Pricing

So how does one put a monetary value on art?

The supply and demand model seems to me to be the best method.

From the artist’s perspective, supply depends on material cost and availability as well as the time required to create the art. Every artist tends to want to merely create with no regard for anything else. Alas, life usually makes this impossible. Little things like food, lodging and other such necessities and bills get in the way.

From the consumer’s perspective, demand depends on whether they or others like the art. The more it is liked the more demand there will be. If demand is higher than supply, the price will reflect this and increase. If not, the price will obviously decrease. If the price decreases too much, the artst will need to find some other way to pay the bills.

So what does this mean here?

I enjoy making these small pieces of wooden art and I sincerely hope that people will find enough value in these pieces to lead to sales. I am willing to make less money than possible to do something I like and to be able to do it in on my own property. Unfortunately, even the smallest pieces here can take an enormous amount of time to complete which means most items can’t be cheap. Having researched what others are charging for hand made items, my prices seem to be reasonable. Can they compete with Chinese junk? No. If junk is desired, I have no interest in providing it.

Pricing here is set as low as possible to allow me to continue making stuff without financially destroying my life. Anything less and I am forced to work elsewhere for far more money. I can’t starve myself and my family for an unprofitable hobby. As such, for now, these prices are the best I can offer.

For custom items, my pricing policy is simple:

• Customizations based on existing items will generally be minor adjustments to reflect personalizing the item for the customer.
• For new designs, f the project interests me and I can somehow market it for use beyond the customer’s order, I will price it mostly based on manufacturing costs and any personalization for the order. Otherwise, I will price it to reflect the time involved for both design and manufacturing.
• For work where someone else wants to manufacture the product, pricing will be strictly based on time involved to create the design.

If you wish to discuss any of this, feel free to contact us via email.