Thread: Here we go let's talk price

Dave , in a way I think you have answered your own questions. I think you have to turn out items for the market you are targeting. The bigger items are perhaps more suited to galleries.

Gary

Originally Posted by nz_carver

Is it better to price a bowl or something big at a price of $200
Or do you sell 10 little things at $20 each???

But keep in mind that the time to make a bowl isn't proportional to the size of the bowl. For example, a 6" bowl doesn't take half the time it takes to make a 12" bowl.

The reason for this is that the overheads are similar for both sizes; it takes almost the same time to prepare the blanks, attach to faceplates or screws, re-chuck, apply finish, sign, price, ticket, pack, etc.

It is only the turning time, tool resharpening and sanding that takes the extra time on the larger pieces. I find that the sanding time is the most proportional to the size of the piece; the larger the piece the more obvious are any sanding flaws, which demands more of my time and attention.

As a rule of thumb I price smaller pieces (6") at a premium to medium size pieces (12"), eg $65 retail for a 6" and $150 retail for a 12".

Whereas I price larger pieces (18"+) at a premium over medium size pieces. Larger section timber being less available, more demanding to manage (storage and handling during seasoning, etc), and requiring larger and more expensive equipment.

I like to have at least one larger piece in my work on display. It draws attention to the display even though the larger pieces are slower to sell (they being a less useful size), but they do draw the eye of the potential buyer to my work and they are then more likely to take a closer look at the other pieces I have on offer, which they are then more likely to buy.

And, you have to provide something for those buyers who have no judgement of their own and who assume they are getting a superior piece by paying more. For such buyers larger is better; besides it is a good way for them to signal that price is no impediment to them having whatever they want. The same buyers also succumb to highly complex pieces...

As for what a piece of woodturning is worth; a piece is only worth what someone will pay for it. See previous forum threads on that.

But, we need to remember that there are turners making their living from their turning (and others that are working towards doing so) and if you sell your work for less than it cost to make (including your time) you are in effect dumping on the market and those professional turners, who are more often than not the key contributors to our woodturning fraternity without whom we would be impoverished as a craft.