What would you charge for these pedals

[billstein]

Hey all. I've never built a pedal for anybody else so this is new for me. I have somebody who is interested in a Cornish SS2 and G2 combo and a Klon, compressor combo.
The prices for these used are insane.

Any suggestions on what you would charge for each? This would include the time of graphics and envirotex etc.

Thanks in advance.

[pickdropper]

There's no correct formula here.

A starting point might be to figure out what the parts cost is and how long each will take you to build.  Figure out what you think a reasonable hourly rate is.

Selling price = cost + (time * hourly rate)

Often, if you calculate a price with a normal hourly rate it ends up being too high, so practicality requires it to be a bit less.  I know that if I charged my normal salary or consulting rate the price would be well beyond what is reasonable (I know I wouldn't pay that).  I end up pricing my pedal building time much lower because I (usually) enjoy it to some degree.  But I do put *some* value to my time.  I view my builds as a custom pedal, not a sub-standard pedal.

[mandrewbot3k]

Don't sell yourself short. They are custom pedals after all. Time and materials. And whatever overhead markup you need. You may have saved that one time on shipping and buying everything at once, but when you go to build your next build, and you used the rest of that one component on someone elses build, youre gonna have to pay $10 shipping again. Those costs are easily lost in the grand scheme.

Personally, if I were to custom make stuff. I would do Time and Materials = (Materials + 10-15% markup) + (Time x whatever youre worth). Everyones time value is a little different.

That being said. I sell my pedals to my GOOD friends only. And I do it mostly for cost plus a little markup to keep me going and stocked. I usually offer the labor free because they are my best friends and I enjoy making the stuff.

[juansolo]

I charge £80 for a Klone direct and £100 on eBay (works out at slightly less than £80 in hand when all eBays fees are paid). For a 2 effect multi, I'd be looking at a minimum of £100.

Generally I charge double the parts cost as a rough guide. I charge a little more for Klones simply because I can and the pedal fund usually needs it (bloody does at the moment, several hundred in the red...). Multi's I charge based on parts cost and the sheer amount of ball-ache they are to build.

Another thing I don't do is bend on price to anyone I don't know... You are doing them a favour essentially, don't rip yourself off because of it. The resale of the pedal is not your concern, they're paying you direct for a piece of work. Think of it like that.

Mates rates for mates though admittedly.

[selfdestroyer]

I am terrible about finding a price to sell things at. Most of the time I build for myself and when a friend or family member loves it then I gift it to them. But When I do charge for builds I usually do parts X2 with in reason. Essentially the cost of me to build 2 of them. Since I sell only to keep going on this hobby then I really just want the money for more parts.  So if I can build a Moodring for $50 then I sell it for $100. The only other factor is the enclosure finishing time. If my buddy just wants paint and stamps then the price stays the same, if he wants a etched enclosure then I will tack on a little more for that.

Cody

[Luke51411]

I haven't sold much and when I have, I've probably sold myself short. I would start by thinking about what are your goals in building pedals. Are you happy selling to friends and covering costs/supporting the hobby, or are you at the point of selling for a bit of profit? Obviously everybody likes a little extra cash. The difficult part for me is determining what is a fair rate for both myself and the buyer. I've sold on ebay before and I haven't really moved anything unless it was cheap like maybe 1.5x parts cost and with ebay fees... well you get the picture, but the sale funded the next parts purchase so I was relatively happy. You have someone requisitioning you for a custom charge what you can get them to pay haha! I guess I would also look at it from a standpoint of, is it something I want to build myself to try out or is it something I have no personal interest in. If it is going to be something I enjoy building/testing I would be more willing to do it for slightly less if they weren't into the original price... I don't know, I'm kind of at the same point as you are. The quality of the parts comes into play as well, I would be more likely to have a higher markup on better quality parts...

[midwayfair]

I charge 3x the cost of parts, using good parts, and assume a build takes me 4 hours, unless I think that there is something about a build that will require additional time, in which case I estimate how much longer it will take and pay myself $20/hour above the 4-hour mark. I've really only shot myself in the foot with this method once. You should charge more than 2x because you have to pay taxes.

Given that the customer is asking you for pedals that fetch a premium on their own and wants custom work, I say quote him $125 for each circuit he's getting. $250 is about right for a custom-built dual pedal that doesn't involve very expensive parts.

If he's a good friend -- actually a friend, not just some musician you know -- then you can lower the price.

[culturejam]

I charge 3x the cost of parts,

I was going to suggest something like this. If I don't have to do any design work myself and already have good-to-go PCBs, 3x-4x parts cost is a good measuring stick. But make sure you include shipping costs in your parts tally. It's easy to overlook, but shipping costs are not insignificant.



On a side note, I love how the DIY community has very conflicting views on what a pedal should cost:

If somebody else built it: "Whoa, that price! I could build that for $35!!."

