Had a dilemma, but for future reference

[Ernie Nyvall]

A man gave me most of a walnut and I surprised him with a NE bowl. Well, a few weeks later he called me up and asked what a bowl like that went for and choked when I told him, although it wasn't that much considering the time I had in it. Anyway, he and his wife were wanting a couple more bowls and were so disappointed when they heard the price, I told them I would make a couple and really watch my time to see what I could work out for them. It's not like I've done any to sell on purpose. I made the three smallest bowls in this thread http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=35605 for them to choose two from. I had decided to just give them the two bowls they wanted... just couldn't bring myself to charge them because of the amount of wood they gave me... but where do you stop. Well, that was my dilemma.
When I got there with the bowls, they really like them and I told them to choose the two they wanted and they could have them. They then wanted to know how much for the third. Well, the one they didn't choose was going to be a gift next month so I really didn't want to sell it so I told them $125.00. They quickly wrote out a check. Well, I can certainly make another bowl for the gift... it wasn't a special bowl.

So, have any of you run into a situation where someone wanted more bowls from the tree they gave you. They didn't ask to get them free... the answer would have been "No, you can have the wood back though".

Ernie

[Glenn Hodges]

Ernie I tell them right up front I will make them a bowl for free for the tree. I sold a 16 inch wide swamp chestnut oak bowl to the owner of the tree for his daughter for $150. If the want it they pay for it, shoot I gave them a $150 bowl for the wood they were giving away free to other people. This was a giant tree, and I got all the wood I wanted. I sold one guy 13 bowls from a tree he gave me. His daughter bought 2 more bowls from that tree. I have found that giving a bowl for a tree is good for me and the person giving the tree. I do not hesitate to charge for another bowl.

[Bernie Weishapl]

Ernie I did the same thing except I am like Glenn. I got some Walnut and made the guy a nice 10" bowl. His wife was so excited and she just loved it. They called me back two weeks later and wanted 3 more bowls just like the one I gave them. I told them $115 a piece and he said fine. So I made 3 more bowls for them.

[John Hart]

This is really something I have to get worked out in my head. I just can't seem to get the right words out. I want to say, "Well, that's a $100 vase"....But I always end up saying, "Just take it".:o

[Raymond Overman]

I discuss terms of "free bowl" deals prior to me taking wood. Discounts may apply after that but the problem with giving more than one away is you end up setting a precedence for the next tree. Suddenly half the community expects free turnings because they gave you a tree six months ago while their neighbors are asking, "Do you want this scrub oak? Can you make me a bowl?"

No offense to anyone, but I finance my tool habit with proceeds from my turnings. If I don't make some money from my sales I can't repair worn out tools, replace expendables, and generally go about turning wood without dipping into the other pocket which upsets the balance between Mrs. Overman and I and I'm not a fan of upsetting the balance.

[Paul Douglass]

I really feel for you guys and your dilemia. :D That is what you get for being good! I show people the few bowls I've made, they say "err.. nice" and change the subject:confused:. People give me wood but I don't have a problem with them wanting me to make them something:mad: :rolleyes: :confused:

[Tony Sizemore]

I am loke John... I want to say it will be $____. My head tells me that, my bank account tells me that but my mouth some turns that into here you can have it.
I geuss I have to start thinking about all the stuff I want/ need to turn bigger and better and not anything else.
I have thought of letting my wife take over that part of the this. She will have no trouble letting someone $_____.
I think some of my trouble is that I just don't think I am that good of a turner to sak $100 or $200 for something. Just my personel hang up :-(.
I want to see where this tread goes.

