Charged a couple $6,000 for a commissioned piece and after 80 hours of work, the stone alone was $1,100
I'm not good at pricing what my time is worth and I know it. Married couple wanted a limestone piece for their garden. Simple shape, clean lines, nothing fussy. I quoted $6,000 thinking that was plenty.
80 hours later I'm doing the math. Block of limestone was $1,100. Delivery of the block was $300 because it had to come on a flatbed. The chisels I wore down and replaced, maybe $150. Then the base I fabricated to mount it, another $200 in steel.
That's $1,750 in costs. Leaves me $4,250. Divided by 80 hours, that's $53 an hour before taxes. Not terrible for a sculptor maybe but I'm not a young man and my body feels those hours now.
The thing is they were happy. They paid without blinking. So I left money on the table and they'd have given me more. That's on me.
I don't know how to fix this. I've been doing this long enough I should know what I'm worth. But I still anchor low and feel guilty asking for more.
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Ah Jesus, the old "quote what you think sounds fair and hope for the best", I know that game well. I've been there more times than I'd like to admit.
But here's the thing I had to learn the hard way: you're not charging for the hours. You're charging for the fact that you can do in 80 hours what someone else couldn't do at all, or would take 200 hours to bodge. The eye, the hand, the years of bad pieces that taught you how to do this one right, that's in there too, and it's not on the timesheet.
Still though, fifty-three an hour before tax and you're supplying the tools and the wear-and-tear on yourself... it's not robbery but it's not luxury either. The stone cost alone would've had me second-guessing myself halfway through, sure.
Fair play for getting it done and delivered. That couple have a limestone piece in their garden that'll outlast them. Hard to put a price on that but you gave it a lash anyway. Next one, add a few grand on and see what happens, worst they can do is say no and then you're back where you started anyway.
You're not wrong. But telling myself the 80 hours is really 30 years doesn't help when the mortgage is due next month.
The couple was happy. Paid on time. Said it was exactly what they wanted. That counts for something. But I looked at that check and thought "I could have framed houses for the same money with zero material cost."