What's your time worth?

[northernsky]

If you really aren't planning to go into business for yourself, but you don't want to give your work away, you might consider bartering. One kilt for 12-15 hours of yard work, or something like that.

This seems like the logical solution. Barter is a wonderful way of sharing out talents for people who don't need/want the cash. Not being terribly handy, but being a school teacher I have traded tutoring folks kids in exchange for odd jobs that are beyond me.

[Mr. Woolery]

Well, if someone approached me about making a kilt like the twill job I'm wearing right now, I'd charge enough to make it worth my effort. If the point is to hone skills for eventually making money at it, then take a loss. You are in training at that point.

Example: I make knives. I make darned good knives. I make darned few now that I have kids, but the knives I make are good tools. I take longer at it than a professional maker and I don't have an established reputation. I can make a knife that is just as good as many pros make, but I can't charge the same price. That said, a lot of knives were given away or sold for what amounts to materials costs only. Those were what I made when learning how. I now sell my knives for what I consider a fair price, not really worrying about how much time I have in them. I do it for fun and it is a hobby that makes a profit. Not many hobbies do that. If I wanted to make a business of it, I would have to make a lot more knives and sell them for a higher price. As it is, I would sell a sgian dubh for about the price of a Utilikilt, in most cases. And I do believe in barter and trading. I got a SWK standard kilt in a trade a while back. The other fellow got a good knife, I got a decent knock-about kilt, we're both happy.

So, here's a question: Do you actually want to make this kilt?

If so, charge materials and a case of your favorite carbonated beverage. Or materials and a bottle of good whiskey or something equivalent. You get something you would want and you enjoy, the other person gets a bargain on a kilt that is still a learning piece for you. 12 hours is a long time to work, but if you treat it as a hobby, that's a fair way to pass on your fun to others.

If you don't really want to make this kilt, tell the guy he's better off going to The Kilted Nation and buying an AmeriKilt for $65, since you'd have to charge more than that. If he wants a kilt that bad, he'll go there. If he doesn't want it that bad, or thinks you are a bargain he can take advantage of, just make what you want to make.

That's the hobby point of view, others are giving the business POV. You decide which is applicable to your situation.

-Patrick

[The F-H.C.A.G.]

In addition to my full time job, I also do website development, DB design and management, ColdFusion applications and some 3D Renderings.

My rule of thumb for 'moonlighting' gigs is charge at least 1.5 times per hour the amount you get paid hourly in your real world full time job, and to that figure, add a 25% hourly for the 'consulting'.

If I charged that to make a kilt, and it took 15-20 hours, it would cost you about $1500.00 to $2000.00 to get a kilt from me! Kilt making is NOT a high end, well-paid career. Most we hear from on this forum don't do this for a living, they do it on the side, for fun.

So, if you are going to get good experience making this kilt, and are going to enjoy the process, charge the customer a nominal or symbolic fee, and have a good time!

Be well,

[kmehrtens]

Thanks to everyone for their input. There has been a wide range of opinions of what to charge and a lot of good insight. I am not looking to go into business making and selling kilts. It started out as something fun to do in my spare time and I would like to keep it that way. I agree, if it was for a friend I wouldn’t charge anything but material cost, but for someone I just met through scouting I thought I should charge something. Since I am not a professional kilt-maker, I feel that the amount shouldn’t be too much. I will most likely charge 2-3 times the cost of fabric, plus the cost of the fabric, maybe $75. I know that this is not nearly enough when you look at it on an hourly pay scale. $75/15hours = $5/hour. But then again I am not a kilt making outfit and I don’t think I can charge too much when someone could go online and order from a business for $100-$140. So like someone said, “it makes for good practice.” Thanks again for everyone’s advice.