Did the math on a carved granite garden stone last week. $40/hour. Before materials and my own wear.
Lady wanted a granite garden stone for her husband's memorial. Personal piece, carved text, took me eleven days off and on. I charged $2,600.
Did the math on the drive home. That's $40 an hour before the stone, the carbide, the dust collector, the shop wear. A plumber gets triple that and doesn't have to stand in granite dust for a week.
The thing is, she was happy. She said so twice. And I still felt like I should apologize for the number. Thirty years in and I can't get past that part.
I know the drill. Raise your rates. It's a skill, not a hobby. I heard all of it. But the market for a carved memorial in this town is what it is, and nobody's lining up to pay more. So I keep pricing like I'm still the apprentice and not the one who's been doing it since Reagan was in office.
Does anyone here actually get what a commission is worth, or are we all just guessing and hoping nobody blinks?
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the "felt like I should apologize" part is the whole post honestly. i know exactly what that is. even now when someone actually gets what i make and pays for it, part of me still does the math like i'm the one who got lucky.
eleven days on one piece though. that's not $40/hour, that's the price of not being able to make anything else while her husband's name is in your lungs. the materials and wear are the smaller part of it.
she was happy twice. you don't owe her an apology, you owe yourself one for spending thirty years thinking the thing you can do that she can't isn't worth what she'll pay.
You're not wrong about the part where the name ends up in your lungs. That's the part nobody prices in and nobody can. You just carry it after.
The apology thing, thirty years and I still catch myself doing it. My old mentor said it different. He said charge like you're the only one who can do it, because for whatever's in front of you, you are. Took me a long time to hear that as anything but arrogance.
Appreciate you saying it straight.