What would be a fair price?

[spookyturtle 9,466]

so this is what gary has been doing rather than posting on vj.

yup, he's a better husband than some...

Ouch!

[Ban Hammer 13,620]

so this is what gary has been doing rather than posting on vj.

yup, he's a better husband than some...

i refuse to make purses for you

[GaryC 7]

Great detail on the bags, impressive Gray!

I would not be able to tell you about how much to charge, but maybe have a look at etsy.com.. A few Vjers sell their handmade stuff on there (incl. myself). You could do a search for similar bags to get an idea for the price.

Good luck

Thanks! I looked at etsy. Some cool things there, it will at least give me an idea what to ask for.

A fair price or a price people will pay? Fair would be materials + cost of labour + profit (normally retail mark up is about 100% on cost for luxury items).

Whether anyone would pay such a price for a purse that didn't have 'Coach' or 'OXO' or whatever the current 'must have' name is, I somewhat doubt.

As for the designs themselves, I prefer something rather devoid of ornamentation, so it's just too much detail for me but that's just one opinion of many.

My trouble is I don't know the monetary value is of my time. The lady at the leather store where I get my stuff tells me 2x the retail price of the materials is a good place to start.

One of the beauties of custom leather is I can make it as ornate or plain as you want. Luz likes the large amount of detail and the coloring on some of the bags. I realize that doesn't go well with everyones style though.

Here's one on ebay, maybe you can try the ebay market, auction one off and see how much buyers are willing to pay for it.

hand-made leather purse/bag

There is no way I could sell my stuff that cheap. It wouldn't even cover the materials. Maybe I should stay away from e-bay then.

so this is what gary has been doing rather than posting on vj.

Just spoiling the wife Charles. She had a huge handbag collection in PI. She had to leave most of them when she came here. I am just replenishing her stock.

[DeadPoolX 9]

so this is what gary has been doing rather than posting on vj.

yup, he's a better husband than some...

i refuse to make purses for you

Hmm... you could always design lingerie and ask your wife to model it for you. For business purposes, of course.

[Ban Hammer 13,620]

so this is what gary has been doing rather than posting on vj.

yup, he's a better husband than some...

i refuse to make purses for you

Hmm... you could always design lingerie and ask your wife to model it for you. For business purposes, of course.

now there is an idea. now to find some string and some cloth the size of a postage stamp.

[Peikko 1,575]

Great detail on the bags, impressive Gray!

I would not be able to tell you about how much to charge, but maybe have a look at etsy.com.. A few Vjers sell their handmade stuff on there (incl. myself). You could do a search for similar bags to get an idea for the price.

Good luck

Thanks! I looked at etsy. Some cool things there, it will at least give me an idea what to ask for.

A fair price or a price people will pay? Fair would be materials + cost of labour + profit (normally retail mark up is about 100% on cost for luxury items).

Whether anyone would pay such a price for a purse that didn't have 'Coach' or 'OXO' or whatever the current 'must have' name is, I somewhat doubt.

As for the designs themselves, I prefer something rather devoid of ornamentation, so it's just too much detail for me but that's just one opinion of many.

My trouble is I don't know the monetary value is of my time. The lady at the leather store where I get my stuff tells me 2x the retail price of the materials is a good place to start.

One of the beauties of custom leather is I can make it as ornate or plain as you want. Luz likes the large amount of detail and the coloring on some of the bags. I realize that doesn't go well with everyones style though.

Here's one on ebay, maybe you can try the ebay market, auction one off and see how much buyers are willing to pay for it.

hand-made leather purse/bag

There is no way I could sell my stuff that cheap. It wouldn't even cover the materials. Maybe I should stay away from e-bay then.

so this is what gary has been doing rather than posting on vj.

Just spoiling the wife Charles. She had a huge handbag collection in PI. She had to leave most of them when she came here. I am just replenishing her stock.

, Cool, we are all different and all like different things.

I think my main point would be, presumably you are doing this, not because you want to make a living at it, but because you enjoy it. If you wanted to make a living from it, you would go about this in another way, ie you would find out what the market requires and decide where to fit into that market.

