Knowing what to charge. A simple formula.
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- Опубликовано: 13 мар 2017
- Charging customers properly for your work can be very intimidating for novice armourers, are you charging too much, too little?
When I started armouring I was faced with the same issues. Speaking with a friend, a builder, on what and how to charge he showed me the simple formula I have outlined in this video.
I have no doubts that this formula would not stand the close scrutiny of the London Business School of Economics, but as a starting point for the novice armourer it can be a great help.
If you have a house to keep and a family to feed and people ask for discounts, where does that money come from. Your tools will wear out, you will need to buy supplies and better equipment - all of this costs money and you need to be able to see, from the beginning where the money is coming from.
So the video, is made for the beginning armourer, whether bespoke or off the shelf, based in a country that is an economic powerhouse or pipsqueak, it should get you started in a methodical way that will help you spot shortcomings and problems before they overwhelm your fledgling business.
Good luck and happy hammering.
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As someone who is on the verge of dipping into part time armouring for the SCA, I have to say that your channel is easily a goldmine of knowledge that answers questions I couldn't answer, and didn't even I know I had.
Armouring for myself is something that I've been doing for two years now, and I've loved every minute of it. Now with your help, I shall take the plunge into commissioned works.
Thank you.
TheCaveMan234 my pleasure mate and best of luck for your endevour. Going pro changes a lot but not the good bits :)
I am so greatfull for finding your channel, such a goldmine! I want to get into armouring, i just bought my first rings for a chainmail and im so excited to learn about this!
Good luck, it's a great hobby and very rewarding.
I like that you are using Toby Capwell's book to rest the paper on ;-)
I wondered who would spot that, that's two people so far :)
It's a great book and a fantastic reference.
Good video.
(Materials x 1.5) x $60hr, is my formula as a Jeweler.
tim wrigley that's a lot simpler, I shoukd have gone with that :)
I'll discount down to 40hr if the material build is high. But generally I know my shop consumes $30hr just having the lights on, tool ware, and expendables(solder, sandpaper, polishing compound, pickling acid, ect...)
Side note. For a while now, I've wanted to take a piece of armor and print a fine pattern on it as a masking so I can gold plate the pattern's negative. Then wash the masking off and blue the exposed steel. Or maybe use a Keum-boo technique instead of electro-plating. Either way, I think the gold over blue would look really sharp.
I like the odea of running the hourly costs by the cost of the workshp to run for the hour plus labour. I've seen a few guys from the US propose, what I considered, very expensive hourly costs, I guess they might be doing this as well. Is it a standard business practice in the US? My experience here seems to be that you run the shop from the profit.
I've heard blue-collar guys throw the idea around since I was little. I'm sure there's a lot of variations on the idea, but to me, its about not only charging for your time, but also the shop's. If someone was going to rent your shop, how much would you want to charge an hour?
Another great video, looking at a subject that is often overlooked. Once again thank you for your time. A topic that I have found hard to get any solid data on is how to make a post for a post-and-hole closure. I found a reference to it in Brian Price's book, but can not for the life of me figure out how to set the post. If you can show that technique at some point , that would be most appreciated. regards Anthony
No worries, I think I know the type you mean, they are relatively simple (once you know). When I get my workshop back next week, it's currently being over run by the large job I am doing, I'll do this one. Thanks for the suggestion.
Not a worry mate, thank you for looking into it for me. Regards Anthony
Thanks mate, here in the States, we'd use this one for painting a house, but for shop arts, we're told to take your first total and quadruple it, and if that sound reasonable, quadruple it again
that'd be great :)
i hope to dear god you charge more than 15 pounds an hour for your work. thats less than what my father paid his men back when he had a crew in his metal fab shop.
TheAssassin409 I don't think you'll ever be rich working solely as an armourer but I used £15 in this as an example for the maths ... it was late and my mind would never have handled more complex maths. :)
That being said a large part of the follow up video (if I did one) would discuss other pressures like what the market can cope with and people are willing to pay - particularly for a novice armourer's work. I've found it's a constant case of adjustment and learning as well as believe in your own abilities.
+Greenleaf Workshop Please do the follow-up. I'm not planning on going into business, but that doesn't mean the subject isn't interesting.
I'll add it to the list. I suspect though that it's fairly standard points for any self employed folk. If I make something that costs me £x to build but people will only pay £y for it, should I still make it and make a little money or not bother? ... and so on.