whole job pricing

[KnottyPine]

I will try to make this as short and sweet as I can but I have only been working in the metal art business for just over a year and still struggle with quoting prices. I really feel I under price jobs based on the amount of time i spend cleaning and powder coating. I use the spread sheet that many use but how does everyone charge for time spent doing cleaning and powder coating? Before I was powder coating some people were taking my work to get it powder coated and spending 2/3 of what I was charging just to have my work powder coated. However I never really charge them for powder coating. What does everyone else do?

This is my first post too.

If I need to post an example of something let me know. Maybe that would be best to get an idea.

[mdwalker]

Basically you can either work for free or you can work for profit. Figure what you would sell the item for unfinished. Then calculate your time and cost for anything extra you do such as powder coating. As for me, everything I cut is delivered to the customer bare metal. I don't have the setup or the time to powder coat and I stay plenty busy. I do realize that I miss some sales because people want a finished product but I don't have a lot of competition in my area either. My thoughts are that anybody can buy a $5 can of spray paint. Not everybody can spend thousands of dollars on a plasma setup.

[Soter907]

Following. New to it.

[KnottyPine]

Does anyone charge a setup fee?

[Ironken]

Does anyone charge a setup fee?

I do not. I feel it looks to the customer like you are gouging them for everything. I charge one simple price. I don't really think they care about consumables, shop supplies, set up, etc. They usually just want a bottom line price.

When I see "fuel surcharges" and other shit like that, it doesn't sit right with me, so I wind all of it into one price....it's in there and if I get shopped around, I'm confidant that my total price is still better than most. My only question would be if it would be beneficial for tax purposes to break it down??? I need to look into that as I have grown qyite a bit over the last couple years.

[tnbndr]

I agree with Ironken, one price include everything. I don't powder coat but I have a place a take it to. I know what they charge and I just add that cost plus some time and gas to my price. If it's an odd piece I take it to them for a quote and let the customer know.
I went to an auto garage that changed hands and the new owner would list rags, oil, etc as line items on the bill. I don't go there anymore.

[KnottyPine]

Thanks for the info guys. The only reason I ask about setup fees is because of all the changes that customers ask for. I guess my biggest concern, being new to the business, is that I am under charging for something. How do you base your pricing? Does anyone use the spreadsheet that is on here on plasmaspider? If you do are you making any adjustments to it like powder coating?

[elitemetaldesign]

I use the spreadsheet and it has been perfect for my bottom line. I do more custom brackets and custom structural plates not so much the art stuff, but if it were me I would go to your local powder coater and see what there price would be per square foot and add that just add the price on the line in the spreadsheet to the cost of material then it will add the 50% to it or whatever you have it set to and give the customer the quote. If you do that with the 50% added or 30% added that should cover your drive time and a little profit for the powder coat. Trust me your time is worth everything and never give it away for free. Where I am located it’s normal for contractors to add 30% to even every screw or nail they drop off.