How much can I sell my intarsia woodwork for? This is the question I get asked all the time˳ So I know that at least some of you out there are considering trying to sell your work˳
So how much are they worth?
Early Days – A Typical Scenario
You’ve started on a new and exciting woodworking skill called Intarsia˳ You can’t get enough of it˳ Your family and friends are really impressed with the stuff you are making˳ So every new piece easily finds a home˳
You are happy to give your finished pieces to your close family and friends˳ But then friends of friends start wanting pieces˳ It occurs to you that while you certainly enjoy making them there are costs involved other than your time˳ And even though you don’t feel you need to be paid for your time it would be nice to get some sort of return for your labours˳
Mid Intarsia Crisis
Well maybe not a crisis but now you do start to think it might be good to sell a few intarsia pieces to recoup costs˳ And how much easier is it to get the boss to agree to a new machine in your workshop if you are showing a return˳ “Well dearest heart, I’ve made a few bob already and with that money I can buy a brand new – insert your preference here – so I can make my intarsia even more efficiently and then I’ll easily be able to get around to making that new coffee table you’ve always wanted and so richly deserve˳” Woffle wofle woffle˳
The Big Question – “How much are they worth?
“How long is a piece of string?
The golden rule˳ “They are worth whatever customers will pay for them”
Which doesn’t actually tell you anything˳ So let’s look at a couple of pricing scenarios˳
The Academic Approach
A Masters degree in Business will tell you to do something like this˳ First calculate your total cost of production˳
Material Costs
* Timber including any waste – $ Very little
* Plywood backing – $ A tiny amount
* Hangers from a framing shop – a few cents
Consumables
* Sandpaper – $ more than you’d first imagine but still not much
* Glue – a few more cents
* Varnish or oil finish – $ a few dollars
Overheads
* Workshop rent – it might be your garage but somebody some time had to pay for it˳
* Telephone
* Electricity
* Broom for sweeping up
* yadda yadda yadda
Marketing
* Cost of stall at local flea market/car boot sale
* Traveling cost to get there
* Your time sitting behind the stall all day
Profit
* The cream on the top that you deserve over and above your wages for running your own business˳ And now the big one˳
Labour
* Your local mechanic charges $50 (or $60 or $70) per hour to fix your car˳ And it’s probably the first year apprentice that’s done the work anyway˳ It’s taken you 84 hours to make your masterpiece (you’ve carefully noted the hours) and it looks fabulous˳ You’re not greedy so maybe $20 per hour is okay˳ That makes $1680 plus the $50 for all the materials etc˳ $1700+˳ Probably not going to get that at the local flea market˳
Okay, let’s be less ambitious and work for $5 per hour, I don’t actually need anything, this is just a hobby˳ And I’m sure I must have got those hours wrong, lets pretend it was only 40 hours work˳ So $200 plus a bit extra for materials, let’s call it $220 all up˳ Now that sounds more reasonable˳So not-with-standing the business degree, what we’ve actually done is made a guess at the price˳ Surely there’s a better way˳ You’re right, there is˳
An aside Sitting all day in the hot sun at a local flea market hoping a punter with $220 in their pocket will happen by is okay occasionally but not a regular, reliable income stream˳ Oh, you say, but if you take your work to a local gallery they want 40%, or 50% or more for themselves˳ And all they have to do is hang it on their wall, I had to do all the hard yakka to make it˳ Highway robbery˳ But if you go the gallery route you don’t have to hang around all day, every day looking for customers˳ They do that˳ That’s what you pay them for˳ And they have to spend the money to make their gallery look good, not you˳ We always tried to make quality woodwork so we could interest the best galleries in the land˳ Way to go˳ Happy to pay their cut as long as they keep them trucking over˳
The Two Month Rule
I take my finished woodwork to the local craft gallery and talk to the owner˳ After some discussion we came to an agreed starting price and his percentage˳ Listen to the owner˳ If they are any good they know their market˳ Your beautiful intarsia gets hung on the wall˳ Hopefully the first thing the customer sees when they first walk into the gallery˳
* If the work sells in less than two months it is too cheap˳
* If it takes much longer than two months to sell it is too expensive˳
* And you guessed it, if it sells in about two months the price is just right˳
The first time I did this I took along 2 frog intarsia on Thursday˳ They both sold that weekend˳ Priced too cheaply but I knew there was a market˳
Okay, so now you know the price you can sell them for˳ But maybe you are still only going to be earning $5 per hour based on the time it took you to make that first one˳
So what have you gained?The knowledge that you can’t expect your customers to pay for your inefficiency˳
So what can you do about it˳ There are lots of ways to streamline your production˳ You will make your 20th frog a lot more quickly than the first one˳ As you get more experienced you will come up with all sorts of short cuts˳ But that’s another article˳
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