Stained glass pieces can be difficult to price because of all of the variables that go into making it, and deciding how much your time is worth. If you price too high, you risk alienating your customer, but price too low and you may short-change yourself. Talk with fellow artists to get an idea what they charge per hour and adjust the rate to take into account your experience and the quality of work.
Step 1
Calculate how long it takes you to complete a panel from start to finish. Track the amount of time that you work on a piece, and divide that time by the number of pieces to arrive at the amount of time you spend per piece. This figure allows you to predetermine your labor costs on any panel if you know how many pieces the panel will have. Multiply the number of pieces per minute by the number of pieces in the finished product to determine how many hours you have worked on any panel. Multiply the hours by the amount of money you want to make per hour to calculate your labor.
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Step 2
Add together the cost of your grinder bits, cutter head and glass saw blades and multiply this amount by five percent.
Step 3
Add the cost of the materials it requires to produce a square foot sample piece. The final cost depends on the type of glass you are using in the piece. Take height and width measurements of the piece you are selling. Multiply the width and height and divide the answer by 144. This gives you the square footage of the panel. Multiply the square footage of the panel by the material cost from Step 2.
Step 4
Multiply your costs – this does not include labor – by 25 percent to calculate your overhead cost. Overhead costs include your office expenses, electricity, taxes and equipment depreciation.
Step 5
Add the totals to arrive at your final price for the panel.
Tip
A simpler way to calculate the price of stained glass is to add up all of your costs and multiply that amount by two. This method may not be adequate for intricate work.
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