Pricing Stained Glass Projects

by Sally
(Virginia)

Is there a formula for pricing stained glass pieces?

Answer

Pricing has so many variables that it's difficult to give a one size fits all formula. A lot of it depends on your demographics, and what other people or studios in your area charge for their work. When you're just starting out you don't want to be the most expensive, but as you build a name for yourself you can raise your prices.

The general rule of thumb is to charge by the square foot.

Many people price using a base square foot price, plus a per piece (number of pieces in the pattern) price. The pieces are frequently priced at $2.00 each, but that would depend on the type of glass and the intricacy of the cuts, so it could be much more if you use, for instance, all antique glass. More is charged for framing, bevels, jewels, etching, and other specialty techniques. If you plan on installing the piece, you would charge more yet to include time, travel, and labor.

So...say you are making a window that is 5 square feet in size and has 100 pieces. You decide to charge $100 per square foot. That's $500. The 100 pieces at $2.00 each comes to $200. The total cost of the window is $700.

You look again and see that some of the pieces are very small and will be difficult cuts. You decide to charge $4.00 each for those 35 pieces. Now you have $500 square foot price, $130 for the 65 easy pieces and $140 for the more difficult pieces. The total price is now $770.

In general, you need to know what the going rate is in your area and take it from there. The numbers I used above were for convenience only.

There are a multitude of ways to price and I'm hoping that people reading this will jump in and tell us how they do it. They will reply in the comments section just below here.