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I do woodworking and I just use my hourly rate plus materials. There are a surprising number of people who will pay high prices for quality hand-made goods. Wha
by bradly 5y ago
I do woodworking and I just use my hourly rate plus materials. There are a surprising number of people who will pay high prices for quality hand-made goods. What I've found works is to create the best product you can and have a story around it.
For example, for my shaker trays I describe the process of picking out the wood, cutting the bands, boiling the wood, bending it around a hand made form, hammering in copper tacks over an anvil, hand finishing, and then applying multiple coats of hand made shellac. For larger furniture or slab work the story of the actual tree can really add to the value as well. People want a story.
To lower the cost you can create router templates, jigs, or even CNC projects to lower the hours spent and reduce the overall cost, but these need to be balanced with the selling of bespoke goods.
- jotm 5y agoDo you create content, then? Articles, pictures, videos (especially well produced ones) of the various processes would be very interesting and could supplement your income pretty well (ads, sales/orders, patreon/sponsors, etc).
- bradly 5y agoNo content yet from myself except some Twitch streaming. I do have some ideas in the hopper though... - A small e-book or online course for software engineers to learn woodworking. Working title "Burnout to Burn Box: How to quit tech and start woodworking" - I'd also like to create a software/hardwood shop where workers can choose to do either software engineering or woodworking any given day, but that will take more than a garage shop. You'd only need experience in one discipline to get started. Working title "Bits to Bits Studio". I'd also like to have a small coffee shop in the front to display finished goods. - I'd also like to start a community woodshop on Lopez Island to help islanders learn skills and start their own company.
- whoisburbansky 5y agoI'm interested in how you adjust that for expertise; do you bump your hourly rate for items that took you longer to learn to make well? How do you figure out how much to bump by, if you do?
- bradly 5y agoNope, my hourly rate is my hourly rate. If something takes more time, it simply costs more.
- whoisburbansky 5y agoI was trying to ask about things where it took you a certain amount of time upfront to learn to make it well, but once that's done, it only takes you a small amount of time to make each individual piece. I think this sort of thing was asked elsewhere, basically how do you account for "R&D" and expertise-building in your hourly rate.
- bradly 5y agoAhh, I see. I take classes and practice on my own time.
- mywacaday 5y agoSome YouTube channels have great breakdown on prices, one of the channels I follow is Blacktail studio, https://youtu.be/bq-8yHgjqv0 https://youtu.be/bq-8yHgjqv0, this video is for a 13,500$ epoxy table. When you see the cost of the initial slab, 2.5K, they the meticulous attention to detail, the skill involved and other external costs like planing and making the steel frame it starts to seem reasonable.
- bradly 5y agoI love Cam’s videos! His virtual epoxy class is great. Highly recommend.