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[Stephen Chin]

Dear All you Lovely Peoples,

As Puzzlemakers, if we spend 1 full day making 1 puzzle, how much can we charge for it?

When possible , we always make a few to make it worth our while. but on the lathe, you are lucky to get 2 in a weekend

I guess it depends on the Puzzle, the 'I want' factor, supply and demand etc. Like Peter's Lacewoodbox that took 12 hours, how much can we charge for our time??

Made some Sovereign Balls, 60mm to  a woopping big  90mm size, and the Pots which are originals (I boo boo while cutting the sphere too deep, hence a new puzzle design, Woopee!) Woods of Huon Pine, Camphor, Banksia

[JWDiaz]

Actually it seems that we are worth a lot more than we were worth just a couple of years ago, judging by the prices that some puzzles are fetching. Not so much the new designs, but the remakes of Stewart Coffins and a few others. I've always charged, I believe, too low for my work. That was because I really needed to sell it. Now that I'm retired, I'll start charging a fair price. It would be nice to know exactly what that price is.

[Eric Fuller]

Twelve dollars.

 

OK, maybe not.  Serious anwer:  this is a really tricky question with a lot of variables:

-Cost of materials, consumables and overhead, including stuff like saw blades which need to be resharpened, disposable planer blades, etc.

-Time to make/design the item.

-Ultimate finished quality.  I have a general idea how much I would like to charge for something when I start it, but once it's all said and done that price is almost always revised one direction or another depending on how it turned out.  Also, usually one copy will be nicer than another when you make a batch.  Do you tier the prices depending on quality of the individual copy?  Personally I choose the worst of the lot and price them all at that level.

-Supply and demand, with subsets including desirability of the design, how many copies of the design have been made before, and how well known the craftsman is.  Obviously someone who has been at this longer will have more collectors following their work, and can/should charge a little more.

-Efficiency...we are fortunate in that our patrons are willing to pay us for what our time is worth.  However, implied in that is a minimum expectation of production  efficiency.  A design can be overpriced from one artist and appropriately priced for another depending on how efficient they respectively are with techniques, jigs, etc.

-Morality?...this applies to me anyway, can't speak for anyone else.  I always feel guilty when I make an expensive puzzle, and I wish I could have made it available for less.  I feel strongly that collecting puzzles should not be a rich man's game.  Odd since I'm a devoted capitalist, but I guess in the end it's better that I charge enough to keep myself in business than so drastically underprice my work that I go out of business and no more puzzles are made available for our collectors.

-Full time vs. part time.  If you're doing this one the side, just enjoying the process of creating, you can charge less if you want.  If you're doing this for a living, you have to pay your overhead and taxes before the rent gets paid or food is on the table.  Therefore you have to make at least a certain amount of puzzles every month just to keep livin' the dream.  For me, this is closely tied to efficiency and morality...I'd love to charge less.  Once my Nobel Prize comes through I'll use the million dollars to subsidize my personal expenses and be able to charge much less for my work.

In sum, I think the answer to your question is highly personal and will vary for each individual.  I don't think you can just set an hourly rate and have it apply to puzzlemakers in general.  I also think it's dangerous to look at the auction prices and assume it applies to our work overall.  Because a single copy sold for a crazy amount simply reflects limited supply for discontinued work, and has only limited correlation to future items.

[Robert Yarger]

I agree with Eric.  Good call.  Like him I think there is a difference depending on if you are making puzzles as a hobbiest vs. crafting them for a living.  (If you are doing it for a living, hopefully they would be mostly originals).  Personally, I figure how many months it took to make a puzzle line, and divide the amount I need to survive by how many puzzles I end up with.

This is not perfect by any means.  If I work effeciently, I end up passing on a bargain to the customers, but on some boxes I have to sell them for a bit more than I feel they are worth just so I can afford making the next puzzle line.

In the end, it is the customer who dictates what a puzzle is worth.  You know, the free market system and all.  If you throw together a bunch of easy coffin puzzles and sell them for too high, customers are not likely to purchase from you again.  If you place a fair price on a well made puzzle, they will always want more. 

