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Thread: pricing

  1. #1
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    Default pricing

    hey everybody,
    i was just wondering how people price their work? i think i want to charge by the board foot because it is more fair and easier to calculate. i searched for answers but found nothing for soft wood vs hard wood product prices, and finished vs no finish products prices. i was thinking $20/$40 for softwood and $30/$50 for hardwood. is $20 b/f good for finishing costs?

    my next question, is it fair to charge $40 for a pine knots and crosses game without finish? i was thinking $20 was fair with finish. is it better to do a mass production type of product like that a lil cheaper?


    any help would be appreciated and cant wait to see what people post, i think it will be interesting.
    -Jason

  2. #2
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    I get 20.00 for machine time + Lumber and finishind, programing I consider machining time. Works for me.
    Lee
    Pop's Fix It Shop, We won't make it any worse.. Using "A" machines 1.187 1.188 ,2.007, 3.103
    2 Machines no waiting.

  3. #3
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    Quote Originally Posted by jab73180 View Post
    hey everybody,
    i was just wondering how people price their work? i think i want to charge by the board foot because it is more fair and easier to calculate. i searched for answers but found nothing for soft wood vs hard wood product prices, and finished vs no finish products prices. i was thinking $20/$40 for softwood and $30/$50 for hardwood. is $20 b/f good for finishing costs?

    my next question, is it fair to charge $40 for a pine knots and crosses game without finish? i was thinking $20 was fair with finish. is it better to do a mass production type of product like that a lil cheaper?


    any help would be appreciated and cant wait to see what people post, i think it will be interesting.
    Jab, this subject has been posted before and I copied this hope it helps?

    Griz, I do own a sign shop and if it helps I charge by the board foot. For example I have pre cut sign blanks 6", 8", 10", 12" wide 24" long. For residential signs I charge $30.00 to $35.00 a board foot depending on the amount of work. I.E. for a recessed letter with just black spray paint maybe a simple image $30.00. For raised lettering with color paint and or detailed image. $35.00.

    This works for all sizes you take the thickness times the width times the length divided by 144. Simple example a 1" thick board 12" wide and 24" long = 2 board feet. 1 X 12 X 12 / 144...12 x 12 = 144 divided (/) by 144 = 1 board foot. Please take no offense if you know how to figure board feet and to everyone else who knows. This is for those who do not and wants to learn how. Another common misunderstanding I get from my customers they confuse the width of a board with the length.

    Anyway back to pricing I have in the past had separate charges for finish and for images. That became too confusing for my wife so I went with the set price. I do still charge more for a detailed or special pattern.

    For commercial signs same thing except now the thickness of the board sometimes changes. Say you have a sign order for a 4 foot wide 8 foot long 2 inch thick sign. The formula is 2" x 48" x 72" / 144 = 48 board feet. I charge $50.00 to $ 65.00 a board foot for commercial. Plus with 2" stock you see it doubles the board foot. I often drop the 2" to 1", why? Let's say it is a pretty easy sign with the above measurements. I would charge $50.00 a foot. That would be $2400.00 that would be great if you can get that, but I only know of well established sign shop getting that price! So I would charge $1200.00.

    Now you are thinking I can't make that big of sign with the CW! Yes you can!! You design it in parts and it takes some calculation, but it can be done! Another commercial size sign I offer for Ranches, boardwalk type signs are 12" to 14" wide by 48" long so a 12" by 48" is 4 board feet 1" x 12" x 48" / 144 = 4 board feet. Again $45.00 to $65.00 and anything between! For a ranch sign I charge $180.00 to $250.00.

    Ok now I have made this look far too much trouble it really is not! You buy your lumber either by the board foot or linear foot. With linear they charge the price times the length of the board. Board and linear is the same cost with 12" stock. Another thing to keep in mind even though the board you buy is 11 1/2" wide and 5.5" for 6" etc. you are paying for the true size. So pass it on to the customer! Remember a 6" x 8 foot board may cost say $20.00 for example, you can get 4 signs out of it and if the signs are $30.00 each you made $120.00 just off the board and finish and paint is minimal not even $3.00 and $5.00 for the board. Material cost $ 8.00 per sign for a profit of $22.00 per sign times $88.00 for a $32.00 investment! (less your time)

    Charging by how long the CW takes to make the sign is a double edge sword in my opinion. Say the sign 6" take 15 minutes to make and you charge $20.00 an hour then 15 min. is $5.00 and say $ 5.00 for the board and paint and finish $5.00 and another $10.00 for time you are at the $30.00. That works out.

