a so-so piece & thoughts on pricing

So, I'll be honest… I wasn't in love with this piece when I bought it.  It was huge (which always seems to help things sell lickety-split) and solid wood (another plus when selling something) so it seemed like a no-brainer to buy it.  But I didn't love it.

The original hardware was fabulous, though (you can see it below, I'd already taken it off in the 'before' picture above).  I painted the whole piece in ASCP Paris Gray & waxed it with clear only.  I did a teensy bit of distressing, brought it into my kitchen, took a couple of mediocre-camera shots and listed it on craigslist on a Saturday morning.  I listed it for $175, thinking surely I'd have to drop the price or do some heavy negotiating.

It was gone - like out the door, paid in full - in less than an hour.

Sometimes things just don't make sense to me.

The doors aren't even level, can you tell??  We were going to work on them that afternoon, but then it was gone.  Crazy.

Here is the price breakdown.  People ask me about this a lot, and there are certainly times when I'm not comfortable sharing prices (ie when something is still for sale) but I'm going to go for it here.

The piece was marked down at my local Goodwill to $24
I used all of the original drawer hardware, but added the cabinet hardware.  2 @ $3 each = $6 (from HL)
ASCP in Paris Gray (about a fifth of a can), we'll call that $8
ASCP wax ~ a little goes a long way, we'll call that $5

Total cost of project:  $43

Of course, I spent some time on it… but since I didn't love it, I never devoted a ton of time to it, instead working on it while I worked on some other things.  I maybe spent 3 hours on it??  It was quick.  I generally charge around $20 per hour for my time.

So that's another $60 or so in time.

But with big pieces, I find that the market here in Atlanta will support a higher price.  So I priced this piece when I listed it at:

$175

And like I said, less than an hour later it had been carried out, paid in full, not even a peep of negotiation.  A good morning :)

Crazy, I tell you.  And it was even still dusty ~ do you see the dust from my garage???

I hope that sharing some pricing information was helpful.  Here are some other things I've shared with people when they ask:

Here goes:

As a general rule, I try to make sure I'll be able to double my investment when I sell something.  So if I see something at Goodwill or a thrift store and it is priced at $60, I won't buy it unless I am certain I can sell it for at least $120.  That is just a benchmark that I've come up with and like I said, it is a 'general' rule for me.

I try to take into account all of my materials next.  Paint is not cheap, nor is stripper, sand paper, brushes or stain.  It all adds up.  In addition, in many cases I change out the hardware on pieces and hardware is expensive.  I have yet to find chunky pulls that I really like for under $5-6 a piece and when you have even 6 drawers, that adds up fast.  So I add the cost of materials onto the 'hopeful selling price'.

As far as my time, I don't really have a good answer for that.  The only time I really truly take that into account is when I am doing a custom refinish for someone and they have brought me the piece.  I usually figure about $20 per hour for my time.

I hope all of that is helpful!!

thanks!

kathie