Post by captbob on Feb 24, 2014 13:15:51 GMT -5
Well?
Okay, I'll elaborate.
I have a neighbor that knows I collect rocks. By collect, I mean both display specimens and quality rough.
My neighbor met someone at a local flea market that sells rocks (mostly slabs) and being kinda gabby, my neighbor told this seller about my rocks and that I might be interested in selling slabs to him for resale at the flea market.
I never expressed an interest to my neighbor in selling anything, but that's beside the point of my question.
Say I have a rough rock that I paid $10 a pound for factoring in shipping costs. With my 24" saw I could make a dozen or so quality slabs out of the rough piece.
Now, this isn't going to happen over night as I sleep simply because I wish the rough was now slabs.
So, how does one come to a fair price considering the original cost of the rough vs today's value and one's time?
If one is working on rocks because they want to create something for themselves, the time is irrelevant. But, if I spend my time (many hours I'm guessing) to provide a desired product for someone else, how do I charge for that time?
I see no logical reason to sell below "retail" (what ever that is), but should one consider that the buyer will want to sell their purchase at a profit?
I collect specimens and rough because I want to possess the item, not with the intention of selling, so I'm having trouble figuring out how to price rocks as well as how to charge for my labor plus wear & tear on equipment.
Heck, I sold someone here around 40 pounds of quality imported rock many years ago and never charged them because I couldn't figure out a "fair" amount!
So, maybe selling isn't for me, but someday I'll have to move my collection on to others, so my question stands.
Also, pertaining to highly collectable display specimens, how does one come up with a current value for them? Pieces that I bought years ago may now be much more valuable due to both rarity and supply & demand. A piece that I spent $500 on 10 years ago might be pretty tough to find these days. So what's it worth now??
I hope to God that any coming answers aren't "look on eBay".
Thank you for any suggestions or ideas to a problem I will someday need to face.
Okay, I'll elaborate.
I have a neighbor that knows I collect rocks. By collect, I mean both display specimens and quality rough.
My neighbor met someone at a local flea market that sells rocks (mostly slabs) and being kinda gabby, my neighbor told this seller about my rocks and that I might be interested in selling slabs to him for resale at the flea market.
I never expressed an interest to my neighbor in selling anything, but that's beside the point of my question.
Say I have a rough rock that I paid $10 a pound for factoring in shipping costs. With my 24" saw I could make a dozen or so quality slabs out of the rough piece.
Now, this isn't going to happen over night as I sleep simply because I wish the rough was now slabs.
So, how does one come to a fair price considering the original cost of the rough vs today's value and one's time?
If one is working on rocks because they want to create something for themselves, the time is irrelevant. But, if I spend my time (many hours I'm guessing) to provide a desired product for someone else, how do I charge for that time?
I see no logical reason to sell below "retail" (what ever that is), but should one consider that the buyer will want to sell their purchase at a profit?
I collect specimens and rough because I want to possess the item, not with the intention of selling, so I'm having trouble figuring out how to price rocks as well as how to charge for my labor plus wear & tear on equipment.
Heck, I sold someone here around 40 pounds of quality imported rock many years ago and never charged them because I couldn't figure out a "fair" amount!
So, maybe selling isn't for me, but someday I'll have to move my collection on to others, so my question stands.
Also, pertaining to highly collectable display specimens, how does one come up with a current value for them? Pieces that I bought years ago may now be much more valuable due to both rarity and supply & demand. A piece that I spent $500 on 10 years ago might be pretty tough to find these days. So what's it worth now??
I hope to God that any coming answers aren't "look on eBay".
Thank you for any suggestions or ideas to a problem I will someday need to face.