    I have a cabin sign I charge $85.00 that takes almost 5 hrs. to make by the CW. There is $100.00 there then another $10.00 for the board and with this sign more like $10.00 for finish including my time so I am at $120.00. I tried that price and sold none. The sign is 12" by 24" so 2 board feet and detailed I tried $60.00 a foot also for tying up the machine. I love the sign, but it takes so long to make. So I went to $42.50 more then the $35.00 to cover the extra time.

    As I said I have a sign business and hand route and use my CW for special signs. I attend festival, craft fairs etc. and make the signs on the spot. If I just had the CW to use it could not keep up. So I would just offer the signs that took 30 min or less to make and sold them without finish. Or just take orders and charge shipping cost or add it into your price.

    I just came back from a very busy event I could not keep up with even by hand or CW! I knew each sign would cost anywhere from $15 to $20.00 to ship. So I offered $10.00 shipping not to lose the business. I was looking for volume to cover the extra cost. As I said if I was just taking orders I would reduce the shipping or add it to the price.

    Lol I have wrote a chapter not a post! Feel free to pm me and I will give me you my number and explain anything I didn't explain well!

    Ike

    PS for the full topic go to the Would like advice from sign makers thread
    Last edited by Ike; 05-09-2010 at 01:59 PM.

  4. #4
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    thanx ike,
    i understand it pretty well. something i forgot to mention was adding the price for each pattern. i thought i read some where that you only use oak or cedar to make your signs. western red cedar i think it was. i would dare to guess that you would charge a lil less for a pine sign and a lil more for a oak or hardwood sign.


    and back to the knots and crosses, what would you charge for that game? would you charge less where it is a mass type produced game with lil detail?
    -Jason

  5. #5
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    anybody else have some input???
    -Jason

  6. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by jab73180 View Post
    anybody else have some input???
    I charge $65/ sq.ft. carved, painted and 3 coats spar varnish. Take it or leave it. Most of my production with the Compucarve is for added value on furniture pieces which I price by adding design time, carving and cleanup time to the end price.
    Jerry

    Joanne and me enjoying a beautiful fall in Spearfish Canyon in the Black Hills.

  7. #7
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    Its a very interesting question. I have wondered myself so what I do is 15 dollars an hour and I always round up. So if my carve is 2 1/2 hours I charge 45 dollars. That little bit makes up for setup and getting the wood. Now that is just the machine time. After that I try to research what I am doing and see what other people sell it for. That gives me a baseline. I know that wasnt much help but sometimes we make it harder on ourselves. There is alot to consider.
    Custom Stadium Coin Racks for displaying Military Challenge Coins, GeoCoins and the like- http://www.etsy.com/shop/stadiumdisplays
    OR http://shop.ebay.com/stadiumdisplays...&_trksid=p4340

  8. #8
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    I use $30 per board foot for select pine, $40 bd ft for Oak or Western Cedar.

    Jack

  9. #9
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    Quote Originally Posted by jab73180 View Post
    thanx ike,
    i understand it pretty well. something i forgot to mention was adding the price for each pattern. i thought i read some where that you only use oak or cedar to make your signs. western red cedar i think it was. i would dare to guess that you would charge a lil less for a pine sign and a lil more for a oak or hardwood sign.


    and back to the knots and crosses, what would you charge for that game? would you charge less where it is a mass type produced game with lil detail?
    No Jason I use reclaimed old growth redwood and with special patterns I charge the customer the price it cost me or adjust the per board price. Once you buy the pattern you can use it over and over again. So if you were going to charge $50.00 a board foot and you need a special pattern then charge $60.00 etc.

    I never use pine and cedar messes me up. Redwood works best for me. Basically material does factor in the price so I suggest to adjust to what fits best.

    Ike

  10. #10
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    well doug, there are some flaws in your plan. you didnt add the cost of any consumables like bits, stains, polys, sanding paper or anything like that. another thing is you set your max wear out on the cw at 250 hours. i think that is very under rated. you think that you will go through 2 cw's in the time its gonna take to wear out a table saw. now figuring you use your machine 20 hours a week, its only gonna last 12.5 weeks. people are gonna be knocking down your door to get that machine. ask digitalwoodshop AL how many hours on his machine.



    your method must work for you because you use it, but i think a simpler per square foot method is easier and quicker to figure out. i just need to figure out that magic number to make it all work. im thinking $30 s/f for softwood + patterns and no finish and $50 s/f for softwood + patterns finished. for hardwood $40 s/f + patterns no finish, and $60 s/f + patterns finished. that should cover everything including sandpaper, bits, stain, and poly.
    -Jason

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