How do I put a price on my own time?

When you make everything yourself, it is tempting to count your time as free. The materials cost Rs 100 and you charge Rs 150, so you feel you earned Rs 50. But if that item took you an hour and a half, you earned less than a rupee a minute for work you could have done for someone else. Putting a price on your time is not selfish. It is how a hobby turns into a business that can last.

Step one, find the time per item

Time one real batch from start to finish. Include preparing, making, finishing, quality checks and packing. Do not count only the visible work.

Say you make 6 items in 3 hours. That is 0.5 hours, or 30 minutes, per item.

Step two, choose an hourly rate

Decide what an hour of your work is worth. There is no official figure. Think about what you would earn from a job you could do instead, what a helper would charge for the same task, and what your skill is worth if the work is specialised.

Let us try the rate of Rs 100 an hour.

Labour per item is 0.5 hours times Rs 100, which is Rs 50.

See what happens at other rates

Change the rate and watch the cost.

• At Rs 60 an hour, labour is 0.5 times Rs 60, which is Rs 30 per item.
• At Rs 100 an hour, labour is Rs 50.
• At Rs 150 an hour, labour is Rs 75.

If your materials and packing cost Rs 100 per item, then total cost is Rs 130, Rs 150 or Rs 175 depending on the rate. If you price from a 40 percent margin, which means dividing the cost by 0.6, the price becomes about Rs 217, Rs 250 or Rs 292. Your decision about the value of your time moves the shelf price by about Rs 75 across this range.

Do not underprice just to be competitive

If your price looks too high against a mass-made version, resist cutting your labour to zero. Mass-made items are not competing on your terms. Customers who buy handmade expect to pay for skill, time and uniqueness. Say so in your description, and show the making through photos or short videos. See how to write descriptions for handmade products.

Be honest about speed

Your time per item should reflect your normal pace once you are practised, not your first slow attempt and not a perfect day. Re-time yourself every few months. As you get faster, your cost per item falls, and you can choose either to lower the price slightly or to keep it and earn more.

Include the work around the making

Photographing, listing, answering messages and packing for dispatch are all work. Some sellers add these to the per-item labour. Others handle them as overhead spread across all orders, which is explained in spreading overheads across each order. Just make sure that they are counted somewhere, not forgotten.

Put it all together

Labour is one line in your cost sheet. The others are materials, wastage, packing and shipping. The cost price of a handmade product shows the full set, and batch production cost per unit shows how to divide a batch.

Choose a rate today, even a modest one, and use it for a month. A number you apply consistently beats a feeling that your work is worth more.