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flyingcuda

First Motorcycle Job...finally Complete!

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after months of blood, sweat, tears and many colourful words and phrases, I am so very happy to see this one go. I had to deal with many do overs, because the colour wasn't right or the lacing wasn't what he wanted, the size was wrong and so on. the customer was certainly my biggest challenge. tell me what he wanted then changed his mind when he saw the result. I think I will add a pita fee for the next one. anyways, thank you to all who offered words of advise and encouragement!!

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Perfect!!!Good Job!!!

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thank you :) he now wants matching saddle bags :( I've not ever done them before either. not sure what I should charge for that one...I do know I want to add the pita fee ;)

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What did you charge for the seat?

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I charged him $500.00 for the works. unfortunately...not enough :(

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thank you :) he now wants matching saddle bags :( I've not ever done them before either. not sure what I should charge for that one...I do know I want to add the pita fee ;)

Saddle bags minimum $1000

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Hi.

I agree with Leatherbaron on this. A pair of saddlebags with that quality and amount of work should be $1,000 minimum. He is obviously pleased with your work so far, but will he pay?.. Unfortunately you set a precedent with the first job, not charging enough. If he wants quality he will pay, otherwise just walk away..

cheers

PS.. Great work..

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I think I would turn down doing the saddle bags. He'll probably wear you out with changes and not liking the color and so on again. You could always quote a high price on the saddle bags like $3500.00 since you did $1500.00 worth of work on the seat and only got $500.00. :) The seat looks great by the way.

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I have noticed that people who aren't in the hobby don't seem to appreciate it fully. I had a guy ask me to do a carved/tooled spongebob belt for his son for $30. I politely told him to off. I have been offended several times by people trying to lowball my art.

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Nice job on the seats.

Be honest with the guy. Tell him you underestimated the time you put in on the seats. You got a learning experience, and he got a great deal, but now you would have to charge way more for the bags to make it worth your time.

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I can't comment on what to price leather work at, but as a freelance news photographer I've got some ideas on other ends of freelancing regardless of medium.

  • Get a contract from the beginning, even friends or family. Contracts preserve relationships. Explicitly outline the costs and expectations for all parties in your contract.
  • Extra means extra. Always.

That said, this is fantastic work and I'd be pissing rainbows if I could make a final product like that!

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after months of blood, sweat, tears and many colourful words and phrases, I am so very happy to see this one go. I had to deal with many do overs, because the colour wasn't right or the lacing wasn't what he wanted, the size was wrong and so on. the customer was certainly my biggest challenge. tell me what he wanted then changed his mind when he saw the result. I think I will add a pita fee for the next one. anyways, thank you to all who offered words of advise and encouragement!!

The customer is always right, but is often a cheap skinflint idiot. :surrender:

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Nice seats, ridiculous price, especially for the custom work. On the bags; make sure you get it straight how he wants them hung. With your past experience, make him supply the hangers (if not already there), and Get the money up front. Bags go anywhere from Pony Express to full blown dresser, so get everything in writing up front.

Art

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I have noticed that people who aren't in the hobby don't seem to appreciate it fully. I had a guy ask me to do a carved/tooled spongebob belt for his son for $30. I politely told him to ###### off. I have been offended several times by people trying to lowball my art.

Ain't it the awful truth?

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Nice job on the seats.

Be honest with the guy. Tell him you underestimated the time you put in on the seats. You got a learning experience, and he got a great deal, but now you would have to charge way more for the bags to make it worth your time.

This is a great response. No BS from him. No BS from you. Since it's "matching", there shouldn't be any confusion on the finished look. Pricing is your own thing, but keep in mind a set of bags can eat up a few hundred $$ worth of leather in a hurry.

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You can think of it as a PITA fee, but tell the PITA that it's a "Change Order" fee. You built what he asked for...he changes at that point, he pays!

Mike

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