has anyone built for other people? how much did you charge for the work?

GallardoLU

So, as the title indicates I have a opportunity to build sets for someone else, these are old sets unsorted and mixed together, they also want them glued (they want to just spray glue things, but I'm not sure that will give them what they want) so I'm wondering aside from costs for glue, what should I charge for the work? I don't yet know the number of sets involved or even if they can all be completely built from the parts being supplied. I'll know more in a few days. but I'd like to have a rough baseline for negotiating a price.

have you done something like this? how much did you charge per hour, or total (if total please detail what was done) Thanks in advance.

WatfordScottyM

Good lord, I'd do that for fun!

GallardoLU

well I suspect its somewhere over 10 sets all dumped together and will require lots of sorting. that's not something I consider "fun" also likely cleaning needed. If I can avoid the gluing they are asking for then I would be much more willing to build for a much lower number (they are offering to pay, but I don't know how much they are thinking or what I should ask for)

akunthita

I occasionally build MOCs for people and regularly do artwork and restoration work on art pieces (mostly sculptures - which is kind of like working with LEGO). If you would like to continue doing work like this without burning out, you definitely want to charge for your time. As it appears that this is your first project like this, do the best you can to give an estimate based on the number of sets involved and how much work you think all the sorting and gluing will take.

When you present your estimate to the client, focus on the time it will take and charge something very basic and reasonable like $10 an hour and tell them how many hours you think it will take. If halfway through you realize it will take much longer, make sure you discuss it with them, but try to avoid this as much as possible. Better to overestimate at the beginning, then way under estimate and have to raise prices later. This will be a learning process the first time around, so be fair to yourself and the client. 

After a few projects you should get pretty good at estimating. Also, include the cost of any supplies, travel, or whatever it takes either as part of your hourly fee, or separately. Make sure all is clear from the very beginning. In my case, when I travel to other cities, transportation is covered by the client (they reimburse my airline ticket), and I pay for my own art supplies. If something major is needed outside the basics that is discovered during working on the project, they pay for it as extra. This is very rare though as I always ask for pictures before committing to a project and I know what needs to be done, and I include everything in my fees. Clients ALWAYS underestimate what needs to be done. Just keep that in mind. ;)

Time yourself during the project so you know how long it takes. This will help in pricing future projects like this. I do week-long projects working 10 hours a day, and because I have always timed myself down to the minute I can give a very accurate estimate. Make sure when you work, you work. No distractions, spacing out, or multitasking with unrelated stuff. Work like a professional and you will get more opportunities. Once you have 2-3 projects under your belt and have references, you can raise your fees. 

One word of advice when negotiation your fees. Don't just say, this project will cost you $1,000. People will say, that's too much because all they see is a big number. Instead, break it down for them, kind of how house or car repair people do. This is all the work I will need to do for you, this is what I will need to get in the form of supplies, this is how many hours it will take to do this, this is how much I charge per hour for the work, write it all out, and add it all up. Once it is presented that way, they will see the price as reasonable. Again, work like a professional, and they will treat you like a professional. Both you and the client will be happy, and you can continue doing fun projects like this without selling yourself short. :)

GallardoLU

Akunthita thanks for that great write up, this will be my first time doing something like this, fortunately I've done parts of this work for myself before (sorting bulk lots, and cleaning bricks, and of course building sets) so I've got a good handle on time it will take for those parts of the process. the gluing factor though I'm not sure how much time to account to that. I'm thinking that I'll try and push for the Elmer's(school glue) route as I think it will be the cleanest end result and still give them the option of disassembling the models later if they so chose. also thanks for the price advice that will definitely help. I'll keep this thread updated as I go, as a sort of guide for anyone else who may find themselves in a similar opportunity.

akunthita

@GallardoLU, wishing you the best with your project! And yeah, keep us updated! It should be interesting. I would also advise them on Elmer's. Tell them about the value they loose by gluing the sets. That should help. ;)

GallardoLU

well, I met with the client and we discussed the project, they agreed to Elmer's glue instead of the spray they had found. we agreed on a price based on the fact they thought there were 25 sets involved. so I take the sets, the boxes for the sets and the bag full of instruction books, and leave. turns out there are 62 sets of instruction books... after contacting them about the large number of instruction books, its agreed that I will focus on a small list of "priority sets" and then large vehicles. so now I'm faced with what to do after the priority sets, and larger vehicles are completed. I've got a large window to do the work in and most of the extra sets are smaller ones (~30usd each).

so for anyone else who finds a job offer like this my immediate advice is to iron out all of the sets involved before settling on a price, I based my price on the size of the bins so I think I am still ok. also helps that a few sets are 90% complete, so all I have to do on those is glue them (and finish the little details that have fallen off.

andhe

Out of interest, why do they want them glued? Is it for a shop display or play centre etc?

Fauch

I would guess it's one of those glues you can eat without harm, since it's school glue?

GallardoLU

according to the client, their child has a  habit of breaking the sets, and always needs help rebuilding them. so since the parents don't have time to continuously rebuild them, (and the child mainly likes the minifigs) they decided to glue them all and put them on display around his room. and Elmer's glue is non-toxic, though may cause some other discomfort if eaten in large amounts.

Brick_Breakdown

what sets are you building?

prevere

It would be awesome if you were gluing this for the client.

GallardoLU

prevere said:

It would be awesome if you were gluing this for the client.

that set is in the bins, but was told not to worry about Lego Movie sets. as for other sets, its almost all of the DC sets, and Large Number of Avengers / Marvel sets.