Need help pricing a fireplace screen

[mschulte06]

I am pretty new to metal art. I have been making parts in my spare time with my table at work. I typically make the products out of scrap material so I have a hard time setting prices on things especially since I only really sell to friends. I feel bad selling them so I typically just give them away. I have been getting a big response for this fireplace screen that I made, but it cost me too much to just give away. I have about $75 in materials and 2-3 hours in design and another 2-3 hours in finishing it. This is made from 12ga galvanealed steel with wire mesh screen. Any advise would be greatly appreciated

[natewelding]

Honestly, the design time you cant really put too much into the price, because essentially you have to use it as if u were selling more than 1-2 and include that in the price per. If that makes sense? Other than that, time and material, I'd say that somewhere around $275-325 is a pretty fair price.

[tnbndr]

I would be in the area of around $450. I don't usually charge for design time if I can make and sell the piece again. I do charge if it is one of a kind work. I add up my labor costs, materials, etc and then double that for the sell price.
When I get my own table I will use the spreadsheet that is posted on this forum somewhere.

[beefy]

OK you're asking for advise so here's my 2c.

Perhaps putting friends aside, you really need to get over this "feeling bad" about putting a good price on your products.

My business is tight access excavation and I get crapped on like you wouldn't believe. It works the other way too you know. Most customers don't feel any shame about getting what they can out of you simply because.........they can. They don't care about the cost of setting up a business, the cost of daily running, the risks you took (and take everyday), the toll on your family life, etc, etc.

Business is just that - business. Remember you are not ripping anybody off by putting a good price on something, they always have the option to say, "No thanks". If they accept the price then it was worth it to them, no matter how much they may dislike parting with their cash. Expect people to resent you because they actually "had" to pay you a fair price. Feel bad when you decieve someone, steal their money, rip them off, etc.

You remind me off myself when I first started business, too nice and not making money, and eating crap. If you want to do this as a business then start thinking with a business head, not a kind charitable head, and let the market decide what a fair price is.

If you just want this as a hobby and to give stuff to friends / family then that's a totally different matter.

[Sampson Jones]

Beefy nailed it . But custom fire screens 300.00 to 1200.00 here

[mschulte06]

Thank you everybody for your advise. Right now, I just do this as a hobby and post pictures on my Facebook page and I get bombarded with friends wanting to buy them. Up to this point, I have pretty much said "thanks for the positive comments, but I am not really set up to sell anything yet." I have been getting a lot of pressure from my friends and family to start a website and sell the stuff, but quite honestly I don't know how to create a website, not to mention that I don't have time be making the products. Does anyone have any advice on starting a website?

Thank you,

Mike

[beefy]

Hi Mike,

if you sell a peice here and there and make profit, I guess you are running a little side business. Just let it build bit by bit if you aren't in a hurry to quit your job.

I built my website with software called Xsitepro. They also have a good forum with helpful members. The only gripe I have with it is that they don't sell some of the training material, they just "rent" it per year. You pay a years subscription then you get "access" to the training videos for one year. I really find that nothing but a money squeezing ploy.

There are others like Wordpress (free). I'd just Google the matter because I think now there's ready made websites where you kind of "fill in the blanks" and get going pretty quickly. Maybe there's similar ones for online selling.

If you really start selling your cuts for a proper price, and want a "real" website, also look into getting a pro to make your site. It could initially cost a few K and you have to consider the down the track maintenance costs too, but if you think you could make that money in a shorter time than what it would take you learning to build a web site yourself, it may be the most viable way, and you end up with a better looking web site.

Keith.