Major Restoration: New Challenges; Pervasive Cracking

This Polaroid will alter the way I think about pricing my work. It is the most extensive restoration I’ve done to date. Until now, the most extensive restoration I had done was this three-hour job, so I used three hours as my benchmark for this request. These cracks seemed a little more faint, as if they might wipe away a little easier. I also wanted the work, so I gave a quote of two hours at $21 and hour–a $42 job. Oh, how wrong I was. I stopped logging after ten hours, and the job still was not finished. 

I intend to honor my quotes, even when they are this wrong. And they will often be this wrong when I take on experimental challenges like this. The lesson is: I like to take on new challenges. If you have new and interesting challenge for me, I will often give a low quote to make sure I get the job and the experience.

Now, I logged over ten hours of labor on this piece. Ten hours times twenty-one dollars per hour is, well, you do the math. To price my work this way would be uncompetitive, I think. Before putting a value on this type of work, I’d like to try it a few more times and find ways to cut down on the hours. For now, I’ll say only that the next time I fulfill a request like this, it will be for more than $42. Remember what I wrote on my price list: I’m open to negotiation.

Value: Negotiable