What Should I Charge?

[David]

What should I charge? How many times has each of us been asked that question by a new leather worker?

My first reaction to that question is to ask, “Are you sure that your work is up to a standard that people will want to spend perfectly good money for it?” There are many facets to leatherwork, tooling, lacing, sewing, dying, antiquing and final finish. All of these must be of a professional quality. In other words don’t try to sell the first thing you make!

I’ve been reluctant to tackle the “how much” question because it will mean admitting the many business mistakes I made over the seven years of making motorcycle seats. First and foremost I never charged enough. But then I had a “real” job and I wasn’t depending on my leatherwork to feed my family.

If you have been to my website (theobaldleather.com) you will see that I charged $400 to $500 for my seats. Now here comes the first mistake. I always wanted to make the BEST POSSIBLE seats. That meant I used Wickett and Graig Leather trimmed double shoulders instead of the cheap stuff, I laced all my seats with kangaroo lace; it’s at least ten times stronger than calf skin lace. If I’d used cheaper materials, I could have made a LOT more money but I wouldn’t have liked the seats as much nor would I have had the satisfaction of making the best that I could do.

Having admitted all that, here is my breakdown of expenses per seat.

Seat pan………………….$65

Leather…………………...$100

Lace………………………$150

Finish products………….$10

Total………………………$320

Yes, the costs are high, I could have saved a lot of money with cheap leather and cheap lace.

For this seat I charged $500…..sometimes. Ok, here is another mistake. I’m a softie for our military. If a customer said, “I was in Iraq”, the price was $400. If they said, “I’m a police officer or retired firefighter”…….$400. Remember, I wasn’t using this money to feed my family…… So here I was spending $320 to make a seat and charging $80 for 30 to 35 hours of work. That’s a bad business plan! But, believe me when I say that I don’t regret anything when it comes to our military and first responders.

I was told many times, by various people that I should be charging more, a lot more. $600, $700 even $800 a seat. And they were correct in order to make it a thriving enterprise those would have been the correct prices. I kept thinking “yeah, but this is Ohio, maybe if I lived in California I could charge that much.”

So the lesson to take from this is to set a dollars per hour fee, keep it reasonable and stick with it. If you decide to charge someone less, go ahead and do it, it’s your business after all. You can charge what you want.

If you are going to give discounts to certain groups, advertise that on your site. Let everyone know about it so no one feels like they paid too much…… yeah, that’s another mistake. I never put my discounts for military on my site. But keep your dealings with other customers to yourself, it is no one else’s business what you charged Joe Smith. Instead of justifying your discount to a customer, just show them your price breakdown let them know they still got a good deal. Heck, I even made seats for free for some folks just because they were friends. And I mean really for free, I ate that $320 per seat and found it was not too tasty.

So here’s the deal. Figure out your price breakdown. Know how much you need to make per hour. From there it is a simple time and materials invoice.

Final advice, work hard and be your own worst critic.

Good luck,

Dave Theobald

Edited April 30, 2014 by David

[benlilly1]

You are so right, David! Thanks for giving us the low down on business/pricing. Waiting to see your next creation!

[Hi Im Joe]

Hey I'm in West Chester Ohio. Glad to see some locals on here. My father in law grew up in Hamilton and my sister in law works for the city. I have another sister and brother in law that live in Hamilton too!

Your seats look GREAT!

-Joe

[David]

Hey Joe,

I'm in Ross, Ohio actually, very close to Hamilton. I worked in West Chester for many years at P&G.

[Hi Im Joe]

Hey Joe,

I'm in Ross, Ohio actually, very close to Hamilton. I worked in West Chester for many years at P&G.

It's a small world man!

[keplerts]

If you are going to operate your leather shop as a business is the following a valid way of pricing?

If I make a belt 36" x 1.25" with the following costs:

Materials: Bridle leather $1.60

Buckle SB 1.80

Snaps .10

Finish .50

Total Material Cost $4.00

1/2 Hr Labor $7.50

Total Belt Cost $11.50

So, do I sell the belt for $11.50? All material costs are recouped and the labor (mine) is paid. Or, do I add in a "Shop" Margin for the business? For the business to make a 35% margin on the belt should I sell it for $17.70? Also, would I do this on all services as well? For example: to re-sew a saddle horn takes about and hour. Do I just charge the $15 per hour labor rate or do I add the 35% margin for the business to this and charge the customer $23?

