| The Breakroom > The Water Cooler |
| Charging for your time |
| << < (3/5) > >> |
| raynerd:
OK, cheers guys. Just a few responses. Lew_Merrick_PE - I haven`t got anything like your CV but I know I can make the part he wants, make it to a high standard and the buyer can`t. No idea what my overheads are like you said! AndyF - yep, prototype done, sent and he is more than happy with it. Dean - not sure I`m with you here --- Quote --- :palm:If each part is worth $15 to your customer, then you are going to end up earning $15 per hour considering each part takes one hour to produce. If you can live with that, start making parts. If you don't like the amount the customer is willing to pay, you will be better off putting in for a few hours of overtime at your regular job to earn your mad money. --- End quote --- If each part it worth $15 to my customer then I can`t do it for him. His value of $15 is irrelevant if it takes an hour for me or anyone else to do it because I can`t work for that price. If someone else can then he can go to them... like I said in my original message I`m quoting him a price that I WANT to work for, not necessarly what he wants! As a buisness that would be stupid as I just wouldn`t be competitive, but I`m not too fussed about the work! I think my reason for asking this question was just to get an idea of the sort of prices I could ask for that were within a reasonable scale - I didn`t want to rip him off but then wanted a price that favoured me! If I don`t get asked to make them, so be it! Like I said, crazy crazy model for someone earning a living off it, I`m sure! |
| Dean W:
--- Quote from: craynerd on July 26, 2012, 01:40:44 PM --- Dean - not sure I`m with you here --- Quote --- :palm:If each part is worth $15 to your customer, then you are going to end up earning $15 per hour considering each part takes one hour to produce. If you can live with that, start making parts. If you don't like the amount the customer is willing to pay, you will be better off putting in for a few hours of overtime at your regular job to earn your mad money. --- End quote --- If each part it worth $15 to my customer then I can`t do it for him. His value of $15 is irrelevant if it takes an hour for me or anyone else to do it because I can`t work for that price. If someone else can then he can go to them... like I said in my original message I`m quoting him a price that I WANT to work for, --- End quote --- Chris, this is just what I was saying. The $15 per hour was just a figure. It could be $5 or $200 per hour. What ever that figure is, if it is something you can live with, you are in business. If it's not, just work some extra hours at your regular everyday job. Weigh it against what you make at your job, and decide if making the parts has enough entertainment value for you to take less than your regular working wage. I mention your regular working wage because you know what it is, and that is what your time is truly worth at this point. You didn't tell us what you were thinking in the way of a reasonable hourly rate, and we don't know what the parts are actually worth. |
| John Rudd:
Chris, FWIW here's my take on it...... You have a day job that pays the mortgage ( if you have one...I dont..!) and supports a wife and children and all of your living expenses, then what you make on the side is yours... I used to run a tv/video repair business and it folded because I didnt charge enough... I got into machining through the technical apprenticeship I followed...I've done some jobs on the side as a result..and made a few bob.. Recently a guy who ran a business on Ebay selling cnc gear knobs asked for help with his cnc machine...I charged him £30 for my help getting his machine back up and running..After spending something like 4 hours on the electronics..(Working out what does what....) What I'm getting at is how much do you value your expertise in a given field versus how much you value your 'me' time.... It is a delicate balance between supply and demand.. You need to discuss with your client after you have arrived at what you consider a reasonable rate for your time........ Not much help I'm afraid....... |
| fcheslop:
Hi, another thing to watch for get the customer to supply/ pay for the materials than at least if they are slow paying on completion or dont pay you have only lost a bit of time. Iv had my fingers burned a few times. Another is be careful how they pay cash is the only way as you dont want a visit from the tax man and yes it happens good luck kind regards frazer |
| narrowgauger:
Hi Chris in response to your question regarding a "charging rate" perhaps the following comments may assist: - I own a custom model train manufacturing business and many years ago stopped thinking about an hourly rate for the models we produce. why; well simply because if we were to truly test the achieved hourly rate I would be in tears and probably be working for MacDonalds at 3 times the hourly rate. - when pricing a model I look at what the average customer would spend on a similar commercial product. once I get a feel for the commercial figure we value the cost of materials & machine usage, to which a mark-up is added. This will generally come up with the final figure, which is then tested against the commercial product. - lastly (vitally) it is important that you look at the production of a "product" not your own hobby efforts. This ensures that you maintain a commercial stance towards the product and do not get cuaght up in "enhancing" it to your personal standards. If you fail to do this many hours will be added just because you want to add your own "touch" I speak from experience having spend countless. non-paying hours, painting & weathering models to my personal standards instead of simply offering a quality commercial standard. so what's the bottom line: keep the job simple; look at it as a income to fund your hobby and keep it simple without enhancing it beyond the standard required. Hope this helps Bernard narrowgauger |
| Navigation |
| Message Index |
| Next page |
| Previous page |