What custom furniture actually costs
Most commissioned pieces fall between $500 and $10,000, with a median around $2,500. Trade and contract projects, where a designer or business is furnishing a whole space, run much higher and reach roughly $150,000. Those figures come from actual commissions on Maker Marketplace rather than from a price list, which is why they are wider than most published estimates.
Reviewed
That spread is the honest answer, and the width of it is the point. A turned bowl and a fitted library are both custom furniture.
Where a commission lands in that range
| Band | Roughly | What sits here |
|---|---|---|
| Entry | Around $500 | Small pieces: a stool, a shelf, a serving board, a turned or carved object, a repair |
| Median | Around $2,500 | The typical single commission: an accent table, a bench, a headboard, a small case piece |
| Upper | Up to $10,000 | Larger single pieces and sets: dining tables, beds, sideboards, desks |
| Trade | Up to $150,000 | Contract and trade work: whole-room build-outs, built-in programs, multi-piece commissions |
If you are furnishing one room with one piece, you are almost certainly in the first three rows. The trade band is a different kind of buyer with a different process.
What actually moves the number
This matters more than any table, because it is what you can change in conversation with a maker.
| Factor | Effect |
|---|---|
| Size | Not linear. A longer table may need wider stock, a different base, and two people to move it |
| Species | Walnut and cherry cost more than oak, ash and maple. Figured or wide stock costs more again |
| Joinery | Hand-cut dovetails and through tenons are hours. Dowel and loose-tenon joinery are minutes |
| Finish | A hand-rubbed oil schedule is many thin coats with drying between. Sprayed finishes are fast |
| Curves | Straight and square is cheap. Anything shaped needs patterns and jigs |
| Matching existing work | Color-matching an aged finish on new wood is skilled, slow, and frequently underquoted |
| Hardware | Off-the-shelf is cheap. Hand-forged adds a second maker and doubles that line |
| Access | Stairs, tight turns, and pieces that must be assembled in the room |
How the money splits
A commissioned piece is not a marked-up product. It is labor plus material plus overhead.
| Component | Rough share |
|---|---|
| Labor | The largest line, usually around half or more |
| Material | Species and grade drive this hard |
| Finish | Cheap in material, expensive in hours |
| Hardware | Small unless custom |
| Delivery and install | Rises sharply for large pieces and difficult access |
The useful implication: asking for a cheaper wood saves less than people expect, because material is the minority of the cost and the labor does not change. Simplifying the joinery or the finish saves more, and costs more over the life of the piece.
What does not move a quote much
Worth knowing so you spend your negotiating energy well:
- Wood color selection within a species. Choosing boards is normal practice
- Minor dimension changes before drawings are approved
- Hardware finish, as opposed to hardware type
- The maker's location, mostly. Shipping matters; their postcode generally does not
Deposits and payment
Expect to pay 50 percent up front. That covers materials, which the maker buys before any labor happens, and it is the standard on the platform. The balance falls due at completion, or split across agreed milestones on a longer build.
A deposit is not a fee. If a commission is canceled after materials are bought and work has started, expect the deposit to cover what has been spent rather than to be returned in full. Get the cancellation terms in writing before you pay.
How long it takes
Eight to twenty-four weeks from agreement to delivery for most single pieces. Dining sets, built-ins, and anything needing custom hardware or a specialist finish run longer. Full breakdown in how commissioning works.
How to get a quote you can compare
Ask every maker for the same breakdown:
- Design, if billed separately
- Materials, with species and grade named
- Labor
- Finish, with the schedule named
- Hardware
- Delivery, and what level of delivery
- What is excluded
- Whether the number is fixed or an estimate, and what triggers a revision
A single number with no breakdown cannot be compared against anything, and cannot be value-engineered if it comes in high.
Ways to bring a quote down without wrecking the piece
- Change species before anything else, but expect modest savings
- Simplify the base, not the joinery. Bases are where shaping hours hide
- Choose a sprayed finish over hand-rubbed if the piece takes hard use anyway
- Use stock hardware in a good finish rather than custom
- Phase it. Table now, chairs later, from the same maker with the drawings held
- Be flexible on timing. A maker filling a gap prices differently from one squeezing you in
What not to do: ask for thinner stock, ask to skip drying or acclimation time, or ask for the finish schedule to be cut short. Those are the savings that come back as a cracked top.
Sources
- Maker Marketplace platform commission data, 2026