If somebody wants you to build it: "No way I could do it for less than $250"



(and I'm as guilty as anyone else)

[Luke51411]

I'm curious as to people's experience with building pedals for yourself and then selling sometime down the line. This is that only type of transaction I've really taken part in but I always feel I sell too low... I'm trying to drum up some more local interest so I at least won't have to pay the fleabay fees.

[jubal81]

I built a Duplex for a guy - charged $275 - and he's sending it back for mods. The stock G2 values make a great sounding effect, but it's very low gain and low output and kind of dark.


I've got the G2 on the breadboard right now and so far I've got it working a whole lot better with a few changes:
1) Replace the 680R resistors on the emitters of the first gain stage and first clipping stage with 100R.
2) Make the Sustain pot 100Kb and Vol pot 100Ka
3) Swap the feedback caps from 1n to 220pF.
4) In the first clipping stage, replace the single Ge diode pair with a pair of 3 Ge diodes in series. (I tried silicon here and it sounded quite different, and not so good.)

[selfdestroyer]

I built a Duplex for a guy - charged $275 - and he's sending it back for mods. The stock G2 values make a great sounding effect, but it's very low gain and low output and kind of dark.


I've got the G2 on the breadboard right now and so far I've got it working a whole lot better with a few changes:
1) Replace the 680R resistors on the emitters of the first gain stage and first clipping stage with 100R.
2) Make the Sustain pot 100Kb and Vol pot 100Ka
3) Swap the feedback caps from 1n to 220pF.
4) In the first clipping stage, replace the single Ge diode pair with a pair of 3 Ge diodes in series. (I tried silicon here and it sounded quite different, and not so good.)

Thanks for this info. I may do this to my Duplex Drive.

Cody

[pryde]

A real profit eater can be the design and finishing aspect. I normally offer my customers an etched copper plate as that is the quickest way to design and label a pedal that is still durable. I think it looks pro, especially on a nice powdercoated enclosure.

Some people insist on having full-color graphics (that need clear coating) and they want to approve the custom design which can take A LOT of time back and forth coming to the final product. Be careful of this because you can really end up in the red.

The best advice is here is don't sell yourself short when you quote. This is your time and expertise. If they "get it" they will be pleased with your pricing.

[juansolo]

I would also look at it from a standpoint of, is it something I want to build myself to try out or is it something I have no personal interest in.

I am bad for this. Because if I have no interest in building something, I need the incentive to build one for someone else. As they're not usually prepared to pay for that incentive, I generally put them off at this point. It's a win/win in a way as I don't end up wasting my time for pennies building things that bore me... But I do put off an awful lot of people because I just can't be arsed spending a few hours of my time doing something I'm not particularly interested in for your £35 matey

I suppose I should go 3x

I'm curious as to people's experience with building pedals for yourself and then selling sometime down the line. This is that only type of transaction I've really taken part in but I always feel I sell too low... I'm trying to drum up some more local interest so I at least won't have to pay the fleabay fees.

I sell them for significantly less than I would a commissioned build or a Klone (the only two types of work I do for cash), but not quite as low as I've seen them go for 2nd hand from people I've built them for. But I flogged a load recently (pedal mountain was out of control) and it got me an amp and Cleggy a guitar

Purge number 2 will be occurring when I get my shit together again and go through them.

[Luke51411]

I sell them for significantly less than I would a commissioned build or a Klone (the only two types of work I do for cash), but not quite as low as I've seen them go for 2nd hand from people I've built them for. But I flogged a load recently (pedal mountain was out of control) and it got me an amp and Cleggy a guitar

Purge number 2 will be occurring when I get my shit together again and go through them.

Nice! I'm start to a point where my build quality is getting elevated and I feel that I don't want to sell stuff just to get rid of it/fund the next parts order anymore but to get something back for the time I've put in too.

[flanagan0718]

Here is how I break it up
PCB = *actual cost of board*
Etched Board = $7 (cost for copper clad and ferric chloride)
Passives on board (resistors, Caps, Transistors, etc) = $5-10
Hardware (switches, mono jacks, dc jacks, pots) = $10
Other Misc parts (rvrb bricks, expensive ICs or Transistors, uncommon parts) = *cost of misc parts*
Enclosure+ Art = *cost of enclosure, paint / decal* (add $10 for etched enclosure)
Labor (here is the real question, What is your time worth to you?) = I usually double my total then round up to the nearest 5.

For instance this is from the Elephuzz (Sabertooth) I built.
Etched Board = $7
Passives (low parts build) = $5
Hardware = $10
Enclosure (1590B + paint and decal) = $15
Total Parts cost = $37
Labor = $37
Total build = $75 (rounded up from $74 to $75

I know I could have asked for more but that's what I felt comfortable charging him.