snipped:
>"I make more of my "profit" on peripheral activities."

i've read most of the posts. for some reason, i think the
above text has been lost on a few readers. in a small way,
i have to agree with om?r here, and i've said as much onlist
before: my fiscal survival has almost always been tethered
to my complete bicycles, not to my frames-only sales. for many
years, it's been the only explanation that i showed a profit.
i don't have a reply to those who ask "how much to charge", but
d!ve and d?zza and some others are right: framebuilding is not
only bench time. it is the paperwork, packing boxes, emails/phone
calls, administering it all, planning for and ordering
supplies, blah-blah-blah.
when i think about pricing structure, one point i mildly consider
is this: no one else can do this but me (read "you"). the yellow
pages are filled with resources for lawyers, financial advisors,
doctors, and folks in a myriad of trades. if someone wants to up
their cycling enjoyment and has already gone to the mall for his/her
bigbox brand bicycle, i (read "you") are one of the few places that
they can land and get placated. by the time they've made decisions
and called you, price is the last thing on their minds. raising one's
price simply because one is in a select market may not make
the most sense, but the flip side of it, to think and sell "cheap" or
"price" will not help one sustain a career in the long run.
e-RICHIE