Stephen, if you are wanting to sell puzzles for the same rate as you charge as a dentist, they should probably be a pretty good puzzle.  No problem for you.  Your puzzles are tight. 

[Peter Wiltshire]

Stephen judging by your puzzle photos you can charge as much as you want, those puzzles are pieces of art, and you should make some more boo boos that puzzle pot looks very cool! Nice work! Now if you want to sell me any of those puzzles I agree with Eric, twelve dollars sounds good 

[Stephen Chin]

Twelve Dollars!!  US or Aussie??

Suddenly my day job looks attractive,and retirement seems a long, long, far , far away

Thanks to the Internet, and private auctions, the value of puzzles have increased, esp limited editions. And demand still outweights supply, and the variety is there with us woodworms popping up everywhere with our curios.

I do envy you puzzlemakers. Its like sailing, some days are rough, some days are smooth sailings. But watch out for that storm ahead. Like Eric says 'to live your dream' its a huge uncharted adventure, few of us dare take the 1st steps. So Hats Off to you guys

And Auction prices are way overinflated. Good for the sellers wallet and ego.  Not good if you are a buyer competing against a trader.

I guess , for my infamous works, set a descent price you are happy with say $150 a puzzle to the unknowns, then 2/3 or 1/2 to people you sorta know including puzzlemakers, and for good buddies $1. Or swap them for their day's work of their puzzle.
And when you die, Double it.(Limited Edition)

Which works out $10 / hr,,to buy more wood and tools,,,I think welfare pays better
Maybe $20 / hr if your name starts as Eric, Robert, Kagen or Lee...

As a dentist, its $1000 each, we have very high overheads, any less, we eat like puzzlemakers, McDonalds. Ah! now I love going to work. and I work 4 days only

Thanks for the inputs,,,,I think   

[Robert Yarger]

Ha!!!  I would love to get $20/hr.  My last calculations were that I made about $8.25/hr.  That is less than my deadbeat son makes flipping pizzas.  OF course, I do get to spend the majoirty of that time working from my home and watching TV while completing thosands of repetative motions of sanding, lacquering or the like, so don't break out in tears for me.  It is a fun job and it does pay the bills. 

Still, it is a paycheck to paycheck thing, and one shipment to Eric that accidentally gets lost in the mail would put me 4 months into debt, so it is not the most secure job in the world.  No benifits, not company profitsharing, no dental (which is where you come in Stephen). 

With that being said, I still would not have it any other way.  The last few years have been a fun ride, and I can't see myself doing anything else. 

[Eric Fuller]

With that being said, I still would not have it any other way.  The last few years have been a fun ride, and I can't see myself doing anything else. 

Funny, this must get into your blood or something.  Every now and again I have a terrible day at the shop and think about something else.  I draw a blank when I do. 

It's been a fun ride indeed.  Still not sure how it happened.  I thought I was going to be a lawyer...WTF happened? 

[Robert Yarger]

Ahh! I figure it is just laziness.  I did the manager salery thing and sure I made more but I did not have near the amount of fun.  Life is a journey and should be enjoyed.  Nobody should work so hard to get to the finish line.  In life, you do know what the finish line is, don't you!!!!! 

[Thargo]

The finish line?

Help me out Robert, is that death, marriage or winning the lottery? 

[Robert Yarger]

Some say death and marriage are the same.  Others say that marriage is the same as winning a lottery.  Show us a bit about your wife and I will tell you what the finish line is.

[Jeff Chiou]

What you guys need are some lackeys to do the menial work!

[Eric Fuller]

Actually, I've had an engineering student from state helping me 15-20 hours a week for the last eight months.  Frees up some time to learn the laser, shopbot, etc.  He's graduating this summer and I'll be sad to see him go.

[Kerry Verne]

My wife no longer works and could do glue ups, but my 2yr old would 'help' too much. To him, any wooden stick under a foot long is a 'puzzle'.