what is it worth

[wyman autry]

this is my first time so please be gentle with me, i've read many post here and seen some outstanding turnings,and being new at turning, i have a lot of questions, but what may sound kinda dumb is how do you determine what is a good price for a bowl, ect, and what is an average price if there is such a thing as an average price.

[Cecil Arnold]

Wyman, 9 months without jumping in is too long but welcome to the creek. There are a number of pricing schemes people use and a lot of things you need to keep in mind when pricing. All turners like the idea of free wood and we all use it whenever we can, however to "give" away what was free wood is not the thing to do. I guess what I'm saying is that you need to consider the bf you would need to produce the turning as a starting point, then the time spent, some overhead for your lathe and turning tools, plus a little profit. Some people use a forumlia of height x width x $ = sales price, one friend who turns lamps charges $10 per inch of height (mesquete) and others, as their skills improve and they find an "audience" can increase prices to a nice level. To further complicate matters segmented bowl turners will always have to charge more for the same size bowls due to the added work involved in design and glue up. So in terms of some not so sage advice, charge somewhere between a fair price and all the traffic can bare.

[Jeff Sudmeier]

Wyman, thanks for posting!! I hope that you will post more often than once in nine months :) :) :) We really enjoy hearing from the new members, it keeps the forum fresh!!

As far as pricing goes, I can't help much, I don't sell my stuff very often.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Wyman.....Welcome to the Creek! I'm sure some of the turners here can help you with you questions! I don't do spinny things....yet......Again Welcome!

[Ed Lang]

Welcome to the Creek.

I will be watching this since I have the same problem... what to ask for something.

well if this helps.... Yesterday I did a two hour turning demo at a local assisted living facility. I was asked several weeks ago by the girlfriend of the guy who I get a lot of wood from... How could I say anything but sure :-)

I had a bottle stopper in fact my first and only one so far with me. One man walked up after the demo and I was packing up and asked how much it was.... I said $15 and told him it was made from apple and which orchard it came from. I must say I was supprised when he pulled out a $20 and asked if I had change... I said no but would try to get it. He said to take the twenty as I was under selling my stuff. I thanked him and finished packing up.

The big question for me is, would I have sold it if it was marked $20? Maybe the $15 for the right price point.

I had fun, the folks there had fun and I sold stuff and took orders.

I cannot quit my day job yet but who knows in a year!

[Scott Coffelt]

Well considering I have seen bowls go for $1000's, that is a tough question to answer. In general, I would say whatever you feel is the right price. If products sell way too fast, then the price might be too low, if they never sell then too high. I was selling pens for $15-20 depending on the cost of the blank and kit. I got bored with pens, so I don't make them anymore. I've never sold bowls, usually do those as a gift. My focus is more on furniture, where I have a set rate I try to hit $25/hr. It's low in some ways, but also for me it is not my primary paying kob, so I am good with it. Sometimes I make more, sometimes I make less on a project.

[Anthony Yakonick]

Art is subjective but after 30 years in auto repair I know how to price labor. I shoot for $60 an hour plus materials with markup. If you're doing "production" work you're just the same as the auto, machine or welding shop. This is priced as an experienced worker, if you're new you can't expect to get what other experienced turners get. Also, to make the most you must use production techniques.

[Andy Hoyt]

Wyman - This really isn't an answer for you, but thought I'd throw this in to the creek for all of us to swim through.

I've had a small bowl sitting in a gallery since last February. It's always been priced at $150. In a conversation with the gallery manager two weeks ago we were discussing that it had gotten attention, but no takers. We agreed that lowering the price might be a good move. At that point in the conversation, I had to hang up right away because I smelled something burning (which turned out to be dinner). She said she'd get back to me in a day or two to continue the discussion.

She called back three days later and said that it sold immediately after she marked it down (and forgot to call me).

The sale price?

$143. Go figure.

The lesson learned is that it's a mind numbing numbers game and it takes luck and magic and skill. So.... bust out your magic gouge and try your luck at improving your skills. Welcome to the creek.

[Gary Max]

Try this---it may help you.
Lets say you have made 10 bowls.
Line them up on a table.
Seperate them in order----good better and best.
Price the good one and the best one----mark the rest somewhere in between.
Just a litte thought from south central Kentucky.

[Keith Burns]

I'll throw in my two cents here. I think how and where you market your turnings plays as much a part in how you price your items as anything. I live in West Tennessee and there is not as large of an "art" market here as there is in say the Northeast. So if I could get $300.00 for a bowl in New York I may only be able to get $50.00 where I live. If you sell at a flea market your not going to get the same price as you will at a juried art show. Another question I try to ask myself is "if I had the money what would I pay for it".

[Chris Barton]

Great question and I think you have received a variety of great answers. But, I think there is an underlying tenent that must be considered before anyone can really address the question. Who is your aduience? Like many have said, traditional flea markets are where people of very limited incomes try to find bargains. Think of them as the "Walmart" of last resort. Someone buying used clothes is unlikely to buy expensive turned goods. However, every town has a segment or geographic region, that is more interested in the perception of the artistic value of the work. The challange is to find the right marketing opportunity and location for the work. By no means am I an expert because, I am trying to seek the same kind of answers. I have to believe that most larger towns have some type of art guilds that have enough focus to keep some of these artist going. Now, if I could only find out how to become one of them...

[wyman autry]

great answers, material, time ,ability, there are some very smart people here. but,as for me to make any money,i will have to charge for several pair of underwear, i had to bury, after surviving my first major catches.:D

[Andy Hoyt]

great answers, material, time ,ability, there are some very smart people here. but,as for me to make any money,i will have to charge for several pair of underwear, i had to bury, after surviving my first major catches.:D

Now you got it!

[Ed Davidson]

In my experience, there are basically three ways to price your product…1) Bottoms-up…based on your cost and profit expectations, 2) Tops down…based on what you think the piece will sell for, and 3) Arbitrary…what you think the piece is worth.

I’ve heard many professional turners complain that the rest of us price our goods too low, using method 2 and not taking into account method 1, or at least not taking into account your real costs of doing business; thus cheating yourself and making things harder for them.

Personally, I think before you can figure a price, you’ve got to know your cost. And here’s where the rub comes in. Most hobby-turners work out of their homes and consider the overhead associated with having and running a shop to be “free”.

Overhead typically includes stuff like shop rent, utilities, consumables (sand paper, sanding sealer, etc…), insurance, transportation, shipping, non-shop (indirect) labor time like working customers and ordering materials, returns and warranty costs, and advertising. I think real overhead can easily run 70%, and often up to 250% of direct labor.

If you’re making a bowl for example, with materials cost of $10 and two hours of direct labor @ $35.00/hour, your costs would be $80 and with a 30% profit your price would be $114 ($80 / 0.7)…if you don’t take into account overhead. On the other hand, if you do take into account overhead, your cost could be up to $255, yielding a price of $364 ($255 / 0.7).

Hope this is helpful...