Help with a pricing question

[Dave Dionne]

Hi All

I am in need of a little help with a pricing question from people that are more knowledgeable then I
I have requested to build three lighthouses for a person that owns a motel. 2 are my normal size lighthouses such as this about 6' tall



And 1 13-15 footer. I think I should be selling the 6' for around the $450-500 range materials are around $150.00 with paint etc and about 10 hours of labor. I'm not sure how much I should be charging for labor for something like this, I make about $30 an hour making picnic tables, cedar planters, Adirondack chairs. The 6' lighthouse I have templates all cut out already so allot of it is trace and cut still allot of assembly time.

The 15 foot one I can use allot of the basic light house but enlarge the size, but I am going to need 2 more bases of significant size, making scarf joints for the tops and bottoms, more bracing inside, how each section attaches to the others etc.
I hate to pass on the job but I need to learn to charge the right amount and get paid for my craft. This is a second job for me, if I pass this up I have more then enough to keep busy as I am supplying a garden supply/Landscape business with all there outdoor furniture needs and another store with Adirondack Furniture in the heart of the White Mountains of New Hampshire. But I would still like to do this job.

Any insight you can share would be appreciated.
Thanks in Advance Dave Dionne

[John Michaels]

I'd price the larger lighthouse on the high side to cover yourself. If they don't bite then you still have other work to keep you busy. An exception would be if the job for this client will lead to more work then maybe reconsider your bid to get them in the door so to speak.

[Glen Butler]

Increasing the structure to that size makes it just that a structure rather than a decoration. There may be need look into regulations on something that large. Bracing and support for something that large complicates things. It is only 2.5 times the size, but the cost should be significantly higher than 2.5 times your regular price. Hopefully this helps.

[John A langley]

Dave - I have a small cabinet shop and every once in awhile I will come across something that we don't have past figures to compare. I make myself a simple spreadsheat and list my materials and get prices on them and add about 15% for waste and the unseen. On something that has no relavance to anything I've done before, the time becomes a swag - a scientific wild-assed guess. Then you have to put profit and overhead in. There is also the theory - what will the traffic bear. You mentioned that you can build the small ones for $450 and there is $150 in material in them, leaving you 10 hours to build them if you earn $30 an hour. That seems kind of quick. Also, you have not given yourself any profit or overhead. If you deduct your overhead and profit from your $30/hr you are not really making $30/hr. Because you do it part time should not make your product any less valuable to someone. I would not be afriad to charge the customer a price that pays for your material, labor, profit and overhead.


Dave, those look like damn nice lighthouses and I wouldn't be afriad to ask a little more than the $450. Keep in mind a retailers trick - $449.95 could easily go for $495.95 and your mind says under $500.

Side note - My grandfather had 7 acres on Squam Lake. I spent my summer from as early as I can remember to my mid-teens on the lake. The location was directly across from Red Mountain. Loved New Hampshire - ended up in Kansas! Good luck.

[Greg Cuetara]

Dave,
No clue as to the pricing as I do not do WW as a living. A side note question for you. Did you come up with the plans yourself? I really like the look of the lighthouse and have a water pipe in my front yard I have been trying to figure out how to hide better.

Good luck with the commission.
Greg

[Joe Chritz]

Accurate estimates of construction time only come from doing many projects and keeping track. That is how large cabinet shops plan and estimate for jobs.

This one you are going to have to take a guess and hope you are close.

If you are making enough and covering costs at $30 an hour then take a guess how long it will take, add 10%, add costs of materials and go for it.

Joe

[Gene Howe]

1. One offs are more prone to Murphy's law.... and will take longer than you estimate.
2. Always build in shop profit plus your wage.
3. 20% waste is not excessive in a piece like your light house.
4. Consider the "time and materials" route to your quote.

[Craig McCormick]

10 hours X $60.00 = $600
$150 materials + 20% = $180.00
Total = $780.00
Get a third down to start.

AZCRAIG

[Dave Dionne]

Hi John
Thanks for the insight, I have been told more then once that I need to value my craft more then I do. In the past it was not such a big deal to me but as I do more and have more demand I am finding that I may have to rethink my pricing as a whole.

Oh how I love Squam lake, have fished landlock salmon many times there,

Thanks again Dave

Dave - I have a small cabinet shop and every once in awhile I will come across something that we don't have past figures to compare. I make myself a simple spreadsheat and list my materials and get prices on them and add about 15% for waste and the unseen. On something that has no relavance to anything I've done before, the time becomes a swag - a scientific wild-assed guess. Then you have to put profit and overhead in. There is also the theory - what will the traffic bear. You mentioned that you can build the small ones for $450 and there is $150 in material in them, leaving you 10 hours to build them if you earn $30 an hour. That seems kind of quick. Also, you have not given yourself any profit or overhead. If you deduct your overhead and profit from your $30/hr you are not really making $30/hr. Because you do it part time should not make your product any less valuable to someone. I would not be afriad to charge the customer a price that pays for your material, labor, profit and overhead.


Dave, those look like damn nice lighthouses and I wouldn't be afriad to ask a little more than the $450. Keep in mind a retailers trick - $449.95 could easily go for $495.95 and your mind says under $500.

Side note - My grandfather had 7 acres on Squam Lake. I spent my summer from as early as I can remember to my mid-teens on the lake. The location was directly across from Red Mountain. Loved New Hampshire - ended up in Kansas! Good luck.

[Dave Dionne]

Thanks everybody for your input it has been very helpfull. I gotta think on this one now.

Thanks Again Dave