I am still relativly new to rod building, but have been doing it for two years with 10 or more rods under my belt. I am starting to get requests from people other than family and friends to build rods. My question is, what is a fair price to charge to build a rod. Do most of you charge by the hour, or a flat rate. I mostly build fly rods.

Any input would be great. Thanks in advance.

Klinkerone

I would personaly never charge by the hour. You might want to add a additional 40% to the cost of materials at retail price. You do have a business lic.? You well find that the more rods you do the faster you get, so if you charged by the hour the less you well make. When I was in business a plane Jane rod would start out at at 200. Remember you are building a specific rod for a specific customer. No copy cats.
Good wraps Bob

Some Recent Related Discussion Threads worth reading:

Average Build Time? -Dave Scelfo- 08-25-04

Selling Rods Commercially -Mark Gordon- 10-21-04

Cost of guide replacement -Scott Mumford- 10-26-04

What's YOUR time worth ?? -Pete Kornegay- 10-29-04

Rod Planning -Nick Brunetti- 10-10-04

How much to charge?: A minimum of ~ $100 above cost of parts,
for the simplest custom rod for profit. Anything less is a labor of love.

As T.P.Stephens said (in "What's your time worth?):
"Do not confuse hobby with commercial work. Very different animals."

Baby monkeys & gorillas, just like fingerling herring & tarpon,
look the same at first. But before you know it, you could have
a monster on your hands. LOL. Best Wishes, Cliff Hall, Florida.

I have found the best way to price a rod is to charge per guide and per handle assembly. Are you doing a fansy butt wrap? Are you doing inlays on your guide wraps. Are you extending a handle ect. Sit down and figure out what it is worth to you and stick with it.

Example. For a one color two footed guide I charge $5.00 per guide. Average handle assembly is $25.00

If I do inlays on a guide wrap I charge $7.00

Underwraps are more but it depends on the size of wraps, how many colors per wrap ect.

I hope this helps.

Make sure you have a license before you start selling.

Good luck!

I've been doing rods from scratch for about 15-18 years it really is a hobby but I do work the folks really like cause it is a labor of love. I build no rod for less than 200.00. My guide on the more expensive blanks is 100.00 above my cost of parts. Extras I negotiate with the customer. I do rod repair for no less than 25.00 and have plenty of business.

Obviously I'm not looking to expand or get too large to interrupt my retirement.

Have fun by all means my friend!!!!!!!!

It is difficult for me because I have a rod buildier here that I have to compete with. His prices are lower than I can do. I guess the good thing is that I get some people who have tried to get a rod from them and get frustrated because of there customer service. They do not want to wait two or three weeks for a rod to be built. They also never get replies for inquiries a lot of the time. My modo is customer service.

Dave