Pricing

[evoman76]

So SWMBO says that we have to many wooden bowls in the house and that if I want to make any more I need to sell some !

So I was thinking of trying to get a stall at a local craft fair, but my question is how do I price wooden bowls and pens ? The few bowls I have sold in the past I have just doubled what the wood cost me ?

Your thoughts would be appreciated

Thanks

David

 

[marcros]

It depends a bit.

I think that pens are a bit easier. Say it takes you an hour or so per pen. You take cost of materials, including an allowance for glue, sandpaper, finish etc. You add an hour of labour at your rate, and add a profit margin. This will give you a wholesale rate, and an RRP should be approx double. This RRP is what a gallery would sell at. You may have to adjust it for the market you are in, but it won't be far off.

Bowls, I see as a bit more difficult because you have more money in the blank and much more time invested. To make a profit, you may have to charge several times what somebody will pay. Bowls are not my thing, but the few I have made took me a while.

 

[CHJ]

Extremely unlikely that you will make any profit from a craft fare venture on a casual basis, I think it has to be done on a semi-professional basis as far as time and promotional effort expended.

Casual stalls will maybe help cover your hobby costs, and satisfy the Boss by reducing the dusting chore.

Pricing?
Look at what others with selling web presence charge and see if your work matches their standards.
Take a silly price point out of the ether and see how that equates to your acceptable commitment quotient.
Say 10 pence per millimetre diameter and see how that sits in your local market, see if the pieces you have to offer are in the category of:-
'that's better than nothing'
or
'I want 1.5 to 2 times that at least'

Don't mix the two categories in your marketing display, I find folks will migrate to the utilitarian low cost area and the 'I want something special for a gift" area.

Tart a couple of basic bowls with sweet or biscuit contents and gift wrap with clear film, they also serve to point those looking for gift ideas to make up their own from what you have to offer.

 

[nev]

Talking to a buyer (as in someone that buys for large companies etc) just the other day he mentioned the 'considered purchase'.
i.e. the point or price at which the prospective customer actually thinks twice about buying something. See something cute, clever, nice etc and for a fiver?, no thought at all, just buy it. A tenner? probably still buy it.
£15 - depending on whether you're in an affluent area or not, probably needs to have a 'use', be something you're already looking for (a fruit bowl for the table?) or be nice enough as a gift for someone.
£20 - It has to worth that in the mind of the purchaser. So the considered purchase point would be 15-20 quid.
None of which will make you a profit if you want paying for your time, but may keep you in sandpaper and polish for while longer.

 

[Dalboy]

I start at £3.00 and go right up to in excess of £100.00 it depends on what I am selling. Pens for example I start at £15 for the cheapest and go in excess of £50 agin this depends on the kit etc.

 

[duncanh]

How much was the blank (or if you got it for free how much would the blank have cost)?
how long did you spend on it - look how much uk minimum wage is and charge more than that?
what materials did you use to finish it?

See what that all adds up to, compare to other sellers in your area and adjust as you see fit. Don't undersell your work

 

[Phil Pascoe]

That is sound, of course, but you can't very well charge four hours work for something that would have taken an experienced person an hour.

 

[Ant-h83]

Unless your making bowls by request it's hard to get really good prices on them.
Il make a load of bowls plus other stuff and put the money in a box toward new tools, I'm never going to set the world on fire but it saves the wife moaning about how much I spend on things for my workshop


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[RobinBHM]

I would suggest charging what seems approriate for the venue and at a price point that would sell.

The price range Nev mentions seems very sensible to me. £15 to £20

It may not relate to an hourly rate, but if you can sell a few in a day, that could be money in the pot for more tools!

 

[dcmguy]

If you're thinking about doing craft shows then there are a fair few things to think of. You obviously may know all this and if so, the apologies.

- do you want to tell hmrc you are self employed sole trader (if it becomes your intent to sell)
- do you want to get insurance (folk can be strange....a splinter may give rise to blame and a claim!)
- accountancy... tax deduction on your machines, tools and consumables

insurance seems like the one I'd be thinking about... but thats me and my stuff is far to rubbish to sell!

 

[evoman76]

Thanks for all your comments, much appreciated. As you say what people will pay is very different to what its cost to make !

 

[Terry - Somerset]

To make a living, wood turners need some particular characteristics - speed, standard designs and finishes, wood purchased in reasonable quantities, high quality finishes. Items may sell for £100-200 in a gallery. Together with teaching and demos I suspect the successful will generate an adequate but not massive income.

Most hobby wood turners vary the timbers, designs and finishes. Some may put in 6-8 hours a day but most will not practice sufficiently to achieve high standard without spending a lot of time finishing.

From my observation items sold at craft fairs etc are often (not always) low priced and frequently poor quality - a function of selling prices typically between £5-25. Quite bluntly it is not possible to produced handmade quality items at this price. If you adopt a semi professional approach to craft fairs you may recover material costs, transport, fees etc. This means having vans or large cars, tables, displays, being selective so time is not wasted at the wrong venues etc.

On a purely personal level I have come to the conclusion that I will only make that for which there is a purpose (gift etc). I try to complete this to the best of my limited ability and avoid filling the house with yet more turnings