Do you charge for design work? | The Business of Blacksmith | Forum

I like Mark's approach and my method has strong similarities. I handle major commissions way different than the small stuff eg; trivets, shelf brackets, a poker or hatchet.
Once a budget and concept are established I ask for a ''design deposit'' of 3-5% to do that work and like Mark they can shop around with ''their'' drawings if they choose. The deposit is applied towards the job if I get it.
I have lost very little work both because I required this and they did some shopping around. I have even gotten ''call backs'' from clients who need to get their bargian work fixed.....lol

I for one don't take on work if the client can't or won't pay a 50% deposit, I'm fortunate that I have a good name and good examples of my work in many of our major hotels. On the flip side all our designwork is free, I usually do my best to include some feature that is specail/unique(meaning I can make it easily{some special tool/technique}yet is difficult/expensive for others) I do my best to enphasise this item/feature - typically something like no visible welding and"tradinional" joints and heavy sections. This helps to keep a lot of the 'competition' at bay.

I'm with Larry on this one. I started my own business a year ago, i am amazed at how many metal fabricators in my area go through painstaking measures to make their work look forged, instead of actually forging. I watched a neighbor fabricator spend days grinding and welding to create a "forged" hook! I made one in 20 minutes and brought it over to show him, and now some of these fellow metal guys are bringing me forge work. I have several clients that have had me bid different jobs, again and again, like they are just using my bids to keep the competition honest. Those clients are going to get charged a design fee for future bids. I have wasted countless hours with numerous clients that never seem to pull the trigger. Mind you, many of these "clients" have given me small jobs of $500 or less, but no substantial work, and most are large design firms or decorators.
I give everyone the benefit of the doubt, but i get tired of doing the legwork multiple times for the same client and nothing materializes. One client beat me down on a price quite a bit, claiming that they just don't have much money, that it is hard living on a firefighters salary while building their new home. I fell for it hook, line, and sinker! While working on the project, the clients stopped by to see the progress, they were super happy with the work, then they told me they were on their way out of town on their private plane! I learned my lesson and should have charged more for my work.
I guess what i'm trying to say is that i feel the design phase of the work is dependent on the size of the job, but in these tough times, when fabricators are bidding railing at $60 a foot, you need to do something to set yourself apart from the rest, like Larry says. Get in good with a few good designers and you could be busy for a long time. Im amazed at the amount of time i have to spend just educating the clients about what it takes to do what i do.