I made my first cigar box guitar for me and to see if I could do it. I don't know how to play. Then, of course, I made another one. And after that, one to give away. Joined the Nation. Then two more because they are fun to make and maybe I could sell them. Now I have my first buyer, someone who saw one by chance.
I am feeling reluctant to let it go ! It's my favorite one.
I remember every detail of each "feature". My creation, and somebody wants to pay me for it. Material cost is easy to figure. How do I estimate my time and emotional investment ?
Replies
Rich, great- a win-win. That is a super plus.
Thanks guys. This homemade guitar has made a metamorphosis. I got a good price and the buyer was happy.
Material cost x 2. Hours you spent on it, use what you get paid at your day job, this work should be no less than that per hour. Depending on what you do you may need to charge more for your time. Don't short change yourself.
I agree with The Phrygian Kid. When I used to make custom jewelry for people, I had a box of gem stones and they would choose the stones they liked and I would ask them how much they wanted to spend and usually it was quite a bit more than I had in mind. Sometimes 10 times more. Let the customer tell you what they are looking to spend. If it's too low of an offer tell them it's worth more than that. Ed's advice is right on.
I love this topic. I finally had an opportunity to sell some (I only had 4 for sale at a high school craft fair) I like you, build for the enjoyment and I enjoy playing them, but it is hard for me to play them all for any length of time. I also do not have the room to keep them. When I thought what price to put on them, I simply asked myself, "what would I pay for that". That really ended my dilemma. I did make $$ back for costs to build and the time and so forth. If you are happy with the price that someone pays (it is only work as much as someone will pay) then its a win-win all around. In case you are interested to see what I sold, they were the small checkerbox guitar and the diamond yellow top fretless CBG, seen on my pictures page. I still have the Ghiradelli tin and the wine box reso. Good luck on your sale. ~ Lonman
Don't name a price, ask ppl for an offer you might be surprised. The first person to put a figure in the table is at a disadvantage in any negotiation
time and emotional investment is yours . they have none in it ,, hence its hard to charge them for it .
you kinda have to sell one to feel the rewards of your labour through someone else . that's your payment .
of course .. you can add a few bucks for your time .
but your emotional investment and craftmanship will sell the next one . think of it as paying for advertising .
they will tell others ..
by the same tokin , a crappy slapped together pice of crap, with no thought put into it .. people will hear about too .. and your wont be selling many more .
hope that helps ;-)
I sold one about 5 years ago and haven`t sold one since...just couldn`t get myself to part with another one. But bein i do a steady sales on my slides and custom bridges, keepin all my builds works out nice.
Maybe someday i`ll thin down the herd and get rid of a few, but in no rush...to date i have 36.
Just me talking here as a woodworker, and free advice is worth every penny you pay for it. Figure how many hours you have into it and apply a decent wage to that total. Then look around for another comparable guitar and use that as a guideline. Come up with a price and tell the prospective buyer. If they're happy with it, great. If they want to haggle, figure out your rock bottom price and don't budge on it. If they want it, they'll pay you for it. On the other hand, I tend to price things on the high side, then let folks negotiate me down to what I wanted for it in the first place. Kind of manipulative, but it works.
Good luck!
That sounds better than what I was gonna do - Start at a price, no haggle. This way I may get more than my bottom price.
-
1
-
2
of 2 Next