Help with cost to charge please

[worntorn]

I have a woodworker friend who has very strict and often non-conforming views on capitalism. He believes in charging the customer the same amount per hour as the customer makes. His idea is that this makes his work affordable to a great many people. He also thinks it is fair that someone who makes a small income should not have to work weeks for a piece of woodwork that a high wage earner might pay for with just a couple of hours of effort.

He seems to end up working for a lot of waitresses and babysitters, never for Doctors or Dentists!

[cmd]

I have a woodworker friend who has very strict and often non-conforming views on capitalism. He believes in charging the customer the same amount per hour as the customer makes. His idea is that this makes his work affordable to a great many people. He also thinks it is fair that someone who makes a small income should not have to work weeks for a piece of woodwork that a high wage earner might pay for with just a couple of hours of effort.

He seems to end up working for a lot of waitresses and babysitters, never for Doctors or Dentists!

seriously, unless he is retired and just doing this for fun, how does he keep the lights on. I know what I charge, what my machinery costs, how many hours I can bill in a day. I would imagine on average I charge double what my customer base makes in hour at a normal 40hr week job. I have a lot of overhead to be able to make money, all they need is their lunch pail.

[worntorn]

His wife is an OR nurse!

[cmd]

His wife is an OR nurse!

bingo, so doing it for something to do pretty much.

[SeanMurphy265]

I would look at how well you are set up in your shop. If you can easily transition from cutting the parts, fitting, to welding, and do you have the needed tools, or enough tools to get by (which can take you longer to build something). I would add materials cost times 35% and I would calculate at 10% overage on materials just in case. Figure in shop supplies, grinding blades, saw blades, etc to do the job. Figure out how long it takes for you to weld 6 inches and try your best on time. Also I would look at the prices of pizza ovens, they are not cheap!

http://pelletheads.com/index.php?topic=5607.0

http://www.norcalovenworks.com/Outdo...FS-R-36X28.htm

http://www.housewaresonly.com/omcan-...hannelid=FROOG

http://www.appliancesconnection.com/...ml?ref=froogle

[performance]

Sean,
Its been my experience, looking at what something sells for will get you messed up, especially when you are manufacturing part of it. I always try to figure what I can do it for, then make no apologies. Whether it is high or low, if I have figured my cost correctly and know what time it takes, then that is the price I give. Also, I have figured, on average the amount of consumable material I will use in an ordinary hour and added it into my hourly charge, so it will stay fairly standard. If its something exotic, then I will add a little higher per hour charge on it.

[SeanMurphy265]

True that, but sometimes I find you may not charge enough!