# How much to sell these for?



## DarthMaverick (Jan 23, 2014)

So here is a question for all you LJ's. I just completed a new set of patio furniture for my wife. Living on a busy corner, I have had a lot of people stop by to ask me to make them a set. My question is, how much should I sell these for? I made my set out of cheap pallet wood. I would make these out of better pine boards for sale purposes. I just have no idea where to price them, I want to be fair in my price but make enough to make it worth the extra work, this is by no means a full time, part time, or any time job for me. I build things because I enjoy to, if I can make a buck here and there to add to my habit, then that would be great. Below are some pictures of what people want me to make. Any help on any of the items would be great. Should I sell them finished or unfinished and what should the price gap be between if it is finished or not? Should I charge different for costume designs?

Any help would be great!!!

*Skull Bench*










*Skull Chair*










*Pirate Stool / Side Table*


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## robdem (Apr 7, 2011)

Can't help with pricing but those are some cool looking projects .


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## DarthMaverick (Jan 23, 2014)

Well thank you Rob, I am happy with the way they turned out.


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## mnguy (Feb 4, 2009)

Look at what nice cedar or pine Adirondack chairs are going for in your area, and, assuming you will be offering similar functional quality and materials, I'd start at 3 times that price; if you make at least 2x your material cost at that price, you are doing ok. NEVER charge less than 2x your materials (personal philosophy).

Don't use pricing on bare bones chairs at a big box store as your basis, either.


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## Mahdeew (Jul 24, 2013)

What those symbols represent?


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## DarthMaverick (Jan 23, 2014)

mnguy, that sounds like a good personal philosophy to live by.

mrjinx007, it is the symbol for the east india company. My wife has a pirate theme for the back yard, pirates would often take east india company ships for their own being that they were normally filled with valuable loot ripe for the taking. So it would be common to find the logo for the east india company on pirate cargo.


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## Puzzleman (May 4, 2010)

How long did it take you to make them? How much would lumber cost? How much would the paint cost? How much do the screws, nails or fasteners cost?

Once you answer those questions, you can start to determine a price. I would add 10% to the cost of wood and supplies. How much do you want to make per hour? If $10, then multiply that by the number of hours it took you. Add that number to the previous number and that would be your minimum price.

Don't be scared if your price comes out higher than what you initially thought. Remember that you are making a very unique product that the customer cannot get anywhere else. Remember that you are worth every penny.

Jim


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## DarthMaverick (Jan 23, 2014)

Awesome advice Jim! Thank you for your insight.


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## mantwi (Mar 17, 2013)

Where do you live, 0001 Cemetery Lane cause it looks like the Addam's families lawn furniture. Or maybe you live at 1313 Mockingbird Lane in Herman and Lilly Munsters old place.


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## DarthMaverick (Jan 23, 2014)

mantwi, Mockingbird Lane sounds appropriate.


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## UpstateNYdude (Dec 20, 2012)

+1 for at minimum double the materials cost.


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## BTKS (Nov 30, 2008)

2 times materials, ALL, materials is a good starting point. 
I find work for family and friends tends to be FREE. If you charge what you are worth, they are mad or disappointed. If you charge what they think you are worth, you are bitter or disappointed. Free works great for family and friends. Off the street clients start at two times materials and goes up from there.
Good luck


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## Loren (May 30, 2008)

People go away when they get a price.

Most folks don't even know what lumber costs.

Start throwing out numbers from 2x to 6x and watch the faces.


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## DarthMaverick (Jan 23, 2014)

Loren, I was afraid of that, but then again, I am really not trying to make a living here. I have a few people expressing interest, that are not friends (I will have to agree with BTKS on that one). If I have any takers I can use that money to add to my habit, if not oh well. I do wan't to be fair though to both the costumer and myself.


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## marcuscraft (Nov 14, 2012)

Not a big fan of 2x,3x whateverX material cost. Actually figure out what it costs you to make these. There was a good thread recently on this with a link to the blog post detailing how one person prices out their work. Basically take your materials expense, labor expense, shop expense and add a bit of profit in for yourself. You'll come up with a true number for what it costs to make the chair and then you can nudge the number up or down a bit depending on the area you're in if the price looks way off for the area. Just remember that you're cheating yourself if you lower it from your actual cost to produce.


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## DarthMaverick (Jan 23, 2014)

Thank you Marcus, I will need to try to find that thread. It is a great way to look at the overall question instead of 2×3x etc.

What does everyone charge for their time? Remember this is not my full time job, just a hobby I love.


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## tncraftsman (Oct 21, 2009)

"Remember that you are making a very unique product that the customer cannot get anywhere else"

Until he posts the pictures online (insert sinister laughing)

Dealing with the retail customers with one off pieces this is my gut of what they would expect to pay:

Bench ~$500

Chair ~$250 - $300

Side table $150

My guess is you would want the price to be double or triple that to make it worth it to you.

I recommend going by Marcus' advice and charging them your true cost. A slippery slope is when you sell them for below cost then you get popular.


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## mnguy (Feb 4, 2009)

While I agree with those who are advocating finding a 'true' or more accurate cost is the ideal way for professionals or semi-professionals to get a cost basis for their wood work, for the hobbyist who occassionally makes something for sale, this is a lot of head scratching for little return. For instance, the hobbyist takes longer to do many tasks because they don't have better tools, they are not as practiced, they don't make jigs to streamline repetitive tasks, or they do projects in small chunks of time. Because they have more hours into a project, should they charge more? If you think you might want to do more paid work, start tracking these data and make sure you are making a decent hourly wage.