Hope I said this in a way that makes sense. What is everyones thoughts on this?

Thanks,

Tom

Edited June 27, 2014 by keplerts

[Handstitched]

G'Day,

This is something I admit that I don't always get right.

I have often heard the remark " you don't charge enough" or "you're too cheap" .

If I charge too much, I won't sell anything.

But, I have been doing this for 10 years now, and I've learnt to 'read' the customer, and I also know the areas that I operate in.

But I have learnt to come up with a simple method to ensure that I at least cover my costs, and make a profit.

I don't charge for labour.

I do multiply materials x 2, or depending on what it is , materials x 3 , mainly on my 'bread & butter' products, like plain belts etc.

A plain belt using 4mm D/S ( up to 44") $30 . 44" & over $40. A carved belt, around $60-$70

A plain belt using 5 - 5.5 mm harness, $60-$70 . Tooling/carving extra.

Any fancy custom made stuff is ' price on application' .

Hope this sort of helps.

HS

.

[Chief31794]

This is a good thread, just to add my $.02 worth I never see anyone talk about the marketing reality side of pricing. There is a philosophy in business that basically states that, "The price point for an item is determined by the market", it doesn't do me any good to make a holster for say $20.00 in Materials, $80.00 in labor, then add a profit margin (wholesale is normally <=~30%, Retail is normally ~100%) so then it looks like this:

Materials: $24.00 (added 20% for waste, etc)

Labor: $80.00

Profit: $100.00 (retail would be $30 for wholesale then the reseller would add another 60-80%)

MSRP: $204.00 (marketing would put this at $199.95)

However, it does me no good to price my work at $199.95 if people aren't willing to pay that much, they won't sell, it also doesn't do me any good to price the work at $199.95 if people are willing and happy to pay say $250.00 because it won't sell. The reason for that is that most people have an idea what something is worth and if you charge to little their instinct is to believe that it's a "substandard" product or it would cost more. They will buy from your competitor if his is priced at the price point and your's is less. You may think this is crazy, but keep in mind, while you can look at an item and determine it's worth based on craftsmanship and materials, most of your customers can't and they'll think his is better than yours because it costs more. Keep in mind this is mostly in people's heads, but that is where the sale is made. Bottom line from all of this rambling is that you need to determine the price point for an item and set your sales price close to that. If you can't make a profit or get what you want at that price then work to decrease the cost while maintaining the value or move on to another item and don't attempt to make and sell that particular item.

Just my opinion after too many years of studying business (MBA)

Chief

Edited June 27, 2014 by Chief31794

[JLSleather]

I note a lot of people seem to have difficulty determining what their actual cost is. Personally, I question the original posts 'guestimate'. $100 for the leather? At $10/ft (which should get some VERY nice leather) that's 10 feet. For a pan seat? Well, enough ...

Chief is onto something. As the saying goes, "fair market value is what you can get". If the customer is willing to pay it, then that's the price.

Personally, I look for quality materials crafted with actual talent. If you're not selling those, then no amount of speeches about how many hours you put in will 'rescue' your sale. Bottom line, if you purchased the materials, they are then YOURS to do with as you see fit.

I once sold a belt for $300 to a guy who was tickled pink. Next guy said he would NEVER pay that for a belt. I asked what he would pay, and he said maybe half that. Other "crafter" (I never did think much of his work) said 'you can't do that'. So I sold a belt for $8, just to show that I CAN do that. Rather like the commercial -- crunch all you want, I'll make more

[JLSleather]

Oh, and don't go out without mentioning the "hagglers". Well , you have this price listed, but I'll give you $________

Seriously, do I look like I need lunch money?

[Big Sioux Saddlery]

