okay now we know i am not crazy next question.

**heaven** · 12-03-2002, 02:25 AM

we all know that i do the barbed wire wreaths no suprise there, well today my old boss wanted to order one. it was 42 inches, with lights, and we had to put sage, and horse shoes on it, came out wonderful and she loved it. here is the problem what is a fair price for it.
here is the breakdown for cost.
my time,
5 horseshoes. (Free)
120 feet of wire (free) but we did find we had used the small square barbed, which is Expensive to buy. (if we had to)
set of lights. (1.99 Martha steward).
and Sage (free from the river)
total cost 1.99. plus maybe 2.00 in gas. and the time to go to the river the ranch and to make it. 1.5 hours max to do it.

horse shoes were free from DAHs Cousin, he charges 8$ each normally.
wire is free always, they like it when we take it, then the heard animals don't get caught in it.
so what would YOU pay for a 42 inch with 5 horse shoes and sage. we are thinking minimum of $30. because she is a friend, and she did watch my children the other day. but we are expecting orders for them from people who see hers *great advertising, seeing she lives next to the school.).
if we had to buy everything for it thankfully we didn't would have cost us, $78. to make it. including our time.
hoping to get a photo of it to post. forgot when we had it here. DAH. some times.
TIA.

**KathiS** · 12-03-2002, 02:47 AM

Great crafts like that are very expensive around these parts. If I gave her a special price, because she is a friend and helped with the kids, I would sure let her know that was why the price is lower. If she is going to show it to others, you sure don't want her to tell them that special price and then have to sell all of those wreaths at that lower price. You didn't have to spend a lot to make the wreaths but, make sure you are getting a good price for your talent and hard work. Just my humble opinion.

**dz_blonde_girl** · 12-03-2002, 07:06 AM

That's hard Heaven. 42" is a really big wreath, it probably weighs a ton! I don't think $30 is enough. What would you normally get for it? Sell it to her for 1/2 price, but like Kathi said, make sure she knows it's 1/2 price.

**sixfreds** · 12-03-2002, 07:39 AM

it is always hard to price crafts I think......good luck getting a good price, here is the thing selling crafts, no matter how nice it is, if you set the price too high you don't sell many but if you set it too long you think you are doing to for almost free...

I was always told to figure out how much you want to make an hour and set the price for how many hours you spend and then add in the cost of materials...

I would LOVE to see a picture...
Eileen

**Sara Noel** · 12-03-2002, 09:51 AM

As a designer, I charged a 2.5 markup on hard goods and 4.5 on soft goods with a 40% labor charge, plus delivery. Just because items were free to you doesn't mean you have to pass that onto your buyer unless you want to.
Your project to buy outright would not be cheap, so don't sell yourself short.

**edited to add** On a nice day, I'd charge a flat 3 time markup, but would still charge a labor fee no less than 25%.

Sara

**heaven** · 12-03-2002, 10:50 AM

Yes she knows that she is getting a special price. Thanks Sara. for letting me how much i should do it for. My biggest worry is that we are going to have to start buying the shoes. that will add up, I am not sure if i would do another one that size just because of cost.