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Why it cost so much...

Jim DeLaney

Jim DeLaney

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Austintown, Ohio
I copied this from a Facebook post:

A customer asked me how much it cost to make a table....
I answered him: $ 1500
He said: So expensive for this job?
I asked: How much do you think it would cost you?
He answers me: $ 800 maximum... That's a pretty simple job right? !"
- For $ 800 I invite you to do it yourself.
- But.... I don't know how to.
- For $800 I'll teach you how to. So besides saving you $700, you'll get the knowledge for the next time you want
- It seemed right to him and he agreed.
- But to get started: you need tools: A table saw, a planer, a top, dormants, etc...
- But I don't have all these equipment and I can't buy all of these for one job.
- Well then for another $250 more I'll rent my stuff to you so you can do it.
- Okay, he says.
- Okay! Tuesday I'm waiting for you to start doing this work
- But I can't on Tuesday I only have time today.
- I'm sorry, but I'm only available Tuesday to teach you and lend you my stuff. Other days are busy with other customers.
- Okay! That means I'm going to have to sacrifice my Tuesday, give up my tasks.
- I forgot. To do your job yourself, you also have to pay for the nonproductive factors.
- That is? What is this?"
- Bureaucratic, tax, vat, security, insurance, fuel etc.
- Oh no!... But to accomplish these tasks, I'm going to spend more money and waste a lot of time!
- Do you have them? You can do it to me before?"
- Okay!
- I'll make you all the material you need. Truck loading is done Monday evening or Tuesday morning you'll have to come by 6 loading the truck. Don't forget to be on time to avoid traffic jams and be on time
- At 6??? Nope! Too early for me! I used to getting up later.
...
- You know, I've been thinking. Y ' all better get the job done. I'd rather pay you the $1500. If I had to, it wouldn't be perfect and it would cost me a lot more.

When you pay for a job, especially handcrafted, you pay not only for the material used, but also:
- Knowledge
- Experience
- Study
- Tools
- Services
- Time to go
- punctuality
- Accountability
- Professionalism
- Accuracy
- Guaranteed
- Patents
- Sacrifices
- Safety and security
- Payment of tax obligations
No one can denigrate other people's work by judging prices.
Only by knowing all the elements necessary for the production of a certain work can you estimate the actual cost.
Like and share this help to support craftsmen and entrepreneurs.
 
I have a somewhat shorter story that happened to a friend of mine that he loves to retell (and after he told it to me, I do too :D)

He had taken his TV into a repair shop (when we still fixed such things) and at the end got a bill for something like $150.
He asked what the items were on the bill.
The fellow behind the counter responded "Parts, Knowledge".
 
Several years ago I approached a local gallery about selling some of my turned work. They weren't interested in anything I showed them, but the owner asked if I could make jewelry/trinket boxes (a bit smaller than a shoebox) out of nice hardwoods. He was looking for something he could retail for about $40, and was willing to pay half that as a wholesale price. I told him I could barely buy the materials for that price, let alone cover any labor. That pretty much ended the conversation.
 
This is why I did not question electricians rates and charges the other day for working. He had the knowledge and also the ability to do what was needed. Sitting on the floor cross legged reaching in saw, said I would not get into that position let alone get up. You want it done, pay the piper.
David
 
This is like the cost of those "free" fish I get when I go fishing.... I could have bought a fish farm for what I've spent going fishing. Still, that's better than golf. I still get to eat the fish. You can't eat a golfball.

I don't sell my work (although some has sold at charity auctions) but I have given some of it away (that which makes it past #1 wife). It is discouraging when people treat it badly. They have no idea what it takes to take a part of a tree and turn it into something at least as beautiful as the tree.

Alan
 
Overheard at a craft fair many years ago when I was making and selling wooden toys. "He must have a Shopsmith." Well, yes, I did have a Shopsmith and I did make the toys on that Shopsmith but it required many years of practice, a lot of wasted wood, some cussin' and fumin', sweat, blood and tears to develop the skills to make something that people would buy.

Another story about a craft fair. This one I read but it does express the sentiment of many people who have no appreciation for those of us who have worked to learn our craft. This craftsman was standing outside the venue where the fair was being held smoking a cigarette. (Now you know this was a long time ago.) Two older women came by and peeked in the door. One said to the other, "Let's go in and see what is for sale." The other woman replied, "Let's don't, it is just stuff they made themselves."

When I started woodturning I could barely make a bumpy stick. I would show my wife my early turnings and she would offer encouragement. She never said anything negative but it was obvious that she wasn't impressed. Finally the day came when I showed her something I turned and she wanted it. At that point I knew I was a woodturner. Thousands of items later she still carefully considers each piece of work that I show her and if she likes one she adds it to her collection.

I must be doing something right. I operate my ETSY shop from around Labor Day until the New Year. I have had the shop for 5 years but I only listed stuff for sale four of those five years. I do not renew any listings of items that don't sell. This year the Saturday before Labor Day I listed 140 items. As of today I have 8 items left for sale. Maybe I will sell some more before the end of the year and maybe I won't but this has been a very good year for me despite it being one of the most miserable years in my life due to hospitalizations and continued health problems caused by my cancer and its treatments. For someone who was never sick until he came down with cancer I have spent the last 8 years dealing with the side effects of cancer or the drugs used during my treatments. Now the radiation therapy I had has reared its ugly head and is causing problems. It is always something. I shouldn't complain because I am a cancer survivor and for that I am grateful. Thank goodness I have woodworking and woodturning etc. to do to distract me from all the rest.

I wish you all a Merry Christmas and a happy prosperous, healthy New Year.
 
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