Bob Brenner's book "How to Establish Prices for the Saddle Maker or Leatherworker" should be required reading for anyone even contemplating selling handmade leather articles. Keplerts says that a 36" x 1.25 piece of bridle leather costs $1.60. Well I suck at math, but to me that means he paid $.035 per sq inch for his leather, or $5.12 per sq ft. Man, I want his supplier! There are a number of methods used to figure your leather cost, but you have to include the waste factor, the freight, add a percentage for profit margin, and all the goodies Bob talks about in his book. I break my cost down to the sq inch, or the oz, depending on how I'm buying. I will often actually weigh an odd shaped piece of leather to determine my leather cost in a particular project. We do the industry as a whole a huge disservice when we underprice our products. When we underprice our products, we give the customer the perception that we can and will work for squat. Not to pick on the Amish, but they are some of the worst. Now before someone jumps all over me about picking on the Amish, let me say that as a whole they are good people and I have Amish friends. But most of the small farm shops don't have a clue how to run a business. They price a snap that cost them $2.25 at $2.35 and think they made ten cents. It is sometimes that bad. People worry that they won't sell anything if they price too high. Nothing irritates me more when someone drives up to my shop in a $50,000 pickup and tells me I charge too much. If they don't want to pay my prices, I first make an attempt to explain why I charge what I do, and why it's worth it. I willing to spend less time on this than I used to. I'm not Walmart, and I'm not a not-for-profit entity. If they want cheap, they can drive the wheels off their brand new pickup to go find it. Let me tell you, I could go broke for one of two reasons: charging too much and running out of customers, or charging too little and not making enough to cover my expenses. I'd damn sure rather go broke for the first reason, especially when the people I work for, generally speaking, make a whole lot more than I do, with no investment. Keplerts says a half hour of his time is worth $7.50, which means an hour is worth $15. My overhead runs nearly that. I just can't say it enough, if you don't already have it, buy Bob's book. It will give you a whole new perspective. Keplerts, I'm not picking on you personally. You are simply convenient and you are the norm rather than the exception in our industry it seems. I'm not all that good at explaining things, and to put into this little post all of the info contained in Bob's book is impossible, but he is spot on with everything he says. Pete Gorrell also has a book on the subject. In fact, way back when I first started in business I spent about an hour on the phone with Pete and he explained to me the whole pricing thing. I thought to myself "There's no way I can do that around here." Well, I got tired of working for nothing for a few years, and finally came to realize these guys are right. If we all used a standardized system of pricing, our customers have no choice but to pay us what we're worth. I've become fond of saying "I'd rather they come to me because I'm good, than because I'm cheap." Why do YOU want your customers to come to you?

[JLSleather]

That's actually broken down further than I'm willing to go. With belt leather, I'll take a bend, that I figure costs me about $125. Measurin' across the bend, forget the length (which is likely in the 55-65" range) I measure (example) 25". So, that chunk costs $5 per inch of width. These numbers are picked for easy math, but they're reasonably close.

SO THEN:

A 1.5" wide belt costs $7.50 of the belt bend. Since it's probably lined, and the veg tanned lining costs about the same, then the veg leather total is $15.]

Dye, glue, and snaps MIGHT be a whole $1. Truth is, changing the needle for stitching costs about as much as all of that together so I don't even calculate it.

15 mins in the stitcher. I'll saddle stitch it if requested, but otherwise I'm zippin' it through. Add the thread, and a new needle, so another $1 (which is generous).

Oil and finish, because some OCD char will insist this costs money ... $1 (which is EXTREME).

Total cost, 1.5" lined belt $18.00

[Big Sioux Saddlery]

Ok, I'll give you that one, I may be OCD but I did a little riveting job for a neighbor one time and wasn't going to charge him anything. He told me "Sharon, when the box is empty, you gotta buy more." He's right, and why should THAT come out of my wages? If you work for an auto parts store, would you give a customer, out of YOUR wages, some free merchandise? Essentially, I work for wages for my business. And if I'm not charging the customer somewhere, somehow, for everything that gets used, it comes out of my wages. It can be a separate line item on your invoice or you can chalk it up to overhead when you figure what your overhead costs are --and believe me you should be doing that. I'm in business to stay in business. Hobbyists have a little different take on this whole subject, but I don't do anything that any other business doesn't do. I drive a diesel pickup and when I take it in to get worked on, they damn sure charge for every paper towel, and it's not because they're OCD. I gotta get to work but I will check back with interest on this thread later. Have a great AND profitable day everyone!!

[Northmount]

I see some differences in what posters are calling an hourly rate. There is an hourly rate for the worker, and a shop hourly rate. If you are a hobbiest or a one man shop, then your hourly rate and the shop rate are (most likely) the same. If you employ someone, then there needs to be a markup on top of the wage hourly rate to get to the shop hourly rate. That might be around 35%.

As various posters have commented, one wide brush doesn't define all situations. Just like your auto service garage, you need to include all that goes into the work you are selling, including all the overheads like heat, electricity, other utilities, insurance, taxes, ...

Tom

[keplerts]

Wow, some great information here!