While both approaches have a lot to recommend them, the material multiplier approach is quick and easy and leaves more time for wood working


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## helluvawreck (Jul 21, 2010)

I couldn't help you with pricing but I know when I like something. I like those. They will make great conversation pieces and I believe that they will sell if you put the right price on them. Hopefully that price will fit with the cost to produce them. Don't skimp on your profit. You have to make a buck so if you can't make a buck you'll have to find something else.

helluvawreck aka Charles
http://woodworkingexpo.wordpress.com


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## Puzzleman (May 4, 2010)

The blog Marcus mentions is one of Huff's blogs. Search in the blogs for "Huff" and he has a very good series about pricing.

In the beginning it is a little much to wrap your head around the numbers, but once you do it 2-3 times, it gets much easier. This is because it is just formulas and you can do it on a spread sheet. Set it up right and plug in the numbers. I have well over 50 different products and have a spreadsheet set up for all of them. I link wood pricing, labor cost and overhead so that if a number changes, it changes everywhere I have the number. Then I have that set up to a dashboard where I can see the results of my pricing for both wholesale and retail. The main thing is that once you get it started and spend the time to do it right, it makes all of the other times simple.

Concerning what you time is worth, an easy number to work with is $10.00 per hour. You are worth a lot more than that but it does make things easy to calculate. Not to mention that these products came from your imagination, not everyone can do that.

One other note, as this is not your full time job, if you don't get the work because your pricing is too high, no sweat. They will not duplicate them to the degree that you can make them otherwise they would not have asked.


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## huff (May 28, 2009)

I like knowing what it cost me to build something (the true cost!) It doesn't matter if it's a hobby, part-time woodworking business or a full time career, you should know what it truly cost to build something before you ever try to "guess" on a price.

Having a unique product and having people show in interest in that unique product is half the battle to making some money at woodworking, and I'll have to say you really have something unique!

It doesn't matter if you want to make a little money or a lot of money, you first have to know what your true cost are if you ever will know one way or the other.

Nothing will take the joy out of woodworking faster then having to fill orders and realizing it hasn't been worth your time.

So, enjoy your woodworking and don't be afraid to charge for your talent.


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## DarthMaverick (Jan 23, 2014)

tncraftsman, it is great to have some numbers to work with.

Huff, the "true cost" is really the first question I need to be asking myself, you are right, nothing will suck the joy out of what we do then realizing that the work hasn't been worth the time.

Puzzleman, the spreadsheet sounds like a GREAT idea. I will start doing that right away for all of my projects! What do you put into your spreadsheets? Time/Labor, Lumber, Hardware, Paint/Stain/Poly, Etc. Just a great idea all around.


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## joeyinsouthaustin (Sep 22, 2012)

There is already a lot of good advice about pricing, but here is my advice. Because people are coming in off the street approach it this way. Figure out your price based on whatever method mentioned above suits you… but when someone comes up always ask, "Well I hadn't thought about selling them… what would you pay me?" You never know.. they might offer you a bunch more than what you figured them for!!!.... If they don't you have a price ready to counter that you can trust. Always have an extra set on hand. If they can walk away with them right then, you can take advantage of the *"impulse buy"* effect. For that matter just have a set in the garage, sell them the ones off the patio, and just bring the next set out!!!!


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## DarthMaverick (Jan 23, 2014)

Joey…I like your style!


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## joeyinsouthaustin (Sep 22, 2012)

"arrghhh"


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## woodworkingprincipal (Jul 1, 2012)

Hey, I make adirondack chairs and was asked to make a skull chair too. It's pic is on my Lumberjacks page. I sold it for $150. Good luck.


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## DarthMaverick (Jan 23, 2014)

I like your work Dave, Thanks for the feedback.


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## JaySybrandy (Jan 31, 2014)

They are so cool but if you did sell them Make them out of pallet wood


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## kaerlighedsbamsen (Sep 16, 2013)

Since you do not expect to make a living from it, a different approach that i often use, could perhaps be of interest for you: The an-hour-for-an-hour-principle. 
Being in the photography business i often get questions about making pictures of friends/aquaintances children, babies, wifes, cars, pets, houses etc. I have long time ago given up getting my normal hourly wages from private people and normaly only do b2b. But most private people are professionals or skilled people as well and are often glad to trade. My question in those cases always is: "What do you do in your professional life?" If they do somethin that i find usefull its "Pay my expences and after that its an hour of my time for an hour of your (professional) time". This has got me work from a lawyer, a graphic designer, a car mechanic, a web developer, massage from a therapist, a plumber, echonomic adwice etc. All services that would be expencive for me to buy.

Perhaps some of your neighbours have skills that you need..? 
Good luck!


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## DarthMaverick (Jan 23, 2014)

Kaerlighedsbamsen - I like your input, in some cases it may be worth it more for me to "barter" time rather then make a dime.

Jay - You just have to love pallet wood. I used it to build the ones that were pictured but I thought by using "newer" lumber for the projects that will be sold, will aliviate the headache of getting it all to mesh just right.


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## kaerlighedsbamsen (Sep 16, 2013)

Glad i could help!


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