OK...

[jennythereader]

Either my time estimate in this post was way off, or the amount of texture on the surface of an object is a much bigger factor than I thought it would be. Or both.

I just finished covering a small paper mache treasure chest, and including the time it took me to go through my box of paper scraps looking for the right colors, it took me 1 hour and 45 minutes. At least an hour of that was actually gluing.

The surface area of the chest is 22 square inches, only a bit more than yesterday's frame, which is 19 square inches.

So, using the formula from the earlier post my price for it would be $48.22, which seems really high. If I don't include the "finding the colors" step in the time, then the price comes to $29.59, which seems more reasonable but is still up there.

I think I have to adjust my formula.

Edit: Edited to fix my math. I forgot a step in the formula.

Comments

[curlyeric.livejournal.com]

Keep the formula. If you want to get your costs down look at ways to improve your workflow. Can you pre-sort by color groups, would it take less time ( per item ) to always do two or three nearly identical ones at the same time, can you get your raw materials for less expensive, are there other tools/glue/whatever that could speed this up?

The worst thing you can do is undervalue your own time.

Is this what you needed the camera for? If so, please feel free to tap me for advice on setting up and photographing the goods.

[jennythe-reader.livejournal.com]

Pre-sorting the scraps by color will work great for some of the materials I'm working with (fabric, tissue paper, and scrapbook paper), but it won't work as well for the magazine sraps. Most of them have different colors on each side. Still, even sorting what I can will speed things up a bit.

Yup, this is what I wanted a camera for. By the way, how do you turn off the flash? The button that looks like it should (with the lightning bolt shaped arrow above it) doesn't seem to.

[curlyeric.livejournal.com]

Pressing that button should work, if it doesn't make sure you are on "P" ( mostly automatic ) rather than the green square ( fully automatic ). You should load up on lights around the object and zoom the camera in and step back and that should give you a decent shot.

If you get blurring add more lights rather than turning on the flash.

[jennythe-reader.livejournal.com]

I'll remember to use the "P" setting next time.

Thanks for the tips!

[jennythe-reader.livejournal.com]

Problem: when I turn the camera on to "P" I get a flashing red exclamation point and a "card error" message.

Any suggestions? Do you happen to have the manual for this camera floating around anywhere?

[curlyeric.livejournal.com]

I don't have the manual, but that sounds like the camera thinks there is no card. I would take that card out and try another one.

I found the manual at the following link in PDF. I have a saved copy and will email it to you if you have trouble downloading it yourself.

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&ct=res&cd=1&url=http%3A%2F%2Fvisl.technion.ac.il%2Fdocuments%2FC2020Z-ENGLISH.pdf&ei=dwtqSa-OLpSI8gTQkemwBw&usg=AFQjCNEEizIesUvXYHrUwvCp-XMyGi9vow&sig2=gsJgf5f8QuotI_rhghd4-g

[jennythe-reader.livejournal.com]

The link works fine, thank you. (I figured you probably didn't still have a copy of the manual, but thought it couldn't hurt to ask.)

[nounsandverbs]

I concur -- a higher price is actually better, at least to start. First of all, it gives you more room to maneuver later on -- it's better to tell your potential customers that you've cut prices rather than raised them. Second, psychologically, when you're dealing in a "premium" business like crafty stuff, people assume a lower price equals an inferior product. They're willing to pay a bit more for that perception.

[jennythe-reader.livejournal.com]

Yeah, pricing at the high end is probably better, but those numbers just seem... absurdly high.

I think I need to actually time how long a single layer of glue takes, and then count how many I put on. I can then use more accurate numbers in my pricing formula.