Pricing opinions needed.

[Joe Tonich]

A guy (co-worker from another yard) brought me some things he needed fixed for his wife. I guess they were her mothers and have some sentimental value. My problem is that I hate to overcharge and usually more or less do it for nothing. Making this leg was really nothing but I have to match the color and finish it. (Something I'm not too good at :( ) What would you charge for something like this? $20? Any pricing advice would be appreciated

Thanks,

Joe

[Joe Tonich]

Another view:

[Lars Thomas]

Depending on the relationship, I'd just give it to him (unfinsihed).

[Rob Russell]

Tell him to make a donation to his favorite charity based on what he thinks the work was worth. That way you're helping 2 groups of people and can feel really good about what you did.

If you undercharge him now, he (or anyone he tells about the chair leg) will expect you to undercharge in the future.

[Joe Tonich]

"Depending on the relationship, I'd just give it to him"




Originally posted by Rob Russell
Tell him to make a donation to his favorite charity based on what he thinks the work was worth. That way you're helping 2 groups of people and can feel really good about what you did.

If you undercharge him now, he (or anyone he tells about the chair leg) will expect you to undercharge in the future.

This is what has happened and now I have a stool, chair, serving tray, swing, + to do. I was just asked about a chair & told him I'd have to see it first. Came home from work and found all this stuff in my drive that he dropped off while I was gone. :( I hate to turn people down if I can help & am trying to get some $ for a trailer. I know it's not much, but, the wood, glue, finish & time adds up.

Joe -

[Ken Salisbury]

Originally posted by Joe Tonich
"Depending on the relationship, I'd just give it to him"





This is what has happened and now I have a stool, chair, serving tray, swing, + to do. I was just asked about a chair & told him I'd have to see it first. Came home from work and found all this stuff in my drive that he dropped off while I was gone. :( I hate to turn people down if I can help & am trying to get some $ for a trailer. I know it's not much, but, the wood, glue, finish & time adds up.

Joe -

Joe:

Either give the stuff back to him or charge at least $20 to $25 per hour for your time. I have been in that same situation many times before (however, not for a long time-since I put a stop to it). As soon as you do something free for someone they find all kinds of freebies for you to do.

[Mike Vermeil]

Originally posted by Ken Salisbury
Joe:

Either give the stuff back to him or charge at least $20 to $25 per hour for your time. I have been in that same situation many times before (however, not for a long time-since I put a stop to it). As soon as you do something free for someone they find all kinds of freebies for you to do.

Amen brother! As a former automotive machinist & mechanic, and now hobbyist woodworker, I've been in that situation way too many times. Unless you really like these people, and just want to help them out, charge them what it's worth. The time you spend doing stuff for them is time you've lost for other things, like your own stuff or your family.

[Kevin Gerstenecker]

.........with Ken & Mike. Your skills as a woodworker are worth something, even if it is a minimal amount. People, even well intentioned folks, will take advantage of a good situation. I would charge at least $20.00 an hour for the time spent on this project. Your time, not to mention your skills, material and equipment it takes to accomplish the task are all good reasons to charge for your services. After all, if this person could do the repairs themselves, they wouldn't be coming to you. Doing small things for no charge can snowball into something that is very hard to put an end to. After all, would he expect a Roofer to put a new roof on his house for free, just because he knows the guy? I think not, and your situation is no different. Explain your thoughts to him, and if he doesn't understand, then he is being unreasonable, and you wouldn't want his work anyway. Good Luck! (By the way, the leg really looks good....nice work!) ;)

[Kevin Post]

I have to agree with what these guys are saying. Sooner or later, everyone learns this lesson first-hand. People don't seem to realize that the tools cost money, the wood is expensive, the time taken to do this could have been spent fishin' with the kids.

If I want to do the work, I tell them what I think it will cost upfront. My formula is $50/hour x the number of hours I think it will take me. Because everything takes twice as long as I expect it to, I end up charging about $25 per hour...:rolleyes: Matching the finish to an existing peice always eats up a bunch of my time because I'm a perfectionist.

If I don't want to do the work, I just tell them, 'The SWMBO has a mile-long 'honey do' list that needs to be completed first. If she finds me working on a project for someone else, I'll be sleeping in the shop.' Since this list is never-ending, I'll never have time to get to their project.

There have been times where I've invited someone to come over and use the shop to do something small (like your leg) themselves while I'm working on my own projects.

Just remember, some people (not all) will tend to take advantage of you if you let them.

-Kevin

[Dave Arbuckle]

I don't give woodworking away, except to very close friends and immediate family.

But in this case, you violated my cardinal rule, which is to always quote price ahead of the job. I don't know how I would approach someone after the fact. I think Rob Russell gave an acceptable answer.

For a leg like that, color-matched and finished, I would probably charge a hundred or so.

Dave

[Ken Salisbury]

Kevin Post said:

"There have been times where I've invited someone to come over and use the shop to do something small (like your leg) themselves while I'm working on my own projects."


Not a good idea - that leaves you open to liablility problems. I never allow anyone to use the equipment in my shop other than family members (and in some families I'm not sure that is even a good idea) :p <p align="center">
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[Kevin Post]

Yeah, that's an excellent point.

[RANT: ON]
I know you can get sued for just about anything these days whether it's your fault or not. I routinely have people visit me in the shop. I also do work in people's homes and on their property where I could damage something. I have two doberman pinschers that could bite someone just because they smell funny. I own vacant land where someone could fall and bump their head on a stump or a rock that wasn't surrounded by yellow caution tape. My sidewalks get icey in the winter. I shoot fireworks on the 4th of July. I drive cars, trucks, boats, ATVs, snowmobiles, RVs and earth-moving equipment that's owned by me and by others which could kill or injure someone or damage their property. I own children that can do any number of things that kids do that could get me sued. I could say something bad about someone in a public forum like this and get sued for slander. I may need to stop to help someone at the scene of a car accident, pull them from a burning car where they would surely die and get sued because, by moving them, I aggravated a spinal injury which causes them to be paralyzed (I didn't make this one up.). There are thousands of other reasons that I could get sued that I can't even conceive of... :mad:

I find it really troubling that someone can sue McDonald's and be awarded millions because a customer spilled a cup of coffee in their lap after going through the drive-through. The plaintiff claimed the burns were McDonald's fault because the coffee was hot. :rolleyes:
[RANT: OFF]

The liability coverage on auto and homeowners insurance policies provides almost no protection. Therefore, I have lots of supplemental liability insurance that will protect me in the event something occurs that would have lawyers chasing me.

-Kevin

[PeterTorresani]

Since you didn't quote a price up front, it's kind of hard to do so now. If it was "no problem" to build, I would give it to him as a freebie, but make it very clear that this is a one time price. Use all the reasons mentioned in previous posts, and if that's a problem with him, your project list just got shorter.

As for other people in my shop: I will help just about anybody with one of their projects, but I don't have any friends skilled enough to allow them to work alone.

Concerning liability: I'll serve my friends a beer, let them help me build a deck, or let them walk through my treacherous gopher filled back yard, so at what point do you decide it's too much risk. I hate to compare trial lawyers to terrorists, but you can't let fear run your life.



P.S. Actually it's fun to compare trial lawyers to terrorists, it's just completely unfair :D