Big Sioux, I take no offense to being "picked" on. I'm here to learn and if that's what it takes, so be it. Sorry about my calculations. I am awful at math. My belt calcu. should be: 1.25 x 36 / 144 = 0.3125 sq feet of leather. My leather costs (from American Leather Direct) should have been $9.30 per sq foot including freight and 15% waste. So leather cost for the belt equals: $2.91. Add in my other costs and the belt comes to $12.81. If I then add in a 35% margin for the business the selling price for the belt comes in at $19.70. So, I paid myself $7.50 to make the belt and the business made 35% on the sale. Does this sound right? What would others charge for this belt given my costs?? And by your suggestion I have order both the books that you mentioned. Proleptic is offering 15% off their books until June 30. I placed the order yesterday.

I would love to charge more. I don't really want to work for free either! I understand what you mean about the Amish. I live in the middle of Amish country. I work at a small Harness and Farm supply store part time. It is ran by a Mennonite man. People flock to him for plan belts that he sells for $14.50. He buys his belt blanks from Weaver Leather for $8.90. So, should I not worry about what he is charging for his belts and just charge what I need to for mine?

I just put up a sign for my shop along the road by my house (at a cost of $500). Had my first customer as a result of that sign and he bought a belt. I charged him $16 for it. After talking to him a while I got the impression it was priced to low and that he would have gladly paid more.

Looking forward to hear more thoughts on this!

Tom

[Chief31794]

Wow, some great information here!

Big Sioux, I take no offense to being "picked" on. I'm here to learn and if that's what it takes, so be it. Sorry about my calculations. I am awful at math. My belt calcu. should be: 1.25 x 36 / 144 = 0.3125 sq feet of leather. My leather costs (from American Leather Direct) should have been $9.30 per sq foot including freight and 15% waste. So leather cost for the belt equals: $2.91. Add in my other costs and the belt comes to $12.81. If I then add in a 35% margin for the business the selling price for the belt comes in at $19.70. So, I paid myself $7.50 to make the belt and the business made 35% on the sale. Does this sound right? What would others charge for this belt given my costs?? And by your suggestion I have order both the books that you mentioned. Proleptic is offering 15% off their books until June 30. I placed the order yesterday.

I would love to charge more. I don't really want to work for free either! I understand what you mean about the Amish. I live in the middle of Amish country. I work at a small Harness and Farm supply store part time. It is ran by a Mennonite man. People flock to him for plan belts that he sells for $14.50. He buys his belt blanks from Weaver Leather for $8.90. So, should I not worry about what he is charging for his belts and just charge what I need to for mine?

I just put up a sign for my shop along the road by my house (at a cost of $500). Had my first customer as a result of that sign and he bought a belt. I charged him $16 for it. After talking to him a while I got the impression it was priced to low and that he would have gladly paid more.

Looking forward to hear more thoughts on this!

Tom

Tom,

It's your business or hobby so charge what you want. I would offer an observation, in your calculation you haven't added a cost for overhead (lights, cleaning supplies, heating, etc) and you haven't recovered any depreciation on tools (punches and strap cutter, etc.), and hardware (Chicago screws, snaps, rivets or what ever you use), the leather for the keeper (or more leather if you cut your own). You want to recover all of your costs and overhead then apply your labor and profit. One other thing, when you cut a belt strap from a bend, back or double shoulder, it is cut to ~50" or if you buy belt blanks they are ~50", while that could be considered in the 15% waste I wouldn't, the waste is what's left from the leather piece after all the straps are cut out of it and the amount you had to cut off to get the initial straight edge. I would have used (1.25 X 50)/144 = .43 SqFt) a 36" belt takes about 41" due to the 36 being at the center hole, the belt end past the last hole and the billet fold over. So I suspect your costs are higher than you think. I didn't see a cost for buckle you need that as well unless the customer is providing the buckle. It is hard for most people to account for all costs, such as the $500.00 you paid for the sign has to be recovered, since it's a durable item it could be recovered over time, but you need to determine a ROI (Return on Investment) point. Say you decide that a ROI of 12 months is acceptable, then say you produce and sell 10 items a month, then you'd need to charge $4.17 per order. The amount of time you want to extend for the ROI is up to you however, remember that you made that investment and you are allowed and should recover that before profit. Just ramblings I know, but manufacturing costing is a complicated matter and most businesses utilize software and CPA's to insure they are capturing ALL costs. These are just a few examples, also I could be wrong that happens a lot!!!

