How much do you charge?

[bcfire133]

I'm new to pen making. I just finished my 6th pen. I was showing some to co-workers, and they started asking how much I wanted for them. I really haven't thought about selling yet, wanted to practice a little more. The pens I showed them are funline slimline kits in gun metal. I have about $6.00 invested in each pen (kit, blanks). My question is....what is a decent price to sell them? I don't want to go too high, but I don't want to cheat myself either! Any words of wisdom?!? Here is one they looked at.

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[TonyL]

Congratulations! This may give you some idea: https://www.etsy.com/search?q=custom+pens&order=most_relevant&view_type=gallery&ship_to=US

To answer your question: 4 to 6 times my cost depending on the labor involved..but nothing less than $40. But please keep in mind, I do not actively sell pens, I give away (or sometimes keep) 80% of what make, and I don't make slim lines. I am not a representative reference for your question, but this (above) is what I sell them for. You will find the right balance for your market. Enjoy!

 

[jttheclockman]

Many ways to approach this. You could hand it out and explain you are just starting out and would like feedback. You could sell but again explain when you get better the prices will be higher so explain they are getting in on a ground floor pricing. Or go at it full blown and establish a price range. To me that is a 12 to 15 dollar pen at most. You can not charge for your time and effort because you really are not established yet and you will do them much faster as you go along. Your quality will improve as well as your fit and finish. To me I would do the first suggestion. But it is only an opinion. Good luck.

 

[thewishman]

Nice pen! The segments look good and the barrels meet very nicely at the nib, centerband and finial. For a 6th pen, you're doing a great job.

You'll get some very different advice on this, here's mine:

I wanted to sell only pens that would last, so I only use the best kits in the most durable platings - chrome, Ti gold, black Ti and rhodium. I always give a lifetime warranty and in 11 years less than 15 out of thousands of pens have come back for repair or replacement.

A chrome slimline (not a Funline) with a durable finish on the wood barrels, would start at $40.

 

[mecompco]

3x cost of materials is often quoted. I take that into account and adjust as I think the market will bear and/or any special qualities, time in making, etc.

Oh, and some of the folks above have pointed out, no disrespect meant, there is some room for improvement in the fit and finish of that pen so I'd take that into account as well.

Regards,
Michael

 

[bcfire133]

Thanks for the advice. I know I need some more practice before I feel comfortable selling a pen, but at least I now have a place to start!
I can't believe the quality of pens I have seen on here, especially compared to my little funlines. Hopefully I'll be there one day!

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[raar25]

$15-$20 for wood and acrylic and up to $30 for more exotic materials like trustone .

 

[jttheclockman]

Thanks for the advice. I know I need some more practice before I feel comfortable selling a pen, but at least I now have a place to start!
I can't believe the quality of pens I have seen on here, especially compared to my little funlines. Hopefully I'll be there one day!

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Oh you will get there for sure if you are serious about doing this. You will notice it yourself when your quality takes the next step up. For 6 pens that is very good but you will get better so setting up a price point now is going to be tricky. You will command more $$ when you improve. It is only natural. Look on etsy and even ebay and see what those are going for. Those kits are inexpensive for a reason.

 

[jennera]

I have been told that I will need additional liability on my homeowners insurance if my family starts to sell pens. Is that necessary? Thanks! My daughter is still learning a lot and just giving pens to friends right now but several people have asked if she is selling them.

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[Skie_M]

I doubt that's necessary ... likely your agent wanting to milk you for a little more money and a bonus.

As long as you are making less than 1000 dollars a year or so, the IRS considers whatever you are doing to make that money a "hobby", and untaxed income.

Now ... if you are making more than that much, you have the makings of a home business, which normal homeowner's insurance policies may not fully cover. THIS is the eventuality that is being hinted at ... but you aren't anywhere near that yet.

Your insurance agent needs to learn the legal difference between a business and a hobby, regardless of the tools and work involved.



edit - oops ... wanted to address the OP too!

Nice looking pens! Using the pre-drilled blanks from PSI? They came out looking good. I'ld go with a few more coats of finish to fill in all that wood grain, but some people like the feel of "natural" wood. As for price ...

I tell people up front who are wanting a pen ... I'll charge for the cost of the pen kit components and the blank + around $20 for my time (per hour) ... and an extra flat fee for additional embellishments (such as a decal, stone inlay, metal inlay, ect). That having been said, $25 for a slimline (or funline) just doesn't feel right ... feels too high but it takes me about the same amount of time and work as the higher priced pens.

That having been said, I rarely sell slimlines ... they are generally "gift pens" and the stuff I use for practice, these days. I turn one to try out a new wood or new technique, make sure it fits the appropriate guidelines, and hand it off to a soldier on or off base. (You know that "turn for the troops" type of thing? I just hand them out in person as I make them...)

 

[Lucky2]

I have been told that I will need additional liability on my homeowners insurance if my family starts to sell pens. Is that necessary? Thanks! My daughter is still learning a lot and just giving pens to friends right now but several people have asked if she is selling them.

