[TheForge] Prices

[Cindy and James]

I price railings by the foot, then look at the work and decide it a 
"fudge" factor is needed, either up or down.  Now, that's on a 
commission for which price has NOT been discussed... and I do quite a 
few of those.  An outdoor (upstairs) balcony railing installed this week 
was billed to the client at $4500 (not including installation costs) and 
was 17 feet long.  That is probably NOT high enough for the work 
involved, but this client paid me almost $25000 last year. 

I realize that MOST work is priced before you begin.  In my opinion, the 
cost of materials is negligible at best, at least when it comes to what 
we consider as art.  The most important part is DESIGN, followed closely 
by craftsmanship and attention to detail.  Crappy work = low price.

When someone asks how much it costs to build something and inquires 
about the cost of materials, we usually tell them that the cost for 
materials is a minor part of the bill.  We do not do anything for less 
than $100, and prefer not to do anything for less than $1000.  I wind up 
spending as much time trying to work out some dinkly little object 
somebody wants (who bitches about the cost) as I do on real fabrication, 
i.e. railings, beds, etc.  (I did that today on 2 little coat racks that 
my wife sold for $100 each... I lost money!  Oh well.)

One of the problems WE (as in WE as artist blacksmiths) have in common 
is that we do a lot of ONESEY'S.  At least I do.  I build 1 of this and 
3 of that, etc.  Every one is a prototype and the prototype is a 
finished product.  Someone in this thread commented that if you were 
doing 100, by the time you did 80 you would have it figured out, and he 
is right!  If you (we) are going to to ORIGINAL ARTWORK, which is by my 
definition 1 of a kind stuff, we need to start out high enough to make 
at LEAST $50 to $75 an hour - or more.

In my shop that runs off lots of folks, and that is fine with me.  If 
they are looking for a deal, or a steal, they need to go elsewhere.  And 
I won't cut corners, the client is told that up front.  If a code is 
involved, it is adhered to regardless of the client's wishes, etc. (Just 
went thru that with another railing client who didn't want the 4" code 
met.)  He relented and agreed to our terms.

We don't try to be horses-a**es, but you have to look out for yourself 
AND the client too.  It is a 2 way street.

JA