Pricing custom pieces

[sigmatango]

Hi folks.
I've been running my business for just over a year and a half. I've been keeping busy with all kinds of onsite work, but always with the eventual goal of primarily working out of a shop space I share with a friend.
I have an upcoming project, a half-height loft bed, and I'm struggling to figure out my pricing.
Are there any resources out there on pricing? I find it confusing, because much of the pricing i've seen is geographically driven, and I am not sure people in my region are up for some of the pricing I see.
Thanks in advance!

 

[leakyroof]

Everyone has run into this at some point. 1 ' Look at the Brightside' thought to it is that if you can spread the word via a Website about your work like you have been doing, then you stop or slow the worrying about what is considered affordable right next to you since someone 'out there' IS able to afford your prices if they are believing in your quality and that your handmade work is worth the cost.  If no one is making the same thing or group of things as your work on a local level, then you might feel quilty charging what they're really worth to you since you have no competition to base your prices on. The old stand-by of Time and Materials could work here, and if you adjust the materials slightly like using a Domestic species that's cheaper than something more exotic, you could tweak your prices that way too unless doing so compromises your design against what you wanted to offer in the first place.
Think of it this way, Lie-Nielsen is able to charge as much as they do for their tools, to people who might never get the chance to try the tools out in a store,if no store carrying the tools is near them. They have a strong following, people sing their praises, and yet many buyers are On-line only because of that whole store/brick&mortar issue affecting many retailers like L-N. They actually pulled their tools from Woodcraft a few years ago, which further limited the public to them if people wanted to see the tools in person. L-N didn't care, they wanted better control of how their tools were being presented to a potential buyer, and Woodcraft in their mind wasn't doing a good job of it. The sudden influx of Woodcrafts private hand plane tool line 'Woodriver' didn't help matters either... [embarassed]
You're not going to compete against a factory in China, L-N isn't going to try that either, although the Chinese and others try to do it against L-N[ Woodriver planes from Woodcraft.... [crying]] so, make a living at it, charge what you need to make money AND a profit for the next job.

 

[antss]

What are you "struggling" with ?

Do you have a design for the bed?
Do you know how much the materials for it will cost ?
Do you have a good idea how long it will take you to build it and install it ?
Do you know what your fixed yearly overhead is ?  This needs to include $$$ for future expansion, emergencies, and capital expenses. 

If so , then all you need to figure is how much profit you need to make in order to make this worthwhile for you and fit into the marketplace.