How To Price My Projects?

[chuckrock44]

I have such a hard time pricing my leather projects. I try to consider cost of leather, stain, hardware, and time...I'm terrible at this. I find myself always selling items too cheap. Any help on a standard way of pricing would be great full. For example, I'm attaching a pic of a gun sling...what would you sell this for?

Also, this site won't let me upload pic without cropping them to a smaller size...There are better pictures of this sling in my gallery if that helps...Thanks!

Edited January 9, 2016 by chuckrock44

[NVLeatherWorx]

The first thing is to determine whether or not you are in it for business or just a little extra cash from a Hobby. I am one who has an established business and have been so since the late 1980's when you didn't have all of this Social Media stuff or an Internet on which to get your name out there on. We did it the old fashioned way by setting up shop at every little craft fair, area Fair, or any other place that would have us and we met our clients face to face. Things have changed much since then but your pricing still needs to reflect your intentions. The method outlined below is what I use to establish the base price for an item which is what I classify as Standard; it is a plain Jane version of an item with no stamping, personalization or any other decorative elements on it, just plain and clean looking and standard as hand-stitched. All additional customization is based on the amount of labor that goes into adding any specific element (or combinations of elements) and charged out at my hourly rate; changing from stitched edges to laced edges also has an upcharge to cover for the additional labor and materials.

I use a method by which I calculate out all of my raw materials (leather, etc.) and hardware costs then add an additional 25% to that to cover the costs of incidentals such as dyes, finishes, conditioners and even stitching threads (as they do not cost a lot; leather lace is figured as a raw material only). I then round that combined number up to the whole dollar and multiply it by 3 to get what I consider to be an adequate profit on the materials alone (think about how much a kit from Tandy would cost you versus how much it costs you to cut that same item out from your own sides; your cost from a side would be around a third of what that kit costs you and that would be if you bought for the cheapest you can get it for). Once I have my materials and profit figured out I then multiply that number by 3 to get my starting base price which I then add another 20% to (to cover the costs associated with listings, advertising, processing fees, sales tax, etc.) to find my final sale price. I always round my final price up to the whole dollar. The only additional charge any of my customers will see is the cost of shipping for that item when they order it from one of my online outlets. Having factored in the sales tax (which I do at the highest rate within my State) I cover the actual sales tax amount that would be due when sold within my State without having to track every individual penny that is associated with the taxes issues.

However, everyone has their own way of doing it which is based on their goals, level of operations, venues/outlets for their products, and, most important of all, their market and what it will bear for pricing. I have nailed my method down to what I do as it gives me plenty of opportunity to attract customers that can be caught off guard by high priced items while giving me a consistent profit that goes back into the business to keep it operating while giving me a pricing level that is acceptable within my market (and the online world as we all know can be nothing more than a "who has the cheapest price" combat zone). My pricing is not cheap but it isn't overbloated either; I have been a professional maker for over 40 years but the current economic conditions dictate that we need to be prepared to give a little if we want to make anything at all; just don't give away the farm is all.

I would suggest that you do some searches among the online retail outlets for items similar to your product and compare the quality of the work you see from others (and their pricing) against your quality of work and pricing and see where it leads you. Often times you will find numerous examples of lesser quality work that is just priced out of the realm of where it should be based on that quality and if you find that this is the norm for your product line then you can at least sell yours for no less than the lower quality works are going for. Always make sure you sell you, your skills, and the quality of your materials and expertise before you just try to match whatever else you see out there and you should be fine.

Good luck with your quest and please feel free to contact me privately if you have any questions.

Edited January 9, 2016 by NVLeatherWorx

[chuckrock44]

Wow! Thanks allot for that detailed info. You really broke it down and I never considered some of the things you put in there... Thank you