What would you charge?

Charlie Plesums said:

I have read many experts pontificate about how terrible it is to price things as a multiple of material cost. So on countless occasions I have gone through a painful design and pricing process. And after I am done, I usually find that the result is 5 times the material cost, no charge for shop supplies like glue and sandpaper.

Stu is right on!

Click to expand...

Charlie, is you pricing including only wood and any hardware like hinges and such?

John Daugherty said:

Charlie, is you pricing including only wood and any hardware like hinges and such?

Click to expand...

The big flaw in this pricing scheme is material cost... oh, that was what we are using. Lets take an example: If someone wants a writing table out of sipo (a mahogany substitute) and I calculate a price of $1000 based on $200 lumber, how should my price change if they come back and say they decided to go with genuine mahogany that will cost $400? Should I leave my brain turned off and quote $2000? I may be at risk of having to replace a more expensive board if I have an accident, but the construction and finishing is about the same for these two different woods. I don't have a magic formula, but would probably charge about $1300-$1400 since I will have to personally shop for the Mahogany, while I have the sipo in stock or can just order another 100 board feet or so.

Hardware like drawer slides and hinges is added to the material cost. I buy them at the lumber yard (cheaper than mail order), so 5 times my cost of a slide or hinge is a fair price for that item installed.

I do not buy or install glass. There are so many federal regulations, most of which are ignored, that I don't want to get into the game of "what can I get away with." I recommend local glass shops that do a good job, fast, with low cost installation. Most glass is glued in these days; my favorite glass shop charges 50 cents; the competition charges $10 to glue in a piece of glass, and their tube of clear flexible glue is fresh, while mine has always dried out. If I am shipping a piece, including the glass makes the shipping cost skyrocket.

Knobs and handles - I spent countless hours with people looking at catalogs saying "whatever you want" each time they asked "what do you think of this one." I now refuse to provide them. I give folks links to a few web sites, tell them buy them and have them shipped to me, and I will install them free, but I will not help them choose.

The reality is that I use the 5 times material guideline only when I am doing something totally new. Most of the time I go to my own web site, and say... hmmm... this request is similar to project A but with two more drawers, and is similar to project B but without the cabinet door, so my price quote will be .... The prices posted are sometimes more than I actually charged the first customer; occasionally I give the first customer a discount on the quoted price if I would like to sell more like that for less than my original estimate.

See www.plesums.com/wood/cost.html for another way that I estimate costs.