I have been asked to build a free standing cabinet 35wx16dx36h. It will be poplar plywood for carcass and shelves, poplar faceframe, door frames, and drawer fronts. Bead board for inside the doors. It will then have a hickory top. The top will remain natural color while the rest will be painted. I have priced everything and with three 8' poplar boards, two 8' hickory boards, one sheet of plywood, one sheet of bead board, full extension slides and soft close blumotion hinges and it is about $200 in materials. That seems high and there is a little bit that I could trim by using cheaper ply and I won't be using a full sheet of bead board (but I don't have any) but how do you justify the cost when dealing with a customer? This is a friend/coworker so I will take less profit than otherwise but I generally see a lot of people say that the multiply the cost by three to get the final price. That would be $600. I will probably do it for $350. Does that seem fair?

How many hours have you allowed start to finish? Is he buying the materials and getting them to you or are you buying and getting the materials yourself? Is this a hobby for you or are you in business?

It is a hobby, I'll be getting the materials and I'm not sure how long to expect.

If it's a hobby, I would do it for cost. Look at it like this, he is paying for you to do the thing you love. You get to hone your craft and have fun, and he gets a beautiful piece from a friend. It's a beatiful thing, don't try and make money from it.

I agree with this. Your shop time is getting paid for and someone else is buying everything, and you get to play around with all your tools. But you should still make a little to cover things like sand paper and saw blades. A little cash for the electricity and what not.

A few favors and jobs for friends help boost the new tool fund.

I think $350 sounds fair. You should get something for your time and use of your equipment.
Tom

Depends on how good a friend it is. A casual friend, the "hey" every once in a while, $350 is pretty good. Three guy who grew up with you and has been through thick and thin, $350 is a little high

I appreciate the replies.

Don't ever work for "free" for friends or family (except your parents). Your name will go out as "have Aaron do this. He doesn't charge you". At a minimum you should charge for your time equal to the cost of the materials. This covers some of your time and your equipment while he is getting a nice piece of custom furniture at a very nice cost. You will both benefit form a project like this. Your pay can go to upgrading equipment and shop supplies.

Red

(Time + materials + overhead) X 20% = wholesale price. That is what I charge the people I consider my friends. All others pay wholesale X 2.

That sounds cheap. Really cheap.

Depending on how well you know this person, how good of a friend they are, I'd bill more like 500. For someone I don't know, it would be a lot more.

It amazes me how many friemds I never knew I had who offer to have me make something for them at slave labor prices.

If you want to do it for that price then do it. If you are asking if it is fair, then I would have to say not to you. Based on going rates in my area. I am picturing a free standing island that will require doors and or finish panels all the way around. To me just that is more than $150.00 worth of labor. And then there is the top. Have you priced alternatives to the wood top you will be making? $$$$$$$

So what I am saying is if you wanna do it for cheap or free because they are a friend, then by all means charge what you want. In my market I could easily get $600-$800 for what I have pictured.

If you wanna make more but don't think they think it is worth it, have them have a cabinet shop price it then give them what ever % discount you want off of their price.

Something else I always do on stuff like this for friends is give them an invoice as if they had paid full price. I usually say something like here is an invoice. No need to pay it. It is just incase you ever have an insurance claim and they need a receipt or valuation of the item. At least part of the real reason I do this is because I think a lot of the time most people don't really understand how big a favor you are doing for them.


My 2 cents