Seats Chairs
Seats Chairs
What is a reasonable rate to charge to recover 7 dining room chairs,seats only, fabric supplied?
It,s for a close friend, but she still wants to pay me something for my time and I don’t want to be unreasonable.
My “friend rate” is about two thirds of my regular rate – regular being $30 an hour. Overhead will do you in. I only “clear” about half of that, working out of my home, so it nets me an hourly wage of 10-15 dollars an hour. If you need special supplies or equipment like an electric staple gun, claw staple and tack remover, tack hammer, be sure you have allowed for that in your price, too.
People think, “Oh, but you’d be home anyway.” Maybe I would, but I like to relax when I’m not working. Maybe I wouldn’t be home, I’d be out pursuing happiness, or something. There are times when I do things free. Sometimes it suits me to make a gift of something. That way, I don’t harbor any lingering resentment, and someone isn’t taught that skilled labor is worth only two or three dollars an hour. This is a lesson that some other seamstress will have to correct.
A couple months ago, I looked into being an independent contractor for an upholsterer. He paid $25 a piece for a plain, boxed cushion with piping. He told me a skilled seamstress ought to be able to do that in an hour. This was working at home, so the pay covered not only the work, but the lights and wear and tear on equipment. I haven’t any idea what he charged the customer.
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