pricing

[dbfletcher]

Hello Everyone,

I have reviewed my previous post for the purpose of reorganizing the information with some additional explanation and content to clear up any questions or concerns you have with regards to my approach on pricing. I have read all the posts to this thread and there are certainly a variety of different approaches to pricing and they are not wrong. In the end, it is about what works for you and if your needs are being met...then its all good. I had only wished to assist another member of this forum with his question and in effect add another perspective to the elusive notion of pricing.

I will detail in future posts, some of the history and thought processes that eventually brought me to this system or method that I currently employ. You may choose to use, copy, incorporate or disregard the information contained in this post or any previous posts I have written or any future posts I may write as it pertains this thread on the subject regarding price. I personally... do this as a gesture of good will and ask for nothing in return. I would not be where I am at today if it were not for; my parents, church, coworkers, employers, family and friends who have helped me on my path thru life. I have not copied from any other sources nor infringed on any copyrighted material to compile this system or method. I draw only from my own experiences, training and beliefs. Any reference to trademarked names are just that... references. It is your responsibility to obtain the necessary licensing to employ any of their technologies mentioned in any of my posts.

I am not a CPA (Certified Public Accountant) but rather an individual who has worked in the manufacturing community for the past 29 years. I have relinquished my financial dependencies to the afore mentioned community to pursue my life long dream of being in a business of my own. I purchased a CompuCarve from Sears that started a chain of events that eventually led me to this forum to find a group of people whose ideas, activities and the pursuit of woodcrafts and the like, are similar to my own. And have felt compelled to be an active participant since. Again thanks.

If you choose to use the information I provide either as a whole, or in part. You do so of your own accord. If you find yourself to be prosperous and credit your success to any of the information enclosed here in, then let it be your conscience to decide, that you may consider sharing your success with this forum if you feel comfortable in doing so and/or if that is not your forte' but you still feel the need to contribute, then find a locally registered "Not for Profit" organization of your choice, in your part of the world, who's sole purpose for existing is to improve the quality of life for people and make a charitable donation of any amount, or you may choose both, or do nothing. The choice is yours to make.

As part of my professional experience in the pursuit and study of ergonomics, the study of motion (time Studies) and, application of machine tools and their peripheral support systems as they apply to manufacturing processes I offer to current and future members freely any support in the spirit of friendship and hold the governing body of this forum not liable and understand that I am currently a Junior Member subject to its rules and policies.

And to all other members and professionals who can and are willing to contribute; please concider this information "Open Soure" and if any one has additional idea(s), information to improve on, add to, that they may amend my posts with appendages with purpose to establish accuracy and/or improvement for the betterment of this forum, it's members and their respective communities.

I will wait for some feedback before proceeding with any future posts.


Sincerely

Doug,

it sounds like your are considering self-censoring yourself. I hope that you dont. I dont see this forum as anywhere near that formal. Differing opinion fly all the time. And from my stand point, the more information the flows, the better for all of us in the long run. I hope you stick around and continue to contribute to the forum. Most of us here (i say most becuase I know there are some that are just lurkers) are invested heavily in to this very powerful and unique machine (cw/cc), but often times can also be very frustrating as well. The forum is a great place to share horror stories, successes, tip, tricks, practical ideas... off the wall ideas. Anything that strikes your fancy as long as most of the time it in someway realtes to the cw/cc.

This forum at most times has a very "family oriented" feel to it. Of course every now and again a little "sibling" argument may errupt... but in the end, we all want to see each other succeed with this machine... no matter how we are each using our machines (profit, hobby, fun, paper weigth).

I for one will be looking forward to your future posts and insights.

Doug Fletcher

[fwharris]

Doug,

Another great post with a lot of value added info for hobby carvers to the full production shops. My background is also from a manufacturing giant (well it was at one time) and I can see you have learned and applied the MRPII principals very well.

[WRW]

Goodmorning Doug

I for one say keep it coming.
Two quotes that I like are:

"Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success."

"If there is any one secret to success, it lies in the ability to get the other person's point of view and see things from that person's angle as well as from your own"

Although they are not my words I think they describe the basis for a great forum such as this one.

[dbfletcher]

This is a window that we received in about 80 pieces in a box. My wife put it back together like a puzzle. Some of it was missing and had to be reconstructed in those areas. Final product took her about three months to do, working a couple of days per week. This was all cut out using an X-Acto knife. The Lady who commissioned us to do this said it looked better than original. And by the way, the original window that was broke, was over a 100 years old.

If you havnt already looked in to them.. there are lots of vinyl/paper/chipboard cutting machines on the market in a wide range of price points. I have a "klic-n-kut" ... it is great for very accurate cutouts. A computer controlled xacto knife would be a good description for the machine. It does have over 500 grams of pressure so it can also do light engraving is softer metals. I would avoid the low end like "cricut", but you can do some really nice things with them.


Doug Fletcher

[Kenm810]

Hey Guys,

I have to admit, I bought my wife a "Cricut" Machine for Christmas last year, with all the accessories available at the time to go with it.
She has since added about a half a dozen (that I know of) additional new pattern cartridges to use with it.
Barb, plus my daughter and daughter in-law and their friends have a ball with them,
lots of Custom Card, Scrapbooking, and making parts for Quilting squares.
--- I did sneak in a little time on it for a couple of days, to cut out a few Acid Glass Etching patterns,
I needed for a few sets of cabinet doors I built.

[PCW]

This is a window that we received in about 80 pieces in a box. My wife put it back together like a puzzle. Some of it was missing and had to be reconstructed in those areas. Final product took her about three months to do, working a couple of days per week. This was all cut out using an X-Acto knife. The Lady who commissioned us to do this said it looked better than original. And by the way, the original window that was broke, was over a 100 years old.

Doug,

Love all of the projects and please let your wife know as well.

I use to do wood sandblasting years ago and I remember using the resist for masking the wood/design it was about a 1/8" thick. Is this material you are using something new or is it just because the glass blasting is quicker and doesn't require a leavier material for masking?

[HighTechOkie]

$116.19!, that's over $87 a bd. ft. you greedy capitalistic pig! (This is what the customer thinks)

When you look at the breakdown though, only $14.34 of that is actual profit. This is just over 12% profit margin. The average for most businesses and industries is 10%.

Most small businesses tend to look at the $116 minus $7 for wood and poly, and assume the remaining $109 is profit for the day. Without putting money back for machine replacement/upgrade etc, they end up 2-4yrs later with no money and a bunch of worn out tools.

I think this was a great analysis highlighting a majority of the costs involved. Each shop will be different and the numbers adjusted accordingly. Once you have these figures, it does become very easy to have an Excel spreadsheet to plug in the project bd. ft. and machine time to then come up with a ballpark figure to charge. I would suspect most people tend to do the same type of projects, so the costs will be pretty consistent per bd. ft. After a few projects, you will get a feel for what the average price per bd. ft. is that you need to charge. Then when the non typical project comes along, you refer back to your spreadsheet to quote a price.

This also provides some good insight as to understanding the prices of other businesses we deal with.

Great job Doug.


Rob