How to Price Your Work as a Craftsman

A fair price covers three things: your time, materials, and travel — and leaves you a margin you can calculate, not guess at. Many craftsmen set their price "by feel", copying what a neighbour charges or matching whatever number the first customer accepts. The problem is that number tells you nothing about what you actually earn once the day is done. Here is a simple method for a price you can hold, job after job, without a nasty surprise at the end of the month.

Prices vary by trade, not by chance

A tiler does not charge like a painter, and an electrician wiring a full board does not charge like a locksmith changing a handle. That is normal: each trade has its own cost structure, its own tools, its own level of risk. What is not normal is a price that shifts with your mood or with whoever happens to be standing in front of you. To see how you compare with others in your trade, open or check your profile and look at what well-rated craftsmen nearby are charging — a far more useful benchmark than any general average.

Pricing by feel costs you money you never see

A concrete example. You quote 200 dirhams for a job that ends up taking three hours, plus forty minutes travelling, plus 60 dirhams of materials you forgot to count. On paper you earned 200 dirhams; in reality, once travel and materials are stripped out, you earned about 35 dirhams an hour. That number never shows on a quote — it only shows at the end of the month, when you have worked without counting and the total does not add up.

The four things to add up

1. Real working time — not what it "normally" takes, what it actually takes you, hiccups included.
2. Travel — fuel, or travel time if you price your hour. A forty-minute job costs more than a five-minute one, even for identical work.
3. Materials — at what you actually pay for them, not what you remember paying. Prices move.
4. A deliberate margin — not whatever happens to be left over, a percentage you decide in advance and apply every time.

Comparing yourself to others without underselling

Looking at what other craftsmen in your trade charge is useful — but only to gauge your market, not to copy a number. A craftsman who has been undercutting everyone for six months is usually not doing it as strategy: he has not run the calculation above and is working at a loss without realising it. Match his price and you inherit his problem. Set your own range based on your own costs instead, and accept losing a customer now and then rather than losing money on every job.

Quoting your price without hesitating

How you say a price matters almost as much as the price itself. Hesitation, a number given while looking away, or an "I'm not sure, maybe..." invites the customer to negotiate, even when the amount was fair. State your price clearly, with what it covers: "it's 250 dirhams, labour and travel, materials are extra if needed". A customer who understands what they are paying for rarely argues the number itself — they argue the lack of explanation.

Why your rating lets you charge more

A craftsman with a good rating and detailed reviews can legitimately charge somewhat more than a profile with no history — because the customer knows what to expect, and paying for certainty is worth something. It works against a vicious circle: the more care you put into your first jobs, the sooner your reviews let you stop underpricing just to attract people. How to build that reputation when you are starting out is covered in our guide to getting known from scratch.

Price never includes waiting to be paid

One last thing craftsmen forget to count: time spent chasing payment or negotiating a deposit is not free either, even though it never enters the job calculation. Setting clear rules on deposits and payment from the first conversation protects your time as much as your price — the subject is covered in our guide to deposits and payment.

Frequently asked questions

Ready to put this into practice? Create or complete your profile on the craftsman sign-up page, and read the complete guide to getting started on Khdemli.