[TheForge] Was tax status now profit vs wage

[John Husvar]

----- Original Message -----
From: "Walter L. Mullett" <wmullett@bright.net>
To: <theforge@mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Saturday, December 28, 2002 11:00 AM
Subject: Re: [TheForge] Was tax status now profit vs wage


> It's not the tax that I was addressing, it's profit and rather or not your
> really making any.  If you are only making a wage, your business is NOT
> proftable.  It's just surviving.
>

Mr. Mullett is absolutely right here!

Not to be snotty, but if you just want to work for wages, there are lots of
easier jobs.  Heck, McD's pays $10-12/hour some places!:)

Your own labor is a _cost_. If someone else were doing the hammering, you
would be paying them. So pay yourself _then_ add in your profit margin. If
you simply charge the cost of materials, overhead and labor for your
products, you're losing money or at the _very least_ not making any.

I often do selling at SCA events and Rendezvous. The absolute worst events
are where I have to try to compete with "beer money" merchants who sell
their stuff at or below cost because they have "real jobs" and don't have to
make money selling their craft. Fortunately, they don't usually last long.
:)

Possibly the most (unintentionally) insulting thing anyone ever said to me
was: "Well, you could charge much less. After all, all you have in your
products is your time. The material doesn't cost much." *

Tell that to the next plumber who comes to your house. :)

*(From a person who is very irritated if they can _only_ double their cost
on an item and who will willingly pay $35-40/hour shop rate at the auto
mechanic shop.)