[Reed Gray]

I had one case where the tree owner got more than I bargained for. It was a sugar maple, which is rare here in Oregon. The husband delivered a couple of log sections, and said that he wanted 4 bowls about 10 inches wide by about 3 high. This would be easy, because they would have been the second cores out of the bowl blanks. He even sent me a diagram of the shapes he wanted. Well, the wife came to pick up the bowls and of course wanted the 4 biggest and best bowls for free (about $450 worth of bowls for about $100 worth of wood). Apparently she and her husband had different ideas of what the deal was, and I didn't have the paper to show her. I stuck to having her pay $80 for one bowl, and gave her the rest. The arborist that took the tree down is a friend of mine so I couldn't make a stink. I don't know if she took deliberate advantage of me or not. Every other case, the people are happy with a bowl or two, and will buy some more.
'robo hippy

[Kenneth Hertzog]

Sorry to say but I'm like John Hart it's very hard for me to charge for anything I make. I enjoy making it but I will say everyone of you are correct in saying it takes money to replace the equipment and finish used. On the other hand a few bucks offered by the receiver is always appreciated.
ken
slippery rock, pa

[Cecil Arnold]

So far I have only sold a couple of bowls, as my skills are not as good as I would like, however I have been the beneficiary of some "free" wood and turned bowls as a gift for the wood. I think my problem is with the concept of "free" wood. In my case I have to make a rather long drive to my source, about 4 hours, rope and drag the pieces from a nearly dry stream bed, chain saw them into pieces that can be handled (40-100 lbs) bring them home and cut them into blanks. I now have 2 days work in the "free" wood and haven't started turning yet. For someone (the donor) to come along and ask for the lion's share of the turnings seems a little cheeky to me. I usually take the bowl to the donor so that stops them from picking out the prime bowls, but a gift is a gift, they shouldn't have the pick of the lot.

Rant off. So how does everyone go about pricing?

[Mike Ramsey]

Ernie, sounds like you were setup! Used & abused. I think you know
what to do next time!

[Raymond Overman]

I don't know that Ernie was set up or used and abused. A lot of people don't understand the difference between a mass produced salad bowl and a hand turned one. It's a matter of education and some understanding. The material costs aren't the pricing factor. The skill in manipulating the material is what counts in artistic endeavors.

I have a local stationary store selling some pens on a consignment basis with a 33% margin for them. They told me they wanted to start buying them due to it being easier for their accounting and I told them that sounded great. They then asked how much I'd discount them if they bought five at a time instead of doing the consignment. I told them that the margin I was making after materials costs, the time I was putting into them, and the limited number I was making wouldn't allow me to cut the price any more. They continue to consign the pens.

They have no idea the time and effort I put into a single pen to make sure it's a quality product nor should I have to disclose the materials costs sheet to justify my pricing. I'm happy to be represented but a 5 x 10 display of 7 pens at a time doesn't exactly pull in the big bucks on a regular basis.

The turning part is fun. The business part, not so much sometimes.


Ernie, sounds like you were setup! Used & abused. I think you know
what to do next time!

[Tony Sizemore]

Ray I know your right. I have had people ask me how I do what I do. When I tell them and tell them how long it takes to glue up a medium size segmented bowl, or dry and return and green bowl they are dumfounded. They also don’t understand how hard it is to fine NICE wood to get that bowls from and how rare they are.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p>
BUT I still have trouble charging the right price for them!!!!!! I am such a hypocrite. <o:p></o:p>
Like I said earlier, My head will say one thing and mouth screws it all up!<o:p></o:p>

[Ernie Nyvall]

Ernie, sounds like you were setup! Used & abused. I think you know
what to do next time!

Mike, on this one I think I set myself up. They were actually ready to take smaller bowls without the NE if they could get a couple more bowls at a price they could afford. It was me who felt bad because of the amount of wood they gave me and they didn't mention the wood at all when they asked about the bowls. When I chucked the wood up, I decided o do them NE because I knew they really liked that and if the bark didn't stick, I could change design... I guess knowing all along I would practically give them away. If you saw the bowls in my first post of this thread, you'll notice they are small and I couldn't believe it when they wrote out the check for it. I was really expecting them to turn it down for that price, but they paid it and gave me some deer antlers to boot.

Being that I am still working on getting it right, I'm really not expecting anyone would want to actually pay for one.

You are right though, and with all the help from everyone... THANKS GUYS... this helps me out for thw next time.

Ernie