Pricing

[Dave Larsen]

Dan, you got that right. My plumber charges $45 per hour. Whenever someone complains about the cost of a handmade knife I tell them what it would cost if my plumber made it...

Dave

[Colin KC]

Nice one Dave

[Steve]

Should we get paid for having this much fun?

[Dan Graves]

Steve,

The key is not to tell your client how much fun your having .

Dan
www.theknifemaker.com

[Steve]

If I stop smiling, will that work?

[Dan Graves]

Steve,

I love to get an order over the internet. They cant see my smile.

Dan
www.theknifemaker

[Dave Larsen]

Yeah, getting paid for this really is a bonus, isn't it?

The downside of it is that if they weren't paying us we'd get to keep the knives! That's why I started making in the first place, back in the early 70s I couldn't afford knives from those great makers like Steve Johnson...but they made me lust after that beauty and grace.

I still can't afford them. So like any good self-reliant poor person, I started down that long happy path of learning to make my own.

In The Wonder of Knifemaking Wayne Goddard suggests the following formula for pricing:

"Multiply the hourly wage you want to make by four. Multiply that figure by the hands-on hours spent on a knife."

If my plumber made a knife like me, that would be $45 X 4 X 20 = $3600!

That sounds about right for my plumber, but I rather suspect I'd have trouble selling many of the knives I make for $3600.

Working backwards, my hourly rate comes out something like:

$200 typical selling price less $45 direct cost to make the knife divided by 20 hours = $7.75.

I probably spend more than 20 hours on a knife, and the direct cost includes my estimate of the cost of abrasives for each one. But still, it's better pay than flipping hamburgers and a whole lot more fun!

[Steve]

Do your best, make the customer number one and be patient and the raises will come. Who'd rather be a plummer? They may have fun and get paid a lot, but I think this job is beter for me.

[whv]

Who'd rather be a plummer

.
when was the last time you enjoyed cleaning out the broken wastepipe from the crapper???
.
i'd much rather express what artistic ability i have in creating a knife!

[Steve]

We all do the job we want to do, or sometimes need to do. If we can get some fulfillment and get paid too, we're pretty lucky.

So, then, to every man his chance -- to every man, regardless of his birth, his shining golden opportunity -- to every man his right to live, to work, to be himself, to become whatever his manhood and his vision can combine to make him -- this, seeker, is the promise of America.
- Thomas Wolfe

I would think that this idea could apply to anyone, anywhere.