Skills books › Upcycling as a Side Hustle

How to price upcycled furniture and handmade goods

Count your time, or you are working for free. Many upcyclers guess what people will pay and forget the hours, the sandpaper and the stall fee. Write down every cost, give your time a fair hourly rate, add a profit margin, and then check the market.

Every cost counts

• The item: its purchase price, and the transport to fetch it.
• Materials: paint, primer, topcoat, stain, fabric, foam and timber.
• Consumables: sandpaper, brushes, glue, filler, staples and tape.
• Hardware: handles, hinges, legs and felt pads.
• Labour: your hours multiplied by your hourly rate.
• Overheads: stall fees, data, listing fees, packaging, tool wear, electricity and transport to markets.
• Selling costs: payment fees and courier costs.

The easiest mistake is to count only the item and the paint.

Your hourly rate

Choose a rate that is fair for skilled work and worth your weekends. A simple start is a little above what you earn per hour in your main job. Write it down and use it every time.

Overheads for each product

Add up a month's overheads and divide by the number of products you make in a month. For example, stall fees of R400, data of R150, tool wear of R250 and transport of R300 come to R1 100. At 20 products a month, that is R55 for each product.

A worked costing: one kitchen chair

• Chair, including transport: R80.
• Paint, primer and topcoat: R45.
• Foam, batting, fabric and staples: R70.
• Sandpaper, glue, filler and brushes: R25.
• Felt pads: R10.
• Direct costs: R230.
• Labour, 5 hours at R60: R300.
• Overheads share: R55.
• Cost price: R585.
• Profit margin of 25%: R146.
• Price: about R730, rounded to R750 after a market check.

These are example figures. Use your own.

Setting the price

1. Start from the cost price.
2. Add a profit margin, often 20 to 50% of cost, as the reward for risk and for growing the business.
3. Check what similar pieces of similar quality sell for where your customers buy. Note what is selling, not only what is listed. Items that sit for months are priced too high.
4. Decide. If the market pays more, you may price higher. If it pays well below your cost price, change something: buy more cheaply, work in batches, change the design, sell in a different market, or drop the product.
5. Round to a clear price.

If the market will not pay it, change the product, not your hourly rate.

Is it worth making?

Work out what each product really earns you:

(price − direct costs − overheads share) ÷ hours = earnings per hour

A batch-made chair might earn R133 an hour, while a hand-stencilled tin earns R29. Put your time where the earnings are, and simplify or drop the rest.

Discounts and bargaining

• Bargaining at markets is normal. Price with a little room, and decide your lowest price in advance.
• Discounts for sets or repeat customers are fine if they still leave a profit.
• Do not discount to compete with cheap, rough work. Compete on quality.

Painting a customer's own furniture

Price it as a service, with the same costing sheet but no item cost.

• Inspect the piece before you quote.
• Quote in writing: the work, colour, finish, price, deposit and date.
• Take a deposit, often 50%, before you start.
• Photograph the piece when it arrives.
• Phone before doing any extra repairs.
• Agree when it must be collected.

Keep records from day one

For every product, keep the costing sheet, the receipts, your hours, the selling price and date, and before-and-after photos. They help you price better and declare your income properly.

This guide is based on Chapter 10 of Upcycling as a Side Hustle.