If that is correct, then I would try to find a price where you feel you have compensated yourself adequately for your time and stick with it, even though it might take longer to find a buyer (of course it might not, I am not really that au fait with the leather goods market ). If you do that, then at least you will feel good about selling the item. If you undersell yourself too much, you will feel cheated and it might sour your taste for the hobby.

Good luck, I hope you find the right place to sell your goods

[caybee 21]

My sister also uses etsy, and she found a website with a formula for computing the value of handmade things. I'm waiting for a response from her about that site.

Meh, the formula my sister mentioned was just for knitted items. But I would try at least double the cost of the materials. Even that wouldn't give you a much per hour of labor, but we can assume you get partial payment in enjoyment of the hobby

[JODO 2]

Gary that's nice handiwork. I'd say multiply $12 an hour by how long it took you to make the bag and then charge accordingly. Oh I just saw that the materials cost you $90, then definitely include that. Unless you want to be like my ex-husband and basically paying customers for your input costs .

Edited March 9, 2009 by JODO

[Chica Yeyé 41]

Gary --- see how much a master/leatherist charges per hour. that can be quite helpful

they are GORGEOUS. And i am a purse freak, so you can believe me.

and for this advise, I want one of them 4 free

kidding. Best of luck.

[Nessa 23]

so this is what gary has been doing rather than posting on vj.

yup, he's a better husband than some...

i refuse to make purses for you

i wouldn't want u too, i'm too picky.

[Ban Hammer 13,620]

so this is what gary has been doing rather than posting on vj.

yup, he's a better husband than some...

i refuse to make purses for you

i wouldn't want u too, i'm too picky.

good, i'll stick with washing the dishes then.

[one...two...tree 2,762]

Gary that's nice handiwork. I'd say multiply $12 an hour by how long it took you to make the bag and then charge accordingly. Oh I just saw that the materials cost you $90, then definitely include that. Unless you want to be like my ex-husband and basically paying customers for your input costs .

That's a $390 purse, which sounds reasonable if someone wants a handmade leather purse that is one of kind.

Gary, I'd recommend setting up your own website and promote them as custom made leather hand bags. Let the customers choose basic design patterns and quote them a price up front. I think you could make this into a serious side business.

[Chica Yeyé 41]

Gary that's nice handiwork. I'd say multiply $12 an hour by how long it took you to make the bag and then charge accordingly. Oh I just saw that the materials cost you $90, then definitely include that. Unless you want to be like my ex-husband and basically paying customers for your input costs .

That's a $390 purse, which sounds reasonable if someone wants a handmade leather purse that is one of kind.

Gary, I'd recommend setting up your own website and promote them as custom made leather hand bags. Let the customers choose basic design patterns and quote them a price up front. I think you could make this into a serious side business.

Agree 100%

And also brother Gary: sign up for booths at the next Spring Fair (or whatever the blip they call it where you are). You will be surprised how much biz comes your way.

[HAL 9000 96]

Gary I might be interested if you expanded your trade to leather hats. The bags are indeed very cool!

[GaryC 7]

Thank you all for your suggestions. I mainly want to do this because I enjoy it. I have went through the entire Tandy catalog in regards to purses with the exception of one last one that I want to do. Luz does have some nice purses now.

I also do belts. I did one for Luz and I, I did one for my dad and now I am working on one for Robin. They are nice in a country, sh!t-kicking sort of way. I have made Robin and my father wallets, my step-mother a purse and a checkbook cover and my father a nice bible cover. I am running out of projects unless I start coming up with designs of my own. So I thought I might make a buck or two by making custom goods for sale. I don't want to charge so much that it makes it hard to sell but at the same time I don't want to do it for free either. I was really in the dark about what this sort of thing really goes for.

I may consider doing my own web site and sell them that way. What do you think, for a custom item charging for the material up front with the balance due when finished or just cash on the barrel head on delivery? If they want colors or a name on it I really couldn't sell it to someone else if they back out after I make it.