All Replies on $5,000....for a stationary box.

My shop charges out at $60 per hour so that works out at $24000 plus material say $12.00 and then add the 30% profit margin ... $31.215.60. Not bad for a cutting board. Glad you raise the bar. Note I am only working on 30% markup to retail not the 100% charged by a gallery…..$48,024.00 is now the gallery price..
That is if I told you it takes 400 hours to make a cutting board..
In reality… 1 hour tops… at $12.50 per hour with material of $12.00.. profit of 30%.... $31.85… at that price I would be inundated with orders. I feel terrible charging $75 -$100 and sometimes a little higher.. and I am still inundated with orders at that price… maybe 48 grand and the orders will slow down…
Just having a little fun… Power to you, Mr Kellogg.

-- Drink twice... and don't bother to cut... @ larrysworkshop.wordpress.com For lovers of all things timber...

The thing about boxes vs cabinets is you cant charge a hourly rate on a box. Think about it. You can cut out some cabinets, slap them together mill the face frame and call it almost finished well before you can get the tails and pins to work out right in a box. If you charge a hourly rate making boxes two things will happen. Youll have to build a new shop to store the surplus, loved and admired but unsold work, and you will starve. Boxes should be sold yes, but look at it as a way to hone your skills. Fine box work doesnt lie, and isnt forgiving. The most I got for a jewelry box was $800. If you go about with the mindset I just mentioned(skill building) and are serious about taking your woodworking to new levels, then make a fine box, market it, get your material cost back, profit. Just leave out the hours!

-- John A. Thomas, South Carolina, www.thomaswoodworker.com

Take 3 years and build a mansion and charge 500,000 fine …..Take a year to build a cabinet and charge 50,000 ok… take 2 months to build a very small box and charge 5,000… let me know when you actually sell it….?

-- Drink twice... and don't bother to cut... @ larrysworkshop.wordpress.com For lovers of all things timber...

Very nice box, incredibly overpriced in my opinion though, 400 hours seems a bit extreme
But yeah, its not nearly as bad as some stuff i saw in an art gallery last year

Here you go:
1100 euros for this… cube
The other one that you cant see entirely in the pic cost 1500

Atleast the box has some functionality =/

-- My signature is awesome.

I too came across this box when perusing Etsy to see what others are pricing their products at. Worst case scenerio, it make the picing of my inventory on Etsy much more attractive to a majority of the buyers out there. Not too many that can just drop 5k easily, but $15-90…. maybe. I can only hope. This “hobby” is expensive and I can only hope to offset some of the costs with a few sales here and there.

-- Jef Spencer - Refined Pallet - http://www.etsy.com/shop/RefinedPallet

The pricing of our work is truly an interesting discussion. At least we have some rational metrics to go by, including “name appeal”.
Try pricing photographic prints! Easily reproducible, fairly low material cost, but can you include rarity of the moment, remote location, emotional impact, special equipment used, etc. It boggles the mind. One photographer I know says he raises the price on a print when he gets tired of making it.
The art I find really offending is what I term “found art”, a chunk of driftwood glued to a wood base, auto paint overspray chips sanded and buffed to show various color layers, tumbled rocks.
As a hobbyist I make only what I want, and rarely more than one. Can’t imagine enough money to get me to make an 8 chair dining set.

Was one of Sam Maloof’s rocking chairs worth $35,000 during his lifetime? To some people, absolutely! I’ve read that there was a 3-4 year backlog of orders. What about Mr. Krenov’s work? How much did people pay for one of his cabinets?

If one does fine work, as Mr. Kellog does, one shouldn’t be afraid to ask a lot of money for it. As stated earlier, a thing is worth whatever someone perceives its value to be and is willing to pay for that particular thing.

As long as people are buying something, whatever it may be, there’s no such thing as being over priced, in my opinion. That especially applies to objects of art or perceived art. That’s the essence of the free market.

-- Build for the joy of it!

Interesting just how much response this OP has generated (I made the OP).

I was just surprised how much the artist wanted for a box like that. i don’t find it all that attractive or unique, as say a Maloof rocking chair, SEE.

It’s really interesting, psychologically, how the value of something is determined, both by the person producing the product (or service) and the intended customer. I don’t know what area of psychology or business (economics?) would study this phenomena, but I’d sure like to look into it.

Hey, I hope the guy gets what he wants for the box, and that the customer thinks it’s worth that price. Most of us have to make a living; we don’t just have money given to us.

-- Have a blessed day!

Pashley, I seem to recall you building a full-sized aircraft carrier a while back. That should have made you a pretty penny, right? :-)

-- Charlie M. "Woodworking - patience = firewood"

Clark,

I believe your box is worth $5,000. Hands down.

