I learned a lot from Keith, particularly the business side. You have to charge what it's worth if you charge, and it takes a lot of money and tooling to become productive. If you're working only for yourself you can work around tooling limitations and substitute time for tools which are more efficient.
+1
Well said Ian. I learned the business part from my machining/welding mentor. He told me that the idea is to charge enough for the work to "get" some work, but not too much that you get no interest either - all depends on the supply/demand. The time part of course this depends on how much time/work you have available to work on this hobby/business to start with - in my particular case, it was only weekends I had available, and I do have a family, so I didn't want to spend ALL weekend working on somebody else's project, so I priced myself accordingly.
I have done well over 100 of these little guys - shipped all over the world:
I of course made custom tooling/holders/etc. to optimize operations to save me time/effort and be more consistent:
I also offered LOTS of customizations, since after all I was making them one at a time. I made each one exactly like the customer wanted - that allowed me to charge a premium. Here are some examples from a sales thread I had back in 2009:
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The detailed cost for a turn-key 1xD with a P7, using a 3xAA adapter are:
- 1xD Host cut/re-thread in any color ($60 domestic - this includes shipping)
- P7 LED $30
- P7 heatsink $20 (order these from Asia - about a 3 week wait)
- deep tailcap mod $25
- mdocod 3xAA adapter $25 (I order these from forum member Eric, aka mdocod)
- assembly, labor, misc supplies (epoxy, Al, Delrin, cables, etc.) $60
- cut/modify switch for flat cells and LED wiring - free
Total with shipping = $220 (domestic)
Total with shipping = $230 (international with tracking #)
The detailed cost for a turn-key 1xD with a P7, using a single 18650 cell are:
- 1xD Host cut/re-thread in any color ($60 domestic - this includes shipping)
- P7 LED $30
- P7 heatsink $20 (order these from Asia - about a 3 week wait)
- Deep tailcap mod with Delrin spacer and Al plug for 18650 cell (all included) = $55
- assembly, labor, misc supplies (epoxy, Al, Delrin, cables, etc.) $60
- cut/modify switch for flat cells and LED wiring - free
Total with shipping = $225 (domestic)
Total with shipping = $235 (international with tracking #)
Often asked options:
- Head, body grooving is extra at $35 each
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However, it was not meant to last. Once enough alternate sources/vendors/home hobbyists came into the picture to compete with me on the basic machining, cut & rethread jobs, etc., I didn't lower my prices - I stop providing that particular service, and moved to provide custom assemblies, completed flashlights, etc. - things that needed more than what just a machinist could do - electronics, soldering, understanding LED's and heatsinks, etc.. And then when the copies from China came, I exited the segment completely. It was no longer worth my time.
I then ran into the titanium and brass shaving handles:
I even made 2-3 Titanium custom shaving brushes - but folks were not willing to pay for my materials and time, so I stopped those very quickly:
Now, if I had a CNC machine, I probably would had made a LOT more money while the demand was high, since my limiting factor at the time was not having enough time to work on these. I considered a couple of times, but I was never able to make the ROI math work to make the jump to CNC.
Will