This question gets tossed around a lot, mostly because it's a difficult thing to explain. A lot of this depends on your area and market. I'm no expert, but I'll tell you a little bit about how I price things.
First, It's easier to put a price on something that has been ordered to be made, rather than putting a price on something you've already made. With the former you can calculate your time and materials much like any contractor and get approval or negotiate before you have any money into the project.
How much should you charge for your time? Around here, uneducated web designers are billed at $85/hr, larger fab shops are $50-$60/hr, mechanics $75/hr, architects/designers $80-$200/hr. With this info I calculate what I charge hourly for certain tasks, which are broken up as follows
- fabricating, welding, layout, fitup, ie. stuff that takes skill and experience = a higher rate closer to other fab shops
- Designing: its tough to get paid for every hour you design, but as I get better and more unique my design fees increase. Eventually comparable to an architect/designer
- Specialty Skills: skills like hand etching with plasma torches, forging, signature patterns, ie. stuff that even an experienced fabricator might have trouble reproducing gets charged at the highest rate.
With these guidelines I can take on any type of job and be competitive. Whether it's 100 simple candle sticks or a one of a kind sculpture that takes 3 months. Each task gets charged appropriately.
These rates change every year or when I think a skill has improved. This system seams easy on paper, but I still have to work at not lowering my prices due to the fear of not getting a job. The thing to remember is that in certain situations you'll make more money NOT taking a job than if you did. Be fair to yourself and make sure your getting paid.
As for selling a pre-made item, you have to respect the market that you want to be in. If similar items are selling for $XX.XX then it would be fair to charge that much. Two things to keep in mind, usually 50% of the selling price goes to the shop owner, and a lot of "metal art" out there is made in an assembly line fashion thus lowering production costs. I have never had any luck selling pre-made items, although I know a lot of jewelry artists that have. Right now I have 30-40 wine racks from 3 yrs ago just leaning against the wall. I guess I need to either start a wine cellar or give them as gifts :). My suggestion is to make a sample of the item with sample pricing and put that in a store or booth. The customer would order this "hand-crafted, one of a kind piece of art" which you would make for them personally. That way your only spending money when your making money(except for the samples), the customer gets a piece that no one else will have, and you can make arrangements with the shop owner as to whether they get a percentage or flat fee for each piece. It's important to remember that unless the shop owner can make money as well, there's no sense carrying your product.
The last thing to take into consideration is how much money do you need to pay your bills and overhead? This may increase or decrease how much you charge compared to others.
I'm sure there are many other suggestions and methods, but this is the basis that I use. Hope it helps.
So you want to get paid?
Hi Jason and Welcome to art metal,
This question gets tossed around a lot, mostly because it's a difficult thing to explain. A lot of this depends on your area and market. I'm no expert, but I'll tell you a little bit about how I price things.
First, It's easier to put a price on something that has been ordered to be made, rather than putting a price on something you've already made. With the former you can calculate your time and materials much like any contractor and get approval or negotiate before you have any money into the project.
How much should you charge for your time? Around here, uneducated web designers are billed at $85/hr, larger fab shops are $50-$60/hr, mechanics $75/hr, architects/designers $80-$200/hr. With this info I calculate what I charge hourly for certain tasks, which are broken up as follows
- Grunt work: grinding, cutting, cleaning, etc=
lowest hourly rate
- fabricating, welding, layout, fitup, ie. stuff that takes skill and experience = a higher rate closer to other fab shops
- Designing: its tough to get paid for every hour you design, but as I get better and more unique my design fees increase. Eventually comparable to an architect/designer
- Specialty Skills: skills like hand etching with plasma torches, forging, signature patterns, ie. stuff that even an experienced fabricator might have trouble reproducing gets charged at the highest rate.
With these guidelines I can take on any type of job and be competitive. Whether it's 100 simple candle sticks or a one of a kind sculpture that takes 3 months. Each task gets charged appropriately.
These rates change every year or when I think a skill has improved. This system seams easy on paper, but I still have to work at not lowering my prices due to the fear of not getting a job. The thing to remember is that in certain situations you'll make more money NOT taking a job than if you did. Be fair to yourself and make sure your getting paid.
As for selling a pre-made item, you have to respect the market that you want to be in. If similar items are selling for $XX.XX then it would be fair to charge that much. Two things to keep in mind, usually 50% of the selling price goes to the shop owner, and a lot of "metal art" out there is made in an assembly line fashion thus lowering production costs. I have never had any luck selling pre-made items, although I know a lot of jewelry artists that have. Right now I have 30-40 wine racks from 3 yrs ago just leaning against the wall. I guess I need to either start a wine cellar or give them as gifts :). My suggestion is to make a sample of the item with sample pricing and put that in a store or booth. The customer would order this "hand-crafted, one of a kind piece of art" which you would make for them personally. That way your only spending money when your making money(except for the samples), the customer gets a piece that no one else will have, and you can make arrangements with the shop owner as to whether they get a percentage or flat fee for each piece. It's important to remember that unless the shop owner can make money as well, there's no sense carrying your product.
The last thing to take into consideration is how much money do you need to pay your bills and overhead? This may increase or decrease how much you charge compared to others.
I'm sure there are many other suggestions and methods, but this is the basis that I use. Hope it helps.
Jake