In a post above, someone compared woodworking to photography, and as a full time ‘tog, I can understand the value of fine work. I challenge anyone to make a box equivalent to yours. Let them put their money where their mouth is.

BTW, I’m in Austin, and may take you up on your offer to view your shop and hang out.

-- http://www.MyFirstGarage.com

CharlieM1958, yes, yes, the aircraft carrier. I’m sending it over to Somalia to chase pirates. I’ll show them what a little QSWO can do!

-- Have a blessed day!

Pashley, I agree. The Psychology involved in art, both from the artist’s and the buyer’s perspective is very interesting.

If you’re not familiar with his work, I encourage you to research WILLIAM EDMONDSON, sometime, a self taught stone carver from Nashville. A few interesting links are below:

http://www.tnstate.edu/library/digital/EDMONDS.HTM

http://poetryandpoetsinrags.blogspot.com/2009/04/great-regulars-william-edmondson.html

http://www.tfaoi.com/aa/1aa/1aa219.htm

His work is simple, some may think of it as primitive. Nevertheless, his pieces now command very high prices. Fortunately, Mr. Edmondson enjoyed the recognition of his art during his lifetime. If I remember correctly he was in his late 50s when he began his career as stone carver. Very interesting man and a very interesting story.

I also agree that most of us do have to work for a living and don’t just have money given to us. People who buy expensive art obviously have money to burn and they often spend it on art, that they like and want. But, that’s another matter altogether. In the context of this discussion, just because I can’t afford to pay 5 grand for Mr Kellog’s box doesn’t mean that it isn’t worth that price, or possibly even more, to someone who can afford it and perceives it to be worth that amount of money.

I’ve really enjoyed this discussion….......

-- Build for the joy of it!

I’m just here to disagree with Clark on the quality of the Life Aquatic. The box is fine, the lid doesn’t fit well with the flow but other than that good work on the body.

I did spend some time looking at his blog, and I like his furniture, some of it is very innovative.

what sells is a name and if this person has a name that the mases recognize then at some point in time he will start to sell them for what he wants and believe it or not the if the popularity is there the quality my not mater to the desperate buyers. I am still trying to figure out how that works. I cant seam to give my work away.

-- Best Regards With Personalized Rocking Chairs And Furniture On My Mind, http://mynoblebear.com

Wow you guys are tough! Clark Kellogg makes beautiful studio furniture and in the right gallery will most likely get that price. I’ve sold pieces in galleries and its amazing what people will pay! Keep up the good work Clark! I sure wish I could get one of my pieces in a Fine Woodworking publication.

i just noticed this item is no longer on etsy.

does anyone know if it sold(how much?), or if the listing just got pulled?

People complain about others prices when they can’t get the same amount for theirs.

-- http://www.niceashplanes.com/ http://www.efcabineture.com/

No one’s complaining; we are just trying to understand this phenomenon. Did it even sell at that price?

-- Have a blessed day!

Etsy says 0 sales on Clarkatron’s account on Etsy.

Regardless if you think the price was warrented, frankly I don’t, but take a look at his blog. Mr. Kellogg has produced some fine pieces, including reproductions and unique designs.

Don’t like the price you don’ t have to pay it. It’s not like his work is unfairly driving up the price of wooden boxes. Some of you behave like we may have a Wooden Box Bubble that will make the Real Estate Bubble look like Hubba Bubba. =/ gasp

People can argue about the quality and if its worth this or that but if he’s got a market (and don’t judge it by what sells on Etsy.) then kudos to Clark.

Would you pay 25000-30000 for this ? A couch with no legs? A “matress” with flowers on it?

Lots of folks would and it’s built by a manufacturer not a craftsmen. (This thing is totally awesome but that’s beside the point.) All markets are different. Some folks want the status, some want quality (or both) some look at price and are just ready to brag about what a great deal they got, verus bragging about how much they paid.

TheCaver: Checked out your stuff. Nice work. I do dig that parquet.

-- can't talk, woodworking -- p1g furniture design

Very very few items of that size ever sell at that price point, and ETSY is definitely NOT the place to sell it. I wait 2+ years for benches and rockers to sell in local galleries.

-- rustic andy

an etsy store is like any other outlet, it needs to be marketed. i see some making thousands of dollars in sales a month on etsy. as to selling big items, andy says it takes 2+ years to sell in galleries. who’s to say you won’t sell it if you market on etsy for a longer period of time? the advantage of etsy like stores is you can put the same piece at several locations and once it sells, pull it from the other sights. it seems to me, it can work better than a gallery where your piece sets for 2+ years, you get a smaller piece of the sale and it sits in one location only.

just a thought,
russv

-- yknotwood.com: where to go because you don't want no stinking plastic!