I always have a terrible time putting a price on turnings. I wish
someone would come out with a definite "formula". Part of my problem
revolves around my own feelings of what is bad, good, or really good.
I often work with discarded wood. Does this reduce the value? I also
look at other people's work that I admire and often fall short in my
own valuation. A friend of mine turns wonderful bowls, the average
price being about $300. I don't think I can come close to the quality
he puts in so I value my work accordingly. Family and friends think my
stuff is equal or better but then again, they give me ties and socks
I'll never wear for Christmas! My best price thus far was $125 for a
12" salad bowl.

By the same token, some work I see sells for outrageous prices for
what I know took about 30 minutes to turn using commonly available
lumber. I know it's 30 minutes because I saw him do it. He is not a
well known turner and gets $800 for a 4" thin walled goblet! To me,
that's insane but I'm sure his banker is smiling!

I also found that the audience has a lot to do with it. I sell a lot
at farmer's markets and craft fairs. My main shoppers there are rural
people. They look a lot for usability. A salad bowl is meant for
lettuce and things and if the price doesn't reflect the price of
lettuce and fresh vegetables, it stays there. The odd time calls for a
gift of some sort where they will put a little more money down but by
far, they look for treenware and other related items. I also find that
this is the place where "gloss" (yuck!) commands a better price.

On the other hand, I have had sales in or around office type people
and I probably could have doubled my prices and still clear out the
table. Being an ex office worker, I remember the times when I'd go
shopping on my lunch hour or coffee break to buy a gift. Not much time
to really shop, buy in a certain price range, charge it all to
plastic.

I think target audience has everything to do with it. You usually
determine who your target audience should be before you set up a
business. I did mine backward, mind you it didn't start out as a
business. When I started turning, I refused to "prostitute" myself by
selling my work. I have since become somewhat of a hooker! To find my
target audience, I looked at who bought and what they paid over a 2
year period, then determined they were my target audience(s). I have 2
very distinct ones. The rural crowd and the city crowd. The rural go
for the fun stuff, treen, small boxes, toys, single pens. The others
for the bowls, fancy boxes, pen sets and desk accessories and pieces
that serve no useful purpose whatsoever or "emotional" pieces like a
bowl from that "tree planted when grandpa was a young'un".

Lately, I've been doing production work, if doing 500 pieces of the
same item qualify. Here you quibble over a single dollar or less per
item. I lost a bid for a .30 difference. Mind you, they wanted 2000
pieces so it all adds up. In this last instance however, I learned a
valuable lesson; " you can't compete with Taiwan"! For this type of
job, I price out all the materials, run a sample of 12 or so pieces to
get an average time, determine what my "day" is worth to me, and go
from there. It's not as lucrative but it's guaranteed income. There
are still things you can't predict, like my lathe giving up half way
through the job. Thankfully the job guaranteed enough income to buy a
much wanted/desired lathe with which I can do more production work!
(not really what I had in mind!). My biggest underestimation in
production work was placing a cost on boredom! I should have priced it
out at double time!

Still clueless, still trying to figure it all out.

Mike Courteau

http://www.toymakersite.com