I guess the post kind of speaks for itself, I was just curious to know at what point those of you who do this either full time or on the side started to sell your work to others. When did you decide that your skills were good enough to go offer it to the market?

I have a few people asking me to do work for them, but I am cautious to start selling my work. I have confidence in my abilities, but I don't want to come under expectation to a potential customer either. I guess I'm just afraid of my first pieces of work being too far ahead of myself and getting labeled as a "hack." I'd rather spend the time learning, but then again, school is expensive and a little extra money goes a long way.

I realize this is a very individual concept, so maybe it would be helpful if you have pictures of the first pieces of work that you did for other people. Might help me get a gauge of where I'm at skill level wise.

Here are some of the things that I've built for reference.




(water storage tank for W2A setup)

 

I can only say that I'm in different place - Europe, Latvia, and if you''ve seen my new topic, you've seen the avarage level here, so that was my reason to chime in so fast...

I've been welding for about 3 and a half months, not everyday of course, if we talk about everyday welding, I would say 2 months and 2 weeks, but I just try to get a feel of what parts can I make, and what not, I try to know my level of welding (I know I'm still not ok with my pipe welds, but I feel pretty ok with my thin wall) and go from there...

IMO, it depends on what is the avarage level of fabrication/welding in your area, if you can do at least as good as a middle level of your area, your good to go... But you always should know your limits... thats why I still haven't accepted that 2JZ twin turbo manifold and downpipes, cause I just know I"m not satisfied with my welding, if the customer is willing to wait, I'm willing to practice as hard as I can, to get at least a bit of satisfaction... then go with it... as everyone says: you start somewhere, right?

If you really have guys interested in your work, and you know that they dont want to purchase stuff online and such, and also there not able to afford some super high end stuff, or just they dont have other local places to buy from... if you know you can do the job, take it, try it, learn from it...

Also there are guys who just cant afford high end stuff, but they dont want ebay stuff too... they seek for a "mid" way... if you can give them the prices they want, those are your customers I know that from myself, there are just things I can't afford, so I go midway... you could save up for a brand new ferarri all your life, but is it worth it, right? Go with S2k, it'll rock (hope you get what I mean)

P.S. if your stuff is not on high end prices, I don't think customers will care the looks of welds... they'll just want a product that will last... and I've seen ugly stuff last (of course not all of it)

Hope this helps coming for a beginner...

 

Personally i wouldnt start "selling yourself/work" until the have the means to be able to back your product/work financially and legally if something were to go wrong.

 

This is a very good point. There are many people who run 'fly by night' operations out of their garage and are very successful. If they are reputable and have good luck they are normally fine, but doing any kind of work for someone does bring liability on yourself. My advice, if you are wanting to pursue this as a business, then set yourself up properly, protect yourself, and have good products.

 

i dont know. if you open a shop and sell stuff then maybe you have an issue but if your just working out the of the garage making manifolds or downpipes and what not i dont see a legal issue.

As long as your work is good enough or well priced enough that someone wants to pay you to make them something i dont see any reason why you wouldn't do it. Even if its not top notch work you are still making something someone needs at a price they agree to pay and that my friends is AMERICA hahaha.

 

before I knew how to weld.

My advice to anyone starting... charge through the nose. Otherwise, you'll just be the next cheap fabricator to burn white hot and then go up in smoke.

 

The insight is all very helpful, and especially on how to set pricing. I'm a nice guy by default, and it already has burned me.

At the moment I'm not going to be opening a shop or advertising myself etc. More just family, friends, acquaintences kind of deal. Like, a guy asked me to do a cage in his car and I politely declined. Just want to stick with exhaust/IC piping/MAYBE a simple manifold here and there. Easy, low risk stuff lol.

Eventually though I would like to open a shop and do this part time. This won't be for a few years yet, but it's still nice to get experiences and insight as to how people have gone about it and how it worked out for them.

 

This is the most accurate post here. Until you're comfortable charging consistent with the best in the area, don't waste your time/energy. If you know your work is good, charge for it. Too many wannabe's jump out there charging pennies on the dollar and crush the whole local market when they are nothing but a bunch of hacks.

Refine your ability, do side jobs for friends/yourself and get your skills in order. When the day comes you can sit in front of a job with total confidence that no matter who sees it they will say "that's some good work", then start charging and charge well.

Many people are eager to get experience and have photos to show everyone, but like dude said...you'll burn white hot...burn yourself out and then be done. The honda market is a tough one...everyone wants beautiful welds for the same price as their boy in the garage with his HF mig makin metal popcorn welds and grinding them down.

Step into the marketplace with confidence and ability, or don't step in...

And yes...this might be my "DL" name...might not though....hehe...

 

I've been in business for myself for 5 years as a mobile welder. It doesn't matter if you have a shop or not, or just work out of your garage -- if someone paid you money to give them a product, you're at least potentially liable if it fails and hurts someone. So good decision on the cage.

In today's world, I'd emphasize liability above everything else, including profits. If you charge too little or can't find enough customers and can't make it, big deal, get a job like most everyone else and move on. If you make something that directly or indirectly causes someone else to be maimed or killed, that person's family can OWN you.

For example, my general liability insurance won't insure me to weld trailer hitches or vehicle frames, at any price. Multi-story buildings or pressure pipelines, no problem.

You're probably safe with manifolds, etc like you're doing now, but if I were you I'd let the other guys take liability when it comes to life-and-death welds.

Side note on school: It may be expensive, but until you've seen your welds go through testing without failure, you don't REALLY know the quality of your work. It can look good, and feel good while you're burning it in, and be a hideous failure in the tester. Those "stack of dimes" aluminum TIG welds are notorious for this - cold fusion all over the place.

 

I always forget how in the US the number one thing everyone is worried about is liability. It's not like that in Canada. Lawsuits just don't happen here. It doesn't mean you can be wreckless and do what you want, but it sure alleviates unnecessary worry when making parts that very unlikely to cause harm.

I started to sell my work when I became proud of my quality. Up until that point I was making stuff for myself and for friends, but I wasn’t at the point where I was confident showing people my work, even if it was still good enough.