How to Price Custom Woodworking Commissions

Most solo woodworkers are losing money on commissions and don't know it

I ran my shop at a loss for the first 14 months. Not because the work was bad. Because I was pricing like a hobbyist selling a favor instead of a professional selling a service. I'd quote $1,200 for a dining table, spend $480 on lumber and hardware, put in 60 hours of labor, and feel good about the $720 left over. That's $12/hour before shop overhead, finish materials, sandpaper, and the three trips to the lumber yard I didn't account for.

The problem isn't that custom woodworking is unprofitable. It's that most of us learn pricing by guessing, then adjusting the guess slightly upward after each job where we got burned. There's a better way.

Start with materials (and actually count all of them)

Materials cost is the foundation of every quote. But most woodworkers only count the lumber. Here's what actually goes into a custom dining table build.

That $340 in lumber becomes $507 when you count everything. The waste factor alone adds $41. Hardwood has knots, checks, and sapwood you can't use. I figure 10-15% waste on most species. Walnut with a lot of sapwood? Closer to 20%.

The consumables line is the one most woodworkers skip entirely. Sandpaper isn't free. A pack of 80-grit discs for the random orbit sander costs $8 and lasts maybe two projects. Finish coats eat rags, brushes, and mineral spirits. These costs are real, and they add up across a year of builds.

The materials markup

Standard markup for custom woodworking is 2x to 2.5x on materials. This covers your time sourcing, your vehicle to haul lumber, your shop storage, and the risk that a board cups or warps before you can use it.

On our table example with $507 in materials, a 2.25x markup puts the materials portion at $1,141.

Some woodworkers resist markup because it feels dishonest. It isn't. A general contractor marks up materials. A mechanic marks up parts. You're providing selection expertise, transport, storage, and the risk of waste. That has value.

Labor pricing: hourly rate vs. flat rate

There are two schools. Hourly rate multiplied by estimated hours, or a flat project rate based on experience with similar builds.

Hourly rate method: Figure your target annual income, divide by billable hours. If you want to earn $65,000/year and you can bill 1,400 hours (accounting for admin, quoting, purchasing, and unbillable time), your shop rate is about $46/hour. A 60-hour dining table is $2,760 in labor.

Flat rate method: You've built enough tables to know that a 72" trestle table in white oak takes 55-65 hours. You quote $2,700 for the labor portion and eat the variance. If you're fast, you profit. If problems come up, you absorb them.

I use the flat rate method for repeat project types and hourly estimates for anything I haven't built before. The risk with hourly on new project types is that your estimate is almost always low. Add 15-20% to your first guess. I've never once overestimated a first-time build.

The undercharging problem

Here's what I see constantly in woodworking forums and local maker groups. A woodworker quotes $1,500 for a coffee table. Materials cost $280. They spend 35 hours. That leaves $1,220 for labor, which sounds like $34.85/hour. Not bad, right?

Except they didn't count the 4 hours picking lumber at the yard. Or the 2 hours of client emails and design revisions. Or the hour and a half delivering and installing. Or shop rent, insurance, tool maintenance, electricity, and dust collection filters.

When you add those real overhead costs, $34.85/hour becomes $18-22/hour. Below what you'd make working at a cabinet shop with zero business risk.

The fix is simple: track your actual hours on every project, including non-shop time. After 5-10 projects with real data, you'll know your true hourly rate. Most solo woodworkers who do this for the first time are shocked at the number.

Tools like Costumary's budget tracker make this easier by letting you log materials, labor hours, and overhead against each project. But even a notebook works if you're consistent about recording time.

Putting it together: pricing a custom dining table

Let's price a 72" trestle dining table in white oak with a hand-rubbed oil finish.

Round that to $4,000 or $4,100 depending on the client relationship. This is a real price for a real table. It covers your materials with margin, pays you a livable hourly rate, and includes delivery.

Is $4,000 a lot for a dining table? Compared to IKEA, yes. Compared to the value of a solid white oak table built to the client's exact specifications with hand-cut joinery, it's fair. Your clients aren't comparison-shopping at furniture stores. They're coming to you because they want something that doesn't exist yet.

When to adjust your price

Adjust up for:

• Exotic or expensive species (walnut, cherry, live edge slabs)
• Complex joinery (hand-cut dovetails, mortise-and-tenon with wedges)
• Unusual dimensions (extra long, extra wide, curved)
• Rush timeline (less than 4 weeks)
• Remote delivery (over 30 miles)

Adjust down for:

• Repeat clients (5-10% loyalty discount)
• Simple joinery (pocket screws, dowels)
• Client provides their own slab or lumber
• Portfolio-building piece you want to photograph

Never adjust down because the client says "my buddy could do it for less." Your buddy isn't running a business with insurance, a real shop, and a reputation to maintain.

The quote presentation

How you present the price matters. I send a one-page quote with three sections: scope (what I'm building, dimensions, species, finish), timeline (start date, milestone dates, delivery date), and price (single number, payment terms).

I don't itemize labor and materials separately for the client. That invites line-item negotiation. "Why is lumber $340? I can get oak for $6 a board foot." You're not selling lumber. You're selling a finished table. One price.

Payment terms that work for custom furniture: 30% deposit to start, 30% at rough assembly milestone, 40% on delivery. The deposit covers your materials cost. The mid-project payment keeps cash flow positive. The final payment is small enough that clients don't drag their feet.