[Ansteorra] The Cost of Time

Stephanie Smith lambdakennels1 at gmail.com
Thu Jul 23 14:01:38 PDT 2009


Just when I dismiss the Knights as cloddish stick jockeys, one astounds me.
Sir JP is right, people do tend to discount the labor involved in the things
we make.  It is all well and good to look at something and say, "I can make
that.  Why should I pay $X for it?"  Well, because you DIDN'T make it.  You
don't have time to make it even though you know how to do it.  Sometimes the
smallest things, the ones everyone goes, "Oh, that is just a pendant" are
the hardest to make.  If priced fairly, to account for the degree of
difficulty as well as the time and materials, no one could possibly afford
them.  Remember that next time you dismiss the work of an artisan in a
merchan'ts booth as "something I could do."  Particularly within their
hearing.

Stephanie
-- 
Stephanie S Smith, Ph.D.
Hunt County, Texas, USA
www.lambdafarm.mysite.com
Owned by a Standard Poodle and an Australian Cattle Dog

On Thu, Jul 23, 2009 at 3:44 PM, Jean Paul de Sens <jeanpauldesens at gmail.com
> wrote:

> The recent shield discussion, and the responses to the costs, has just
> reinforced my belief that we (the SCA) and society in general have forgot
> how much it costs to do *one* of an object.
> Case in point, that shield probably has around $40-$50 of materials (glue,
> wood, hose, maybe hidden u-channel, rope, bolts, nuts,primer, paint, finish
> coat).
> It also has (if I had to bet) around 20 hours of labor (cut shield,
> laminate, sand, prime, outline pattern, paint, clear coat).
>
> So if I were to pay some guy $10 per hour to do this, it would cost me
> around $250 to do this shield.
>
> If I had to run a business doing this, where I had to pay for construction
> space, taxes, perhaps even health, insurance, etc etc, well, that $10 per
> hour worker will cost around $25/hour.
>
> Now the cost of that custom shield goes to $550.
>
> Often, I feel that we in the SCA don't appreciate the monetary value of the
> art works that people make.  The scrolls on our walls, the clothes, the
> weapons, shields, what have you, are custom made works of art, and when we
> dismiss the price on something as "too high" and "not worth that" we
> diminish the effort of the artist.
>
> I don't know who made that shield.  I know that someone probably put a lot
> of energy, money, and effort into it, and might be a bit offended at some
> of
> the comments made.
>
> I know of many generous artisans in our kingdom and our game, who donate
> work and craft and art so selflessly that is astounds me.  Let us make sure
> that we keep in mind both the spiritual and the monetary value of their
> work, and thank them accordingly.
>
> My apologies for rambling, but this issue always bothers me a bit.
>
> JP
>
> Qui mieux fait, mieux vault.
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