You know that picnic table I made based on your design? It's been sitting in the side yard of the friend I gave it to and two of her neighbours are inquiring about me building them one too. Working about a dozen hours a week it took me about a month to build because I was experimenting along the way. With a set design in mind and knowing exactly how to go about building more of them, I can knock one off in a week.
I figure the first one cost me about $450 in material, but eliminating original wastage, I should be able to cut that down to $400 or so. I was wondering what I should charge total price including labour? Any ideas?
That's indeed a tough question! And, with that much time and materials invested, I would first want to call it something other than a "picnic table"! :)
Sorry, this is more of an art than something that can be easily quantified with a formula, but, as a general rule of thumb for such projects, about 3 to 5 times material cost will generally put you in the ball park of what the uninitiated consumer will actually expect to pay for a handcrafted piece.
Obviously someone more discerning, cognizant, and appreciative of the craftsmanship and, hand wrought, unique nature of the piece would expect to pay more.
In any event, by quoting on the high side of the above, or more, you will be during yourself, and the friend you built it for, a favor. Simply put, if you aren't desperate for the work, don't sell yourself short.
To amplify somewhat from another viewpoint altho I haven't done custom work for nearly 40 years now since I was a young pup out of school trying to make some sideline cash...
My experience would indicate the average schmoe seeing something like this will expect to pay what they would for a take-home-in-the-box pos table from the local hardware store sidewalk clearance sale... :(
I'd also say it depends on whether the week is a 12-hr working week of before or a solid "real" week to guesstimate on labor. What would you be doing in that time otherwise--is it taking away from productive time or is it simply making a little from a hobby? Do you intend it as an entry to business or as simply a favor? And lastly, how will you feel if you don't get the commission?
Sounds about right. For me, this is a hobby. I'm either going to do it for cost of materials because I want to do it for you, or I'm not going to work for cheap. I don't want or need potential aggravation for $4 an hour.
Good point. I guess a little marketing savvy wouldn't hurt anything. How about Mission Style Outdoor Dining Table?
Well, at the very least, this style of construction and type of table isn't commonly available at any local hardware stores that I've seen.
Since I'd only be making them in the summertime, I'd otherwise probably be drinking a few beer on a patio somewhere. And, it is a hobby, not a business. If I wanted work, I'd do my regular job and be making more money for it. It wouldn't bother me not getting the commission as realistically, I'd only be doing it as a favour.
I've got to admit though, it would make me feel good knowing a number of houses in a particular street were using something I'd built. Guess I've got some thinking to do.
Actually, those images are encouraging to me. My table is considerably more substantial than anything there and it's made out of cedar, not pine. Too, Canadian prices are unfortunately, usually higher than US prices. All things in my favour should I decide to do this.
The reason cedar is so expensive, because we only have about a bezillion acres of the stuff. With more land and wood per capita than anywhere on this planet, why does it cost so much money to buy a house?
The knotty cedar I used was close to $2 a foot for the 2x6 eight foot stuff. I briefly consider clear cedar with no knots until I learned that it was three times the price. Didn't even bother to ask the price on redwood, much less finding a local place that sold it. Either someone is making a gouging profit on all our wood or there's dozens of outfits handling it, each adding their mark-up before it hits the consumer store for little guys like me.
... Certainly, and it's would be worth several times that price and your labor is worth not doing it for essentially nothing.
The problem an individual runs into is the perception that rather than paying a premium for the better-built and designed piece, folks generally have the mindset that since you don't have a big factory overhead you can do it cheaper. Hence the experience I previously alluded to that folks in the setting of either knowing you directly or indirectly expect essentially a gift, not a purchase and ime rarely actually will ante up the money unless it is priced as a bargain.
I'll note that when I quit trolling for business on the at-work bulletin board and set up only a small show in a corner of a commercial/retail paint/decorating business which supplied the shop space (which is too long a sidelight story to explain) and only had "professional" contact w/ potential clients the fraction of cheapskates went down markedly -- not that there were any fewer of them; the setting simply screened out having to deal with most of them. It changed the potential client base from primarily coworkers/ neighbors/acquaintances/etc. to strangers who didn't have expectations of sugar plums.
Hence the questions to try to focus your feelings about the deal--if you want to do it for the pleasure you can get out of it, that's all well and good and I'd be the last to tell you not to do so, _BUT_ there are only a very few that will come through if you actually price them as you would need to in order to make it financially worth the time if anything other than simply covering costs and a few extra six- packs or a new sawblade for the summer's work is an objective.
That's a good feeling I'll agree and not worth nothing -- and it's certainly possible it might be sufficient reward on it's own.
That was the point of buttin' in--hopefully it will help some in considering choice of action...
You've made some good points. Since I live in an apartment and don't have a regularly available space that I can do woodworking, it may be in my best interest to wait until I find a suitable space to rent. As well as satisfying my desire for a workshop, it would also contribute to the possiblity of marketing some of the stuff I'd like to build.
BZZZZTTT!!! ... The value of the house is dictated by your tax appraisal district (IOW, what your neighbor's last sold for, or 10% more than last year's appraisal, whichever is greater).
The real question is: Why do we put up with this shit?
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