Chief

Edited June 29, 2014 by Chief31794

[DavidL]

Wow, some great information here!

Big Sioux, I take no offense to being "picked" on. I'm here to learn and if that's what it takes, so be it. Sorry about my calculations. I am awful at math. My belt calcu. should be: 1.25 x 36 / 144 = 0.3125 sq feet of leather. My leather costs (from American Leather Direct) should have been $9.30 per sq foot including freight and 15% waste. So leather cost for the belt equals: $2.91. Add in my other costs and the belt comes to $12.81. If I then add in a 35% margin for the business the selling price for the belt comes in at $19.70. So, I paid myself $7.50 to make the belt and the business made 35% on the sale. Does this sound right? What would others charge for this belt given my costs?? And by your suggestion I have order both the books that you mentioned. Proleptic is offering 15% off their books until June 30. I placed the order yesterday.

I would love to charge more. I don't really want to work for free either! I understand what you mean about the Amish. I live in the middle of Amish country. I work at a small Harness and Farm supply store part time. It is ran by a Mennonite man. People flock to him for plan belts that he sells for $14.50. He buys his belt blanks from Weaver Leather for $8.90. So, should I not worry about what he is charging for his belts and just charge what I need to for mine?

I just put up a sign for my shop along the road by my house (at a cost of $500). Had my first customer as a result of that sign and he bought a belt. I charged him $16 for it. After talking to him a while I got the impression it was priced to low and that he would have gladly paid more.

Looking forward to hear more thoughts on this!

Tom

16 is very low for a belt. The issue is when you price too low and you get known for being the cheap alternative its hard to get that image out of peoples minds.

I use to go to a barber that cuts hair for 8 dollars, at that shop she employs 3 barbers. Problem was rent in Canada is expensive and the wages for barbers are slightly more than minimum wage. Knowing she wasn't making a healthy profit she tried to raise the price by 50 percent to 12 dollars, which was what the competition was charging. It wasn't taken well since the place was know for decent quality for a low price and was the image that was given. Customers didn't see the haircut worth 12 dollars. A belt at 16 dollars is like selling a haircut for 4 dollars, you can still make a profit, the price of rent will be paid and more people will come to your store, you will be over worked and underpaid which is only slightly better then regular priced and paid slightly less.

How this ties back into leather working is once you establish a price range, the customers base everything on that price, the longer its been at that price the more it is solidified at that price. Why the raise in price was not taken well was the fact that was discussed in this thread, people have an expectation, although unreasonable that prices should be cheap and below actual cost and that was the norm. The fact that there was no renovations or improvement in quality also played a role. Only companies that are well established and at the top of the chain can raise prices and not have too much of an impact, but even then they can be in trouble if the price raises too high where its no longer a reasonable. Nike shoes somehow implanted the idea that a pair of shoes are worth 300 dollars. Back in the day Nike shoes were worth 80 dollars and they raise prices to 120 and everyone still wanted the shoes but it was unreasonable, so they lost customers and lowered the price to 100 and no where during the change did any one feel cheated since they were glad prices went down from 120 to 100 even though its still 20 more than standard. Other ways companies do price changes is gradually increasing the price by 30 cents a year until they hit their target price point, more common for food products, where the change can't be spotted as easily. Also goes w/ changing brand logos where the image is slightly altered ever year.

So before you continue selling at 16 dollars a belt and are known for selling at that price ask your self if you want to continue at that price point and will be stuck their unless you do the following. (Once you establish price - raising price means that quality is improved/ add new components or better parts, or that demand has risen so price rises so that supply can meet your demand)

If you are trying to raise your price you have to have a high demand of your product and set the price right before you start selling. It should go from natural instinct to rational thinking then to practical thinking (if this makes sense). - maslows hierarchal pyramid in essence.

Natural instinct is to make as much money as possible with as little work as possible. To rational thinking which is you can't price a belt at 100 dollars if its perceived value is 45-50. Practical thinking will tell you to find ways to convince the customer that your perceived 45 dollar belt is actually a 80 dollar belt or a 120 dollar belt thats priced at 80 dollars or by lowering your cost while keeping same perceived value. Most businesses that do well either have a top notch product or they know how consumers think and are in control of the consumers in the sense that the company dictates where they are in the market place and always tries to maintain position and to improve position, which in turn improve profitability- marketing, brand image and prestige. They aren't wishy washy in presentation and know what they are doing from the get go and consumers can sense that they are professional and make and sell professional products.

