I sell a few pens with an intent to sell more when I make more. I use a formula to determine my price. Everyone who has wanted to a pen has, some from inventory, some special order.
I recently made 3 pens for a lady to choose from. I made all 3 blanks and the pen is a modified Knurl GT that is a 1/2 inch long to accept a specific refill.
The request was that she is a huge fan of the Louisville Cardinals, wants something with their team colors and loves "bling".
One was partly label cast on tube, then had another blank glued on to the tube with 2 credit card spacers used. The second had 2 blanks joined with a jagged edge at the union slightly above center. The 3rd was a single blank utilized parts fro 2 kits, the Knurl GT and a Diva for the dangling stone on the diva.
I normally sell the longer, modified Knurl GT for around $55. All 3 of these fell between $60 and $68. The one using 2 kits was the most expensive. But, my pricing model includes a multiplier for my time (less mistakes, do overs, etc), a small amount for overhead, a small modifier for Pen "value" and the hardware & blank costs plus 15% margin.
The hardware and blanks I enter at a "retail" value. So, whether a blank is PR and purchased or self cast, it is entered at the same price, around $3 I believe. Alumilite blanks are a little more, again what the blank sells for on line. Wood blanks the same, whatever their price is on WoodTurningz website whether I bought them or cut them.
As such, any blank is figured at 15% margin over retail. Guess I'll said all of that to say this:
If your segmented blank, or something close to it, sells for &7 more that a PR blank, you should be able to get $7 more for the same pen if made to the same quality. But, keep it realistic when comparing values. You have neat looking Celtic cross pen. Is the blank you made it from worth $8 or $80? I don't segment much and not near to the level of Mark with his small detail and precision or John with his precision jigs. As such, my segmenting is basic and only worth a bit more than my other finished pens.
As Mark made reference to, a nice segmented blank could sell for much more than a nice cast PR blank. So, where does the value lie?
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