How do you price?

[Proctorw]

I have had my machine for 7 days now and have cut out a couple of neat patterns. The Cross with the Face of Jesus came out really cool. I have had some people ask me to make them one. My question, how do you price your items. Here is what I was thinking for a 12" cross and a 6" cross. Wood would either be Cherry or Mahogany (about the same price, although the prices below reflect Cherry).

12" Cross my cost for wood is $10.15. For the 6" Cross, $6.77. I figured I would add $1.00 for tung oil finish (2 Coats) and instead of trying to figure out labor (Planing and ripping the wood, making the sled for the crosses which is a 1 time cost) I would charge for machine time. The 12" cross takes 2 hours and the 6" takes about 1.2 hours. I need to figure out what a reasonable charge would be as I would like to make some profit :D. I ran the numbers just to get an idea of what I would charge. For $8.00 per hour of machine time the 12" cross would be $27.23 and the 6" cross would be $16.65. For $12.00 per hour the 12" would be $35.23 and the 6" would be $21.05. At $15.00 per hour the 12" -$41.23 and the 6" - $24.35.

Thoughts are most appreciated.

[lawrence]

My initial thought is $40 -$50 for the 12 inch and $30-$35 for the small one. You'll cut down on carve time somewhat if you batch carve/finish.

Lawrence

[Proctorw]

Lawrence, thanks for the response. What is your method for pricing your carvings/projects? How do you figure out what you charge?

[cestout]

I figure about $40 a sqft., then adjust for the type of wood, and complexity. I do a lot of box type stuff, like jewelry boxes and burial urns, and they require much more labor than signs and wall hangings, so mark up.

[Digitalwoodshop]

I start with 4 times the cost of material including patterns. You can always lower the price with a special offer..... You need to charge enough to keep the lights on...

I am dealing with price today in some contact with a Fire Store that is quoting my Tags to a Customer... He wants metal tags that I don't do anymore as they are too thin and bend. I quoted my plastic tags at twice my competitors metal tag price.... My-Lor.com. The Store wants me to drop my price more for my plastic tags with lifetime warranty but I wrote back telling him that the My-Lor product is a Excellent Product and what the Customer is asking for... Recommending He push the My-Lor Tags.... I have a working relationship with the owner of My-Lor and Support Him when I can.... Dropping my price was not on the menu today..... Last week I did drop a $95.00 Item Price to $50.00 in a Introductory Offer for a Fire Dept in North Carolina.... A One time offer to get my product SEEN.... They ordered a Dozen.... A $1140.00 order became $600.00 order.... A $540.00 discount..... Ouch.... $75.00 would have been smarter.... But I am getting into a new market and it could lead to other business.... He is aware it is a one time discount....

Good Luck,

AL

[Proctorw]

Thanks for the input. I want to make some extra money, but I want it to be worth my time and be able to recoup some of the machine costs, not just now, but parts in the future. I figured everyone has some type of method to make sure they recover costs, rather than say..hmmm..what would someone pay...again Thanks!