[Woodcarver] charges for teaching

[Lori Corbett]

Helen...No, you're not a doormat. You are a generous Soul, and people 
tend to take advantage of others' generosity. If these people are 
friends, then they should not take offense were you to explain the 
situation and your concerns.

First...you are not charging enough. Ten dollars for 2 1/2 hours..people 
don't value the class (or your TIME) because a $10.00 loss isn't going 
to hurt all that much. So, my first suggestion is to raise your 
rates...make it something that will "hurt" if they cancel...because 
those fees are due at sign-up..BEFORE they attend class, and unless it's 
an extreme situation the fee is NON-REFUNDABLE.

I'll tell you what my fees are, I'm not saying this is how much to 
charge...just what I charge. You should come up with fees that are 
affordable to your students, but ALSO worth your while. You need to be 
able to recoup at least SOME of your prep time and materials for the 
no-shows.
I charge $100.00 per day...running from 9:00 am to 6:00 pm with a 1 hour 
lunch. That works out to 12.50 an hour. Lunch, coffee, beverages and 
snacks are included, as well as wood and incidentals like eyes. I have 
other supplies that are FOR SALE should the student need something like 
paint, brushes, carving bits, etc. (So the hourly rate is actually less 
than 12.50, i guess).
I charge a $50.00 NON-REFUNDABLE deposit...this covers my prep-time and 
supplies for each student. If they don't show, I'm out nothing, they're 
out $50.00...simple. The balance is due TWO WEEKS prior to the start of 
the session.  If the class is fully paid ahead of time, I will offer a 
refund (minus the deposit) of HALF the class fee if canceled before two 
weeks before the start of class. less than two weeks NO REFUND. 
Sometimes, I will give the money back if I can fill that spot, but it's 
pretty hard on short notice. Also, there may be extenuating 
circumstances and I will refund the fee (still minus the deposit)...I've 
only had to do this once.

Now, there are times where I've waived the fee entirely...there are 
people out there who truly can't afford the class (either elderly on a 
fixed income, or young kids). I take a couple of these a year. Usually 
these are people I've met through various forums, local people, etc. and 
have gotten to know them a little bit and can get a pretty good feel for 
their circumstances. Some are too proud to take it gratis, so I offer to 
trade them for something. I have one college aged young man coming out 
this summer to visit relatives with his grandparents...I'm charging him 
a fee of chocolate for two days of "Boot Camp" in the studio...lol

I guess what this "novel" is trying to say is that this policy may seem 
harsh, but if YOU make your time valuable, others will too. I've been on 
your boat...being taken advantage of doesn't put food on the table, (or 
buy more supplies for our "habits").

Good luck...you don't have to squash your generous Spirit (you prolly 
couldn't anyway)...just guard it a bit more.
I'd love to hear how others handle the situation, too. We could all benefit.
Lori
http://www.whisperingeagle.om
"Carving Award Winning Songbirds" 
<http://www.whisperingeagle.com/BookOrder.htm>

Chipmama at aol.com wrote:

>DONATIONS to the Woodcarver Mailing List can be made using PayPal OR regular mail. Click this link: http://wwwoodcarver.com/WWWList/WWWList.html
>  
>
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> I would really appreciate some input from those of you who teach 
> carving on a weekly or monthly basis - about what you charge.
> I've been teaching for about four years now and love it.  I just love 
> to carve and I've been known to get tears in my eyes when one of my 
> students does something surprisingly good.
> I have ten somewhat "regulars" that I have recently split into two 
> classes in order to have more time to spend with each one.
> My students are all ladies rangeing in age from 27 to 85 years,
> plus a lady who is deaf.  I've never recruited students - it's all 
> been by word of mouth.  Four of them are friends who I've known for 
> over 20 years and therein, I think, lies the problem.
> I am always here, unless I'm sick, which is seldom.  Plus, I am a 
> carving fool, so I always put carving class before anything else.
> Some of my students on the other hand cancel for anything and 
> everything and it's starting to eat at me.
> I charge $10 for a 2 and a half hour class.  I sharpen their tools for 
> free.  I supply paint.  I order things for them.  I don't charge for 
> cutting out things on the bandsaw.  I have coffee and tea and often 
> have snacks.  I have come to the conclusion that the problem is I've 
> been a poor business woman and a bit of a doormat because I don't want 
> to hurt my friends feelings.
> I am thinking about actively recruiting new students but I feel I 
> should set things up a little differently.
> Any ideas?  I'm open to all suggestions and comments.
> Sorry this turned out to be so long.  Guess I needed to spill my guts 
> to someone who would understand.  Thanks for listening.
>  
> Helen Coxe
> chipmama at aol.com <mailto:chipmama at aol.com>
> Phoenix, AZ
>
>------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>_______________________________________________
>Woodcarver mailing list
>Woodcarver at six.pairlist.net
>http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/woodcarver
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://six.pairlist.net/pipermail/woodcarver/attachments/20050216/2011da4f/attachment.html