrait cuttings I have set prices for them according to size. My hourly wage is not high but I do this as a hobby, so if I sell enough to pay for itself and buy tools I am very happy. Which now it does. I sell almost everything I make and have people come to me to buy gifts for Christmas and birthday gifts.  I have many return customers but took me several years to get known for what I do. No matter what prices you set you will always hear "that's to much" then the next guy might say that's not enough.

[heppnerguy]

Funny story to me is......one time we were having a garage sale and a couple came into the building looking for art suplies for her husband, hoping to find something that might interest him  and keep him busy with his retirement time. I ask her, if she had given intarsia a thought as the cost of doing it does not have to be very high. She asked me to show her what I was talking about after i explained that I did it and enjoyed it a lot. I took her to my shop where I only had a couple of pieces hanging on my wall, as I usually  made them on requests of for gifts. She spotted a horse on my wall  and ask me how much i would sell that one for. I told her $125.

"OH," she replied, "I can't afford that !"

" I wasn't trying to sell it to you."

"Do you ever make wolves"

" I never have but I could." and showed her my pattern magazines where she found one she liked and she asked,

"How much would you sell that one for ?"

"$125", I replied, and she immediately said,

"I'll take one."

 

so there you go. People are willing to pay what they think something is worth their money.

 

I include postage with in my pricing as I do not do craft shows and most scrolling items costs me under $3 to make. I always have a minimum of $20 on a simple piece and $250 is my maximum I have placed on an item. Many of my pieces I sell from people that  come into my house and see my work and ask me a price and they usually are happy with it and buy. I sold a high school sports plaque  last year about this time for $30 and a person came to the house to pick up thier piece, saving me mailing costs and saw my intarsia eagle and without any hesitation was excited to order it for $200. That one cost me under $8 to make, including finish.

   I know this is  not a good answer to your question, I guess, but it is rather an illistration of price variety

 

Dick

heppnerguy

[SCROLLSAW703]

my situation is kind of the same way, Mr. Dick. A lot of my patterns I make are wolves, Native American patterns, dream catchers, things like that. I'm part Cherokee, so I carry the Native Tradition, so to speak. I use a few hobby lobby feathers for my dream catchers, but for the most part, I cut my own feathers. We live in a small agriculture community in the far NW corner of Kansas. So I make Farmers' plaques & crosses, cowboy crosses, Grandmother crosses, etc., too. I use all rough sawn lumber in my projects, unless I'm fortunate enough to get my hands on some decent refurbished lumber. My pricing on some projects is higher than others, it depends on the circumstances. I start my prices out on the dream catchers at $125.00. Our crosses, most of them run between $50 - $75. I've got a couple I get $100 for. Our napkin holders are $50.00, regardless of the pattern or wood. If you want a pair of S & P shakers to match them, they're $60.00.The wolves I do vary in price by time it takes to do the pattern. I've got a couple it takes over 36 hours to get them done. I've got a combine in the field pattern that takes right at 75 hours start to finish. I charge $13/hr on the saw, & $25/hr shop labor. Put a pencil to 75 hours, & the figure you'll come up with'll scare the devil himself. So, when we go to craft shows, I put enough of a price on projects like that that will pay for the lumber, blades, finish work, & a little extra. Same way with my wolves & dream catchers. Lots of times, I'll start a conversation with the customer that is really interested in the project, & after all their questions are answered, I'll ask them to make me an offer. If it's to low to suit me, I'll try & meet them half way. Sometimes I wind up with my asking price, other times, I wind up making a deal with the customer, & end up with a happy customer. That's what I'm scrolling for mostly anyway, is to make folks smile! It works about the same when the customer comes in the shop. They are getting to see all the patterns I've made, & the saw working. They see the lathes, & all the other tools in the shop, & realize our projects are hand created. They aren't computer cut, or laser cut, or anything else. It makes all the difference in the world in the price of the project. 

[Sparkey]

Also has a lot to do with location. What some people sell for $40 to $50 I can't sell for more than $25.

[JTTHECLOCKMAN]

As mentioned location and type of venue you are selling in will add to the determination of your work. I have been doing this for over 30 years and have sold at craft shows and consignment stores in big time malls. When selling consignment you have to factor in the sales place in your total cost and when doing shows you need to factor in table costs and time travel. If sellin on line there are also fees but you may save on other fees. So there is no real formula. I have gotten to the point I can just about tell what an item of mine will sell for without all that math stuff. You will be able to do this also the more you do it. Good luck and have fun.