JWS Penworks
Member
How do you folks determine what to charge for your finished pens? I am looking for ideas as to how to price my work. Thanks in advance for your help.
John
John
Pricing your Work?
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ctwxlvr
Member
approx 3 times cost of materials
Rifleman1776
Member
Lotsa forumlas. I use a 2X plus $10.00 and always give my blanks a minimum of $5.00 value, even if I cut it myself or acquired in a trade. There are those who add considerably for artistic value and my hat is off to them for getting their price. Bottom line is you must test your market. I can't get $5.00 locally for a fine pen. But can get higher prices elsewhere.
theturningcircle
Member
Hi John,
This is the formula that I have used for the past few years. The only time I deviate from it is to increase it for artistic creativity.
Take the basic cost of all materials used(in this case kits + blanks). Add the cost of your labour on an hourly basis and then add the cost of running the shop on an hourly basis. This gives a $ amount to which 20% of that total is added to cover the cost of running the business (post-phone-petrol-show costs etc). This gives a $ total to which another 20% of this new total is added for business profit. This is your selling price.
This method was published in a craftsman magazine many years ago in the UK and I works for me. The only variables are your labour rate and your rate for running the shop.
Hope this gives you some ideas of a business approach to costing.
Ian
This is the formula that I have used for the past few years. The only time I deviate from it is to increase it for artistic creativity.
Take the basic cost of all materials used(in this case kits + blanks). Add the cost of your labour on an hourly basis and then add the cost of running the shop on an hourly basis. This gives a $ amount to which 20% of that total is added to cover the cost of running the business (post-phone-petrol-show costs etc). This gives a $ total to which another 20% of this new total is added for business profit. This is your selling price.
This method was published in a craftsman magazine many years ago in the UK and I works for me. The only variables are your labour rate and your rate for running the shop.
Hope this gives you some ideas of a business approach to costing.
Ian
JWS Penworks
Member
Thanks for the quick responses!
John
John
Rudy Vey
Member
Some time back Ed Davidson (YoYospin here on IAP) gave a good example for pricing. If you do a search, you will find this. You can put your own numbers (kit price, blank cost, cost for consumables), pens made per hour, overhead and profit percentages and you come to your wholesale and retail price. This is a very smart approach. I have tested it on several of my pen models and it works fine. However, I have used in the past the material cost times a factor method; and compared these numbers to the ones Ed's model comes to: pretty similar for my standard pens. It goes apart when I use this approach for pens I make from Titanium, here the amount of pens made per hour is very small and the price I come up with is way to high to get for them. If you can make 2-4 pens per hour, this is a good approach.
I generally use a multiplying factor 4-5 for my lower end, i.e. easier and faster selling pens with a lower price (and cost), and a factor of 3-4 for the higher priced pens. So far for the last five years this worked out fine for me.
I generally use a multiplying factor 4-5 for my lower end, i.e. easier and faster selling pens with a lower price (and cost), and a factor of 3-4 for the higher priced pens. So far for the last five years this worked out fine for me.
btboone
Member
I agree with Rudy on the cost for titanium pens. Formulas for materials alone go out the window. I use a combination of shop rate and a factor for difficulty.
DKF
Member
I have a question on this topic....What if you are selling them to a "Jewelry/Gift shop. Is their mark-up going to put the pen too expensive....For instance....I have a Two-tone Amboyna Baron in Sterling Silver.....
gerryr
Member
Any store you sell to is going to mark things up 100%. So, if you have to sell a pen for $100, they will put a $200 price tag on it. The store knows what they will sell it for and if they're willing to buy it, then you can assume they think they can sell it and make the usual profit. The problem you can run into is if you also do shows in the same town. What do you do then? If you're selling the same pen at half price and the store finds out, they may not be pleased, but if you double your prices you might not sell anything. I live in a relatively small town and I do shows here, so I don't have anything in stores here anymore.
Rifleman1776
Member
Don't cut your own throat (prices). The store will mark what they want, usually 100%) because they believe their market will pay the price. The art gallery that has mine set a one mile limit for me selling to anyone else. I will be selling to another place that is about 75 miles away and will be pitching to another that is about 20 miles away but will have different style than the art gallery. My price is my price. Qualification: I do have a 'family and friends' pricing that is heavily discounted. I count the loss in money as spending on advertising. Folks talking nice about your pens will bring more business.
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