Pricing your work?

G

Gauge7

Joined
Apr 13, 2006
Messages
264
Hello,

I just completed a flint striker knife and was looking to sell it to a buddy of mine who said he'd buy the next knife I made. I know I can't get my time out of it (around six hours not including electric usage, belts, charcoal, etc.), but what is a good rule of thumb? I don't want to over charge, but I don't want to go so cheap that it isn't worth my time.

Thanks for any advice.
Jeremy
 
Good question. Add up cost of materials/belts/etc. and then however much you would like to be paid for each enjoyable knife making hour that you worked. That's what I would probably do anyway.
 
1 MILLION DOLLARS!!!!

Seriously, nobody has a standard against anyone else. Dustin's proportioning is about right I'd say. Remember, if you're doing it in hopes of selling a lot more knives later, the best thing to do is to sell quite a few modestly priced blades (more or less covering materials and supplies, no labor) and as your name grows, so will the price. I've been making and selling for over 3 years now and still don't add in a whole lot for labor.
 
The time spent doesn't affect my price tags on the knives. I add a profit on material cost and it is a bit low compared to experienced maker's works. As I am somewhat newbie it is normal to have low cost knives from me. Even it turns out great I don't price them like master knife maker's blades. I feel it is not realistic to price them according to time spent on a piece, even a tiny scratch can cost you hours during hand rubbing stage, and these hours are because of my inexperience. I cannot let my customers pay my inexperience. If you are new to this I would price this knife about half price of a similar from an experienced maker. If he/she sells them for example for 100 dollars, it is normal to price it around 50-60 $. As you gain experience and reputation then you can increase the price.
 
Thanks Guys:thumbup:.

As far as materials, I have next to nothing, maybe a sanding belt or two and a little Royal Oak. The broken file that I used I received in trade (file has a story behind it that's why I traded for it). Since the closest comparisons I found were those offered by Track of the Wolf for around $50-55, do you think that $35-40 would be fair? That would put it in the bracket of nicer flint strikers leaving the blade pretty much out of the equation.
 
I have seen a lot of nasty looking knives sell for a lot more.

$50.00 minium on that one

Richard
 
galadduin said:
I feel it is not realistic to price them according to time spent on a piece, even a tiny scratch can cost you hours during hand rubbing stage, and these hours are because of my inexperience. I cannot let my customers pay my inexperience.
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Spoken like a true professional. People of your mentality do well in life. The product is worth what it is worth, not how long it took you to make it. And a professional knows what his work is worth and charges accordingly. Hours spent is not relevant. And as you get faster, that goes both ways. ;)
 
I cannot let my customers pay my inexperience.
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The product is worth what it is worth
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Thanks guys. I understand now what you are saying. Maybe for the time being less is best. I'll let him look it over and we can hammer out a price that way.

Thanks.
 
I currently charge what the materials cost me, the cost of the sheath (I don't make my own yet) and maybe a little for my time. Frankly, I'm currently losing money on every knife. Yes, I'm trying to make a living, but as others said, it will be a while before I can expect premium prices. For now, I'm just hoping to get some work out there and generate interest. I consider it promotional expense.
 
When first starting out, double the cost of materials...that is a fair price. Don't forget the cost of sandpaper, belts, etc.

Craig
 
I apologise before hand here if I sound critical, but Im very critical when I buy something... so here goes... I can tell you how much I'd give for it, if I was intrested in it. Maybe some others would to. Atleast that way you maybe you would get a high and low to pick from. Lets see what we have here a hand forged file knife, What was your quench medium? it looks like you used a 1x30 craftsman belt sander? (Keep it constantly moving laterelly across the belt to avoid the waves.) Convexed edge... so if I was buying it Id give ya 50.00 bux for it on the high side and be more comfortable with 30-40.00 range.

Jason
 
I think you should be charging for your talent and again not how long it took you. Most of the time people are paying for "name" and not time invested. Im sure time invested plays a role in pricing a knife, but you can't charge for something that took you 1,000 hours to make per hour if it only takes me 5 hours to make the same thing.
 
Obviously you are still learning as I am also. That knife I would give to my friend, which I have done several times. They are knives not at the level I am striving for but fully usable. Everything else sits in a heep in the shop. Between steel, sandpaper, and other supplies I have spent well over $500++ and not collected a penny yet. I have not yet produced something I consider sellable? Just my opinion.
 
I think if you spent a little extra time doing a hand sanding to get the grinder "waves" out you would be in a better position to get 50-60 bucks.:thumbup:

What you should be gaining in any kind of profit right now is the knowledge of how to make your knives better.;)

The first knife show I did I asked a very well known maker for some advice on pricing my knives. He said "Find someone here with work comparable to yours and charge $50.- bucks less!" With this advice I set out to look at everyones knives. I quickly found out that there wasnt really anyone to compare myself to because my knives were the worst in the room!:eek: It made me strive to make my knives better. I still did sell my first knife at that show, but thinking back on some of those first ones kinda makes me cringe a little.:o

Keep at it!:D
Mace
 
jll346 said:
Obviously you are still learning as I am also. That knife I would give to my friend, which I have done several times. They are knives not at the level I am striving for but fully usable. Everything else sits in a heep in the shop. Between steel, sandpaper, and other supplies I have spent well over $500++ and not collected a penny yet. I have not yet produced something I consider sellable? Just my opinion.
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O just wait you spent so much more, i think that out of all the money i have made on my knives it has all gone back into tools and material. the way i look at it is that its an investment in the since of i have stuff that can make me money not just sit there and relie on the economy to increase it's value.
 
JTknives said:
O just wait you spent so much more, i think that out of all the money i have made on my knives it has all gone back into tools and material. the way i look at it is that its an investment in the since of i have stuff that can make me money not just sit there and relie on the economy to increase it's value.
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I should have said I spent that and more just on steel and belts alone? Making a few bucks will come with practice. In the mean time Im having fun and learning.
 
I basically double the cost of materials, I also include 30% depreciation on belts and drill bits as part of the cost of a knife.

Looking through the for sale sections here would give you a good idea of what your knife should be worth. You'd have to disregard Patton and Graves, they wayyyyy underprice their work IMHO.

I'm about to say something noone wants to hear anymore and I'm going to get the usual smart a@#$ comments. You've got to pay your dues (there are exceptions though) if you're an unknown maker you should plan on selling knives for about the price of what you got in materials and maybe enough for a sandwhich. This will allow you to carefully build a reputation. You'll get your knives into the hands of people that will either vouch for your work or let you know how to improve. Now if you want to go the "I don't need to pay dues because my wife already sent the check" route, you can charge what accomplished makers get paid for what you THINK is a similar knife. When a customer gets a knife that he overpaid for then you'll have problems. It's easier to work the issues out with someone over a $100 knife than a $200+ knife. This paragraph always falls on deaf ears..... I really don't know why I type it every couple of months.

Ah well, I've been doing this for a bit and I still don't know how to price knives. I usually just ask my wife, she's pretty good about the price.
 
I sold a Tool and Die company in California in 2005, after 25 years of building it up. Estimating cost was always a pain, unless it was the department of defense :). The only knives we made were for industrial application; slitting cardboard, medical, fruit and food manufacturing, etc. Most of our products were for govt, energy and aerospace. One of the trick blades was L6 for an environment that was corrosive. it took 60-62 hours to manufacture start to finish on CNC, grinding, then Hand finishing.

" feel it is not realistic to price them according to time spent on a piece, even a tiny scratch can cost you hours during hand rubbing stage, and these hours are because of my inexperience. I cannot let my customers pay my inexperience"

It would have been a pleasure to work with an individual of this caliber.
 
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