Cost of materials for a saddle

[BondoBobCustomSaddles]

I don't have a lot of machines, and I don't even wanna know!

Bondo Bob

[Russ]

Hey! No hijacking the thread topic!!!

I don't know how many $ are in the parts of a saddle, but the average (working) leatherworker has about 15 grand in tools in the shop. It would be interesting to know how much in tools the average saddlemaker has in the shop, wouldn't it?

Johanna

[Denise]

So, what is the range of cost for the leather for a saddle? I think we have a good idea here of the cost for a good quality hand made saddle. I'm still trying to figure out the minimum cost for materials for a saddle. How little can you pay for new leather, hardward, stirrups, etc. here in North America and still have a saddle at the end of it?

[ClayB]

Sometimes Tandy has their imported skirting on sale for less than $100 a side, I'm thinking as low as $80. It might not be the easiest to work with, but I don't think you're gonna have to lose sleep at night wondering if the saddle you made out of it is going to fall apart and you're going to get sued.

[BondoBobCustomSaddles]

I know you guys are using good quality leather on your saddles, and most use 2 - 3 sides. If you were purchasing leather in North America (not necessarily from North America) what is the range of prices available? From what I read here the good stuff is $150 - $200 per side. If someone was looking for the lowest priced skirting, how much would that cost them? (Not including the lawyer's costs for the lawsuit filed when it tore during its first ride...)

Denise, some time ago, I gave that some thought and after considering the two, I came to this opinion, (remember opinions are like belly buttons, everybody has one!) If I use premium quality leather like Wickett and Craig, I get more out of it. I basically can almost make a complete saddle out of 2 hides , not counting the stuff I make out of latigo, and the 10 oz. hide I have sitting around that I use for specific areas of a saddle, because it comes with no range marks, scars, brands and so on. Also, a good premium supplier , there a lot of them out there, I just happen to like W&C personally, will have their sides well inspected so that they are evenly gaged, and consistant throughout. No hard spots and so on. That will give you a good yield of usable leather. So if you pay say $150- $200 for a side of the good stuff, you will almost get as much usable leather as you get from three economy sides, because you will often find your self cutting around those brands, scars and areas that are either varying too much in thickness or have hardspots in them and cause you a lot of extra work and time to make a decent piece. And, by the way if you are the type that wants their product to be astetically pleasing,and be proud of your work (all the guys who I have seen on this sight do!) then consistancy is the only game in town. You might be able to save a $100 or so by using the cheap stuff, but; at the cost of your time and effort.

Bondo Bob

[Cowboy Crafts Online]

Denise,

I do not know if you started this topic to just get some discussion going or if you really wanted to know the cost of materials. If you want to know the cost's I put together an excell spreadsheet that I can email you.

When I calculated the costs of materials last Jan I was at just over 1500.00 in materials considering I would have to buy everything to start out. Keith is probably closer with his 1800.00

What most people do not think of are. First I use W&C leather I buy 3 sides there are times I can get by with 2, but what happens if you would have ordered 2 sides and could not get all parts out of the best parts of the hide, would you use a lesser quality part of the hide or order another hide and wait. Second Latigo leather. You only need at least 6 strings, but you have to buy a full hide to get those strings most might think spread the cost of the hide over all the strings you can cut out of it, but what if that takes years. That is not good buisness sense. The idea with the latigo is relevant to all other things needed like thread, glue, and nails etc.

Next things to consider is overhead costs. Taxes, lights, equipment wearing out.

I havnt done a assesment of my equipment yet for next year, but I would say I have over 40000 invested in my shop equipment and supplies.

I have to thank some of the other Saddlemakers for explaining this all to me years ago. When I just started I tried to just get my money back. Following this path burns you out and makes you put out crap that no one wants. You have to be in this to make a profit or it is not worth it. Noone goes to work 9 to 5 just for the hell of it. If that was the case there would be no need for min wage.

Ash

Edited December 24, 2009 by snakehorse saddler

[jwwright]

Denise........if I understand correctly, you were asking about material only costs. For materials only which includes, tree, skirting, latigo, woolskin, thread, hardware, glue, standard galv. bound wood stirrups, ..... I spend $1200 to $900. The difference is variable tree cost. JW

[Denise]

Ashley,

If you wouldn't mind, please e-mail me the sheet. Yes, I really do want to know the costs. A while back someone on here was seriously looking to build saddles for the cost conscious market, and I am wondering what the actual material costs would be if you really wanted to do that - plastic stirrups, synthetic wool, lowest cost leather. To my mind,the materials would still cost more than the $350.00 that seems to be the wanted price tag for a lot of people. (And no, I don't think you could make a living at that.) But when talking with people, I can tell them that a lot of makers have $1500+ in materials into a saddle, but then they say "Yah, but that's for top quality ones." I would like to know the bottom of the barrel price to give them that figure too. Then I can ask the question "If that is the minimum North American material costs, what quality of materials and workmanship do you think are in this $350.00 saddle?" It might make them think a little.

I am in full agreement that low cost is definitely not the best way to go. After all, our trees do cost a tiche more than $70.00. (And that was for wood and rawhide! Makes me wonder what kind of wood and what kind of rawhide. We have substantially more money into the costs of our trees than that selling price!) But for some businesses, using a weaker area of the hide isn't a problem so long as they make more $$ out of the end product. That is where the concern about safety and defective saddles comes in. Note: I am not talking about the people on this forum. People who are in any business just for the money are not likely to spend their time learning more about building things better, just about selling them better.

[Saddlebag]

Only saddle factories can afford to make half decent economy saddles as they get bulk prices on everything which we can't. They use machines to stamp and cut out the patterns which results in a great saving on labor.

[Cowboy Crafts Online]

Denise,

I will email you that spread sheet when I get home tonight. It is set up so you can enter prices for your various materials, then I had it do the calculations. So it will give you different prices for say a $70 tree vs a $500 tree. I also have it set up to figure a wholesale price and a retail price. I hope it works for you.

To add when I said make a profit I ment not make money just to make money. You need to keep quality high, but also pay the bills. Didnt want anyone to missunderstand me. Sometimes I type faster than I think and dont reread my posts.

Ash