Hourl Pay for hobby

hobbyman

Good afternoon everyone.
I am retired (aged 67). My hobby is building model ships. Theyeare NOT kits and completely hand built. I sell them to earn a little extra cash. I am registered with HMRC and pay income tax on all my sales. I build about eight a year.

Until recently, I was getting much less than the average minimum wage for the UK. With all this financial turmoil, I decided to put my hourly rate up to £10 an hour, expenses and delivery extra. Do you think I am being too greedy about this?

This one took 83 hours (timed on a stopwatch) to build and it sold for £600 at auction in London, but my share was only £344!

It took me over 50 years to get up to this standard, but the vibes I am getting from quite a lot of potential customers that the £10 an hour is too much.

Hobbyman

hobbyman

I have accidentally managed to duplicate this thread!
Hobbyman

HappyMJ

If customers aren't paying then it's too much. If you enjoy doing it carry on.

Lil_Me_2

Perhaps you should look to price per ship instead of per hour? If you have an idea of how long they take then you should be able to give an estimate, although charging £10 an hour for a ship that took 83 hours is £830 plus expenses. You say it sold for £600 so perhaps you are asking a little too much. However I would be put off by an hourly rate - how do I know you couldn't work faster meaning less money?

hobbyman

It is too early to tell at the moment as, after my last private commission sold a week ago, I have only had one request for a quote and that has not been replied to yet! (I quoted £10 an hour plus building costs & delivery extra). I can estimate how long they take because I have extensive records going back a number of years. I don't know of anyone who can build them as fast as me, so anyone expecting me to speed up is asking for "mission impossible!!

I do enjoy building them, but I do not particularly enjoy private commissions where I am building something that may not appeal to me all that much! I have no problem with my "off the peg" models, (built for enjoyment) if they go for less than expected on Ebay or auction houses, I can put up with that. But as I said, a private commission is far more demanding.

Lil Me
I do give them a price per model, but I work it out based on £10 an hour plus expenses, so they do know what the final price will be before they confirm. As I have never had any trouble selling them, I have begun to think I have been undercharging!
Hobbyman

tirlittan

Is there another way to sell them except in auctions where they obviously take a cut?

Lil_Me_2

hobbyman wrote: »

Lil Me
I do give them a price per model, but I work it out based on £10 an hour plus expenses, so they do know what the final price will be before they confirm. As I have never had any trouble selling them, I have begun to think I have been undercharging!
Hobbyman

Ah that makes sense! I thought you were saying you'd charge them £10 an hour and when it's done they pay you your hourly rate! In which case you charge what you think your time is worth. If you don't enjoy making commisions as much then charge more.

hobbyman

Tirlittan,
Yes, I am well-known. I have recently decided not to send any more to auctions as I finish up with very little after everyone takes their cut. Before the world-wide crisis, they did very well in London, sometimes a 6 or 7 inch long one would top the £1,000 mark, but now, they are lucky to sell on the first attempt and recently have been going on to the third sale before going. So auctions are now out for me.

Lil Me
Yes, that is correct.

I am finding it very difficult to find out how much and hour skilled artistic work normally fetches. No-one seems inclined to say.

All I am wanting to confirm is that I am in line with other artists. Even at £10 an hour, the income tax will grab £2 of it, so I am not actually much above the minimum wage.

At the moment, I am sitting back and enjoying the recession. In many ways, I hope people will stop asking me for private commissions.

I have tried saying I am not accepting any more, but then they keep badgering me until I finally give in. Maybe putting the charges up will cut them down a bit and leave me with what I actually want it to be - a hobby where I do what I want and then sell the result to whoever wants it - less stressful!

Hobbyman

tirlittan

I guess, in the end of the day it's up to you how much money you're willing to work for and maybe at the moment there is no demand for the type of thing you do, except for the commissions. Some people manage to make a lot of money from arts and crafts and soem people will never be as successful. You seem to definitely have a very niche product, do you have your own website or do you advertise anywhere?

hobbyman

I don't advertise simply because I am not a business. I spent over 30 years at sea and building model ships quickly became a hobby. Since I stared counting when I left the sea in October 1992, I have completed 250 of them and only two remain unsold, the last one only completed a few days ago.

I do have a website (blog) and if you click on my username here and then on Profile and finally Contact Details, my website address is there. (Don't think I am allowed to put it on here). If you look, you will see that I am not offering models for sale or even saying which ones are available.

My problem is not actually in selling them, but trying to get over feelings of guilt if I think I have charged too much! I really have no idea of how much artists in other fields get per hour. If, for instance, a doll's house builder told me that he got £20 an hour for building a doll's house, that would make me feel less guilty.

Hobbyman

GavB79

hobbyman wrote: »

Even at £10 an hour, the income tax will grab £2 of it, so I am not actually much above the minimum wage.

Minimum wage is still gross, so £10 is still over 50% above minimum wage