To price stained glass, cost the glass by the square foot with an allowance for cutting waste, add foil and solder for every piece, the frame, hooks, patina and box, then add your time, which follows the number of pieces more than the size, and price for the margin you want after selling fees. In the example below, a 12-by-16-inch panel of 60 pieces uses $21.60 of glass and $115 of time, costs $170.32 and sells for $320, $240 a square foot. The same panel cut into 90 pieces needs $405. That's why a single price a square foot undercharges detailed work, and why suncatchers pay better made six at a time. Below is the material cost, the time, what a square-foot price misses, suncatchers and commissions, and a free calculator.
The short version
- Glass is costed by the square foot, plus about a third for cutting waste on curved designs.
- Foil and solder are costed by the piece.
- Time each piece: cut, grind, foil, solder. Piece count drives the cost.
- Add design time for originals and finishing time for every item.
- Price = cost ÷ (1 − margin − fees), rounded up to $5.
- Use the price a square foot to compare, then adjust for detail.
- TaroStack keeps the glass counted by color and every piece costed. More below.
The materials
Mystic River Glass, a made-up stained glass studio in Mystic, Connecticut, I use in these examples, makes copper-foil panels and suncatchers. For a 12-by-16 panel of 60 pieces:
| Material | Cost |
|---|---|
| Glass, 1.33 sq ft at $12 a square foot, plus 35% waste | $21.60 |
| Copper foil, solder and flux, 25 cents a piece | $15.00 |
| Zinc frame, 56 inches at 12 cents | $6.72 |
| Hooks and chain | $3.00 |
| Patina, cleaner and wax | $1.00 |
| Box and padding | $8.00 |
| Materials and packaging | $55.32 |
Glass is sold by the sheet and cut around curves and grain, so a good share ends up as scrap too small to use. The studio allows 35%; weigh your scrap bin for a month against the glass you bought and use your own number. Specialty glass, iridescent or hand-rolled, can cost several times the average, so cost those pieces separately.
The time is the cost
| A 12 × 16 panel, 60 pieces | Minutes |
|---|---|
| Design and pattern | 60 |
| Cut, grind, foil and solder, 4 minutes a piece | 240 |
| Clean, patina, frame and hang | 45 |
| Total, at $20 an hour | 345, $115.00 |
With materials, the panel costs $170.32. With a 40% margin wanted after 6% selling fees, the price is $170.32 ÷ (1 − 0.40 − 0.06) = $315.41, rounded up to $320. Time is two thirds of the cost; the glass is an eighth. How to put your own time into a price is in how to price handmade items.
What a price a square foot misses
A price a square foot is quick to quote and easy for a customer to understand, and it works when designs have about the same number of pieces a square foot. Two 12-by-16 panels at $240 a square foot both sell for $320:
| A 12 × 16 panel | Simple geometric, 30 pieces | Detailed floral, 90 pieces |
|---|---|---|
| Minutes | 225 | 465 |
| Cost | $122.82 | $217.82 |
| Left at $320, after 6% fees | $177.98 | $82.98 |
| Cost-based price, 40% margin | $230 | $405 |
The geometric panel could sell for $230 and keep the margin; the floral needs $405. A square-foot rate can still be the starting quote, with a higher rate for detailed work, or the price can come from the piece count. How cost-plus pricing works is in cost plus pricing example.
Suncatchers and commissions
A 6-inch round suncatcher of 12 pieces, cut from a 6-inch square of glass, uses $4.05 of glass, $3 of foil and solder, $2.26 of edging and $3.50 of chain, patina and box. Made one at a time at 4 minutes a piece, it takes 63 minutes. Made six at a time from the same pattern, with the templates, grinding and soldering done in runs, it's about 2.5 minutes a piece and 45 minutes in all, so it costs $27.81 and sells for $55. A shop that resells suncatchers needs room for its own margin; how to set that price is in how to price handmade items for wholesale.
Commissions take longer to design and carry the risk of a customer who changes their mind. The studio quotes from the calculator, charges the design time whether or not the customer goes ahead, and takes a 50% deposit, which pays for the glass before the first cut. An 18-by-24 window panel of 150 pieces, with two hours of design, costs $376.68 and sells for $700. Installation in a window frame is a separate quote.
Get the calculator
Download the stained glass pricing calculator. Type the size, what your glass costs a square foot and your cutting waste, the number of pieces, foil and solder a piece, the frame, hooks, patina and box, the design, piece and finishing minutes, your hourly rate, selling fees and the margin you want. It works out the materials, the minutes, the cost, the price rounded up to $5, and the price a square foot to compare with what you charge now. It's an ordinary Excel file with no macros, and it works in Google Sheets, LibreOffice and Numbers.
Where this stops working
Glass in sixty colors, full sheets and offcuts, foil in three widths, solder by the spool, suncatchers sold at markets, online and to two shops, and commissions with deposits. A sheet can't say whether there's enough cobalt blue for the next commission, what last month's suncatchers really cost, or which designs earn their hours.
How TaroStack does it
TaroStack keeps the glass counted by color and every piece costed.
Glass by color. Each glass color, foil and solder is an item, counted on a phone and kept at what you paid, and units convert: glass bought by the sheet, used by the square foot.
Designs as recipes. Each suncatcher and panel design is a recipe of its glass, foil, solder, frame and box, with scrap allowed for, so recording a run of six takes them off stock at what you paid and gives the cost of each. Commissions and shop orders are sales orders that show whether the glass is on the shelf while you're still typing.
And what each design earns. The reorder list works in days of cover against each supplier's lead time, so a color doesn't run out mid-commission, and margins are reported by product and by customer.
| The job | Notebook | In TaroStack |
|---|---|---|
| Enough cobalt for the commission? | Dig through the rack | Stock by color, counted on a phone |
| Foil and solder before they run out | Found short | The reorder list, in days |
| What a suncatcher really costs | A guess | Each run, at what it used |
| Which designs earn their hours? | A feeling | Margins by product |
Recipes, batches, sales orders, counting and margins by product and customer are on every plan, from $49 a month. The first 30 days are free, with no credit card. If you'd like a hand setting up, ask, and we'll do it with you.