Thing is you should first understand how a business maintains itself like the basics of finding your true cost of an item, to the rent, if you can get cheaper alternatives, what the customer cares about keep and what the customer doesnt care about take away. Then understand the market place and how to take your product to market and maintain a good product image and a good plan.

Writing out a business plan is a must for every business. Takes a few hours but will give a foundation to your business and can be a tool for money from the government for your business or a business loan.

[BDAZ]

First step is to decide if you are really a business or just a hobby trying to cover costs and expenses. If it's the later then make you own rules, cost you labor at $0 and have fun, AND have fun.

My leather business is just the latest in a string of small manufacturing business stared over the years in in the chemical, scuba, computer and graphics industries. Business can be fun too but only if they make money or break even to gain market share. Losing money coupled with hard work is NOT fun in any industry.

First off, I think the wastage numbers shown above are low. The analysis I have done shows a minimum of 35% wastage (assigning zero value to all scraps not used in production. Depending on the cut, I may go as high as 50%. How often to I cut a 2" strap which is 60" then use 42". The balance is scrap. I would never take a job for $15 and hour so why would I sell my time for less? I am able to multi task so I can step into my shop, say cut and glue some lining then back to my office and my other business so I can afford to work for less than if it was a full time career. Overheads are assigned based on square footage, with the leather shop 3 times the size of my office space but still cheaper than a stand alone business would have.

For pricing, first I decide what market nice I am after. I research the available offerings, check the existing prices and see if I can produce a BETTER product for the same or up to 20% higher. If I can't, I don't go there.

One last issue is marketing. What is your market? The guy that happens to drive by your house, happens to see your sign and happens to need a belt at the time and happens to have the time to stop or a market geographically more diverse supported by a killer web site, advertising and wholesale distributors and resellers motivated (by margin) to promote your products to their customers. Selling more results in economy of scale, lowering costs and making manufacturing more efficient. I am shipping a dozen similar items tomorrow, which took a lot less time to make, per item, than if I had a single order. I make less per item but 12 of my products in the market with my makers stamp are 12 more "promotions" for our products.Anyone who doesn't put a web site on their makers stamp is nuts, IMHO.

To sum up, first do your market research, find out what price range you can sell similar products for and then work on your costing to see what your bottom line is and then investigate what it will take to reduce labor and materials costs. In my case, I have switched to drum dyed veg tan which is more expensive up front but saves me time and materials to make it cheaper than dying my own. I intially purchased a decent sewing machine at the git go because it was obvious hand stitching is for hobbyists and not commercially viable, unless you have leveraged that feature into significant money at retail.

I used to work in the wine industry in California and the saying was that yo can always make a small fortune with a winery IF you start wit a big one, I think leather can be similar.

Cya!

Bob

[Big Sioux Saddlery]

Good advice from everyone above! Congrats on ordering the books, Keplerts, you will learn a lot. Customers will try any means possible to get your prices lower--that's just human nature. I do the same. If there's a good deal on a horse, I still offer less! Hold your ground and even if this is a hobby for you and your income comes from a day job, or a spouse that has a fantastic income, or whatever, figure your costs, your overhead, and what you want for a wage like you would if the leatherwork was your only source of income. Not only will you thank yourself in the long run, it is a good way to stay on friendly terms with your competitors. Everyone hates a guy who undercuts just to get business. You have a tough row to hoe being in the middle of Amish country. Find a way to offer better service or a better product than the Amish and charge accordingly. There's no way we can compete with them on price alone because of the differences in our lifestyles. However, much of the work I see come out of Amish shops is pretty sloppy, and they are known to cut corners on raw material quality. Granted, many times the customer doesn't know the difference; make it your job to educate them. Bdaz is right about the waste factor. It is higher than most people think. And, if you do end up utilizing your waste/scrap, and that's a big "if", then that's more money in your pocket, to invest in more machinery, buy more supplies, expand your work area, take your family on vacation, whatever. Best of luck to you!

[keplerts]

Lots of great info here. Thanks to all who have contributed! I have come to the conclusion that I DON'T want to work for FREE and will be raising my belt and other leather project prices. I am waiting

to receive and read the Proleptic books I ordered to help me further with the pricing issue! Thanks, again.

Tom

Edited July 2, 2014 by keplerts