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Jennera, this question should be asked in a new posting. Asking it the way you did, is like stealing or attempting to high-jack a posting. On all sites this is generally frowned upon, because it takes away the initial posting question. Please start another inquiry into your question, by starting another posting. You will get more detailed replies to your inquiry, if you do it that way. Plus, it doesn't interfere with the OP's inquiry, by getting answers that are not related to their inquiry.
Len

 

[dogcatcher]

I doubt that's necessary ... likely your agent wanting to milk you for a little more money and a bonus.

As long as you are making less than 1000 dollars a year or so, the IRS considers whatever you are doing to make that money a "hobby", and untaxed income.

Now ... if you are making more than that much, you have the makings of a home business, which normal homeowner's insurance policies may not fully cover. THIS is the eventuality that is being hinted at ... but you aren't anywhere near that yet.

Your insurance agent needs to learn the legal difference between a business and a hobby, regardless of the tools and work involved.



edit - oops ... wanted to address the OP too!

Nice looking pens! Using the pre-drilled blanks from PSI? They came out looking good. I'ld go with a few more coats of finish to fill in all that wood grain, but some people like the feel of "natural" wood. As for price ...

I tell people up front who are wanting a pen ... I'll charge for the cost of the pen kit components and the blank + around $20 for my time (per hour) ... and an extra flat fee for additional embellishments (such as a decal, stone inlay, metal inlay, ect). That having been said, $25 for a slimline (or funline) just doesn't feel right ... feels too high but it takes me about the same amount of time and work as the higher priced pens.

That having been said, I rarely sell slimlines ... they are generally "gift pens" and the stuff I use for practice, these days. I turn one to try out a new wood or new technique, make sure it fits the appropriate guidelines, and hand it off to a soldier on or off base. (You know that "turn for the troops" type of thing? I just hand them out in person as I make them...)

There is no $1000 figure, hobby income is income and should be reported as such. The expenses of a hobby are treated as miscellaneous expenses on Schedule A and are limited to the amount of income.

 

[Pens By Scott]

From my perspective, check out the local farmer's markets, and craft shows, see what everyone else is selling. You can gauge what price ranges can be attained that way. Then like others have said, consider wha types of pens you have, materials you made them with, do you package them or just have them on a stand?

For me, typically i sell a slime line (any variety - Acrylic, wood, coriander...) for the same price... easier to handle when selling... some I make more on, some less... but I never give them away... I base my prices on average for my pens in the $20-$55 range...

Once i'm into the more special categories (very exotic woods, segmented, self casted, Laser cuts, etc.) I price accordingly... typically 3 times to materials, plus cost per pen charge (cover off shop supplies, glues, power... )

It's fun, and if you hit it right, you can make a good go at supporting your addiction...

Good luck!

 

[Glenn McCullough]

Nice start, mine did not look so good when I started. I will make a couple suggestions. First, do NOT give them away if you intend to make many and make money doing it!!!
When you give them away(except brother, sister, mom and dad) they are "worth less". People will throw them in a drawer and forget about them. When you get good at it, you'll have a line from Here to Chicago waiting for a free pen. When they pay for them, it holds a value and people will brag about the piece of art they PURCHASED.
Charge a bit more than your cost so you can buy more material to make more.
Second: When people start asking you about them, do not try to justify your price, if they want "One of your " pens, they'll pay it. They like knowing the maker of their pen more than one from a store. The only thing you explain is there is NO OTHER LIKE IT IN THE WORLD.
As you get noticed more and you get people asking for your pens, now you will be able to charge a bit more. I never sell a slim pen for less than $35.00, custom pens go for $65 to $400.00. I rarely get a question on how much as they WANT a Glenn McCullough pen!

 

[jfr]

The cost of a pen can Run to 30$ plus outside laber and then you need a profit

 

[Skie_M]

Heh .... the cost of the pen parts can easily exceed 30 dollars ....



Just a few examples are over at Exotic Blanks ... like the Paua Abalone shell blanks for 50 dollars a set, or the feather blanks ... just as pricey and gorgeous ... Let's not forget that Toni sells her artful masterpiece creations in polyclay as well online!

And then the pen kits you are matching up to the blanks .... Several of the higher end line of fountain pens are 30+ dollars each, with the PSI Majestic in gold/rhodium topping out at about 55 dollars for a single fountain pen kit. We haven't even gotten to working with a Sterling Silver pen kit, where the parts were cast and machined from jewelry grade metal at 95% silver content from SilverPenParts !!! Those easily break the 100 dollar mark.

Any pen combining expensive blank with expensive pen parts is going to set you back a pretty penny, and your end customer is the one you need to pay that back, plus at least a little for your efforts!



Starting to wonder if it would be possible to craft a custom fountain pen out of a sapphire or ruby boule (manmade synthetic gemstone in it's raw form) and how much something like that would be worth ..... those boules can be obtained as low as 30 cents a carat, but is a 270 carat boule big enough to do more than just a segmented pen design? Perhaps a pen made from a lab grown emerald or aquamarine, if you can get one large enough? We're talking in the TENS OF THOUSANDS of dollars in price range now, if not more ....


What you put into it should equal what you get out of it, in simple terms ....

 

[Woodchipper]

Skie_M has good advice. Also, you might have to collect local and state sales tax on pens sold in your state. I built custom fishing rods and had to collect them plus a special Federal Excise tax on fishing rods. Local and state tax had to be reported even if I had no sales. Check with a CPA, insurance agent, and the state revenue office. Good luck!