[Woodcarver] Pricing

[Joe Dillett]

I need a little input here. The other day I was asked "How much to carve.?" 



Other then covering materials, how do I figure out what to charge? Can't decide if I should come up with a per hour rate & estimate number of hours, or if I should use a flat rate. 



Thanks in advance for the info.

The Kid

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Hi Mike (the Kid),

Pricing ones own work is the toughest job most artist are faced with.

Certainly you want to cover your material cost but beyond that is entirely up to your needs. What are your needs and what would you like to get for your work?

There's the low end of the spectrum where you're giving your work away and there's the high end where the customer takes off running. What is the middle ground? Only you can decide what your time, talent and effort are worth.

When you consider your time, talent and effort be honest with yourself and respectful of your art. Sure, If you're a beginner you must take that into consideration but there are other things which you must consider. Your time taken away from the family, community volunteering or studying is definitely valuable. Respecting your art so its priced high enough that your customer realizes it has value and you've gotten enough for it that you respect that what you do has value. See, many of us don't think what we do has value. If we don't respect what we do neither will our customer. And the more we respect ourselves and our art the more the customer will respect it and be willing to pay for it.

$50 and hour! are you nuts? $50 an hour is a thing of the past for plumbers and trades men. You will pay them more. You are paying about $65 per labor hour to have your car worked on. How come some carvers can get $50+ per hour and some carvers can't make $5/hr? The answer is quality, marketing, speed, marketing, reputation, marketing and oh yes, did I mention marketing?

I figure price based on $4.50 per square inch of carved surface plus material. Once I get that number I look at the overall piece and say to myself, can I carve that in X amount of hours and does that figure out to be a minimum of $50 per hour? I've carved enough to have a good idea of how long something with take. If both numbers come close then I'm pretty sure about my price. 

Another important aspect of "quality, marketing, speed, marketing, reputation, marketing' is that you've built a backlog so if the customer backs away because of price you still have plenty of work to keep you going. So a big backlog will do a lot for raising your price because you know that you don't need that job. Did I mention marketing? That's what built my 5-year backlog.

Look at the piece you did or are about to do and consider the value of your time. How much time are you sacrificing from your family and your community? What is that time worth? On the other side of the spectrum how much will the time spent carving improve you as a person, improve your skill as a carver and give you the joy of creating something? That's also considered payment. Look at the piece and decide if there is value in keeping it. Then you decide what you 'need' to get for it, not what you would be willing to take for it.

Joe Dillett
The Carving Shop
645 E. LaSalle St. Suite 3
Somonauk, IL. 60552

(815) 498-9290 phone
(815) 498-9249 fax
http://www.thecarvingshop.com [business web site]
http://www.carvingmagazine.com ['Ask Joe' column]
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