RE: [APML] A Pricing Question

[Jon Kolb <jkolb@mindport.com>]

Dave,

> My problem is the following:  I 
> don't really know how to fairly price this OTA.  If you are 
> willing to help I would appreciate it.  

If it were me, I'd determine the price based on the following scenario:

Cost of materials + labor cost + overhead cost + margin

The cost of materials should be pretty simple to estimate up front given
your experience.  However, for a hobbyist or part-time worker, the overhead
cost can be difficult to estimate. It should include wear and tear on tools
and machinery, cost of utilities, consumables (light bulbs, pencils, etc.),
and things like rent, taxes, and insurance for your shop.  

Let's assume you know the materials cost, and you make the determination
that your overhead cost is not worth figuring out, since you do this for a
hobby anyway.  That leaves you with labor and margin.  If these are good
friends of yours, you might decide that making a profit is not important to
you, and leave margin at zero.  

So, now you just need to decide how much your time is worth to you (not to
the buyers - you only worry about that if you're trying to make a living at
this).  Let's say your time is worth $40 per hour.  If it takes 200 hours to
make one of these, then you're at $8000 plus materials.  If materials are
another $2000, you're up to $10,000. 

By comparison, $10K is still less than a Tak BRC 250, a faster, but slightly
smaller astrograph of reportedly high quality.  Peter Ceravolo once quoted
me $9500 USD for a 200mm f/3.8 Mak Newt with 120 film back, and $6000 USD
for a 10" f/4 Newt with matching coma corrector that covers 120 format.  TEC
quoted me $6000 for a 200mm f/6 Mak-Cass that would cover 35mm.  Based on
the size, speed, and complexity of the instrument you've described, I'd say
$10K is a pretty good deal.

If there is any economy involved in making two or three of these at a time
that would reduce the labor hours, you might communicate that to your
friends.  I would definitely recommend a deposit of some sort up front,
given the large amount of labor involved and the small market for selling
off the partially finished instrument if the deal augers in.

Sincerely,
Jon Kolb
Adventures in Astrophotography
http://home.datawest.net/jkolb/
jkolb@mindport.com






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