Leather Cost/pricing...

[lilsiscojoe]

I have a pricing question, maybe it is addressed elsewhere, but I haven't found it. I do a lot of tack repairs, and other leather repairs. How much do you charge per hour to pick out old stitching? I feel bad charging my normal hourly rate, but it takes so long, and is not a fun task. What is your experience or any other advice you have.

 

Thank you for your help.

[bikermutt07]

46 minutes ago, lilsiscojoe said:

I have a pricing question, maybe it is addressed elsewhere, but I haven't found it. I do a lot of tack repairs, and other leather repairs. How much do you charge per hour to pick out old stitching? I feel bad charging my normal hourly rate, but it takes so long, and is not a fun task. What is your experience or any other advice you have.

 

Thank you for your help.

I'm just a hobbyist with leather, but have done my share of contracting. If you're at the bench you have to charge for it. Pulling stitches or carving, it should still be paying your wages. Maybe there's more profit in pulling stitches but that makes up for less profit in carving. It's got to balance out for you.

[JLSleather]

I bill items like I pay for items... by the JOB DONE.

I don't pay anyone "by the hour".  By that standard, the slow guy would be paid MORE for the same work as the efficient guy, which makes no sense.  And since I don't PAY by time, I also don't CHARGE by time.

Say a fella got a new pistol and wants a holster.  Me and a nuther fella make that rig.  We both use same leather, same glue, same thread, same finish, even the same pattern -- and both apply it equally well.  When done, the two holsters are virtually identical.  Now,

... materials cost is the same.  Cost us each (for example) $20.  Now, say we charge $20/hr labor.  He does it in 2 hours...  total labor $40, total price tag $60.  But I'm a bit dim.. and the same rig takes me 4 hours.  Total labor $80... total price tag $100.  SO then SOMEBODY tell me how my identical holster made with the same quality materials is "worth" $40 more than the one just like it. ?!@#!$!

REPAIR work is the ONLY situation where a "time" factor could actually make sense.  I never do it, though... since I only repair it if I made it.  

We used to own some construction contracting as well.  And I can tell you that banks and insurance companies pay for repairs BY THE JOB.  Going through this again right now due to high wind damage on some of our properties.  They (insurance) pay "this much" for roof material replacement, "this much" for the crushed staircase, "this much" for the clean-up of tree limbs.  You can drag it out clean til Tuesday if you like, but you won't be paid any more than the set price (which I happen to agree with).

Incidentally, this post started a couple of years ago.  I have ordered leather from Weaver THIS year, and I can tell you that 15% waste wouldn't even be close!

 

[bikermutt07]

2 hours ago, JLSleather said:

I bill items like I pay for items... by the JOB DONE.

I don't pay anyone "by the hour".  By that standard, the slow guy would be paid MORE for the same work as the efficient guy, which makes no sense.  And since I don't PAY by time, I also don't CHARGE by time.

Say a fella got a new pistol and wants a holster.  Me and a nuther fella make that rig.  We both use same leather, same glue, same thread, same finish, even the same pattern -- and both apply it equally well.  When done, the two holsters are virtually identical.  Now,

... materials cost is the same.  Cost us each (for example) $20.  Now, say we charge $20/hr labor.  He does it in 2 hours...  total labor $40, total price tag $60.  But I'm a bit dim.. and the same rig takes me 4 hours.  Total labor $80... total price tag $100.  SO then SOMEBODY tell me how my identical holster made with the same quality materials is "worth" $40 more than the one just like it. ?!@#!$!

REPAIR work is the ONLY situation where a "time" factor could actually make sense.  I never do it, though... since I only repair it if I made it.  

We used to own some construction contracting as well.  And I can tell you that banks and insurance companies pay for repairs BY THE JOB.  Going through this again right now due to high wind damage on some of our properties.  They (insurance) pay "this much" for roof material replacement, "this much" for the crushed staircase, "this much" for the clean-up of tree limbs.  You can drag it out clean til Tuesday if you like, but you won't be paid any more than the set price (which I happen to agree with).

Incidentally, this post started a couple of years ago.  I have ordered leather from Weaver THIS year, and I can tell you that 15% waste wouldn't even be close!

 

Next time you have a big claim look into a personal adjuster. They can get you miles above and beyond what the carriers offer. Plus, they only charge a percentage of what they get over the original estimate.

[JLSleather]

Meh.. no big deal.  They paid out $6k for repairs I can get done for about $4800, so no worries

.

 

[lilsiscojoe]

Thank you for your input. I tend to charge by the job, according to what seems fair, but typically cut myself short. Something I need to come to terms with and figure out how to be fair to both the client and myself. Have a great day!

[MADMAX22]

Not to mention if you honestly charged by the hour as you got progressively more efficient at your process you would actually make less then when you started. Now if you charge the same amount as when you started then I guess you would make more money but you wouldn't really be charging by the hour anymore. 

[bikermutt07]

In the mechanic world they have flag time for labor. It's a nationally accepted amount of time per procedure. They even have a book for it.

[JLSleather]

3 hours ago, MADMAX22 said:

Not to mention if you honestly charged by the hour as you got progressively more efficient at your process you would actually make less then when you started.. 

EXACTLY my point.  The guy who knows what he's doing gets paid LESS for his skill, while the slow guy gets paid MORE for ... he don't really know why.

Personally, I don't pay extra for SLOW.

And that "hand crafted" scam is a bit much, too.  Some things need to be done by hand with some attention to detail.  Others, not so much.  

Big winds through here recently.. LOTS of trees down, half the town without power for about a day.  So we need trees cut and branches removed.  And roofs repaired.  I don't need a story about how it costs triple (or more) because you're cutting the trees with your vintage ax which belonged to dear old granddad   

Edited July 25, 2016 by JLSleather

[Beret]

My work is more focused in the tooling than the actually construction, so my pricing model is a bit different to reflect that, and based roughly on collar width, with a nod toward neck neck, My materials cost different is pretty negligible between size, so I opt for more of a flat rate pricing based on average time spent on other pieces at those widths. 

 

So I go 2.5 x materials + $X labor coefficient per width... Roughly. And then I tweak based on the comparables in my little niche.