Pricing items when the PCs provide the special material

[Jay R]

My PCs are in town now, and they've picked up some mithril and some cold iron. I know how much to charge for mithril chain or for a cold iron shortsword, but how much should it cost when the buyer is providing the expensive material?

[The same question could apply for making jewelry, if they are providing the gold and rubies.]

[FactualArcher]

For crafting magic items, you generally pay half the cost in raw materials. So, if you provide the materials, buying at half price is probably reasonable. I’m not sure if there’s a RAW answer though.

[Zanos]

Mundane crafting uses 1/3rd the cost for materials. So the other 2/3rds of the cost presumably comes from labor, overhead, etc

[Crake]

Mundane crafting uses 1/3rd the cost for materials. So the other 2/3rds of the cost presumably comes from labor, overhead, etc

Yeah, this, though keep in mind that the crafting time for mithril still is gonna be ages, considering the cost increases, you’d be better off paying a caster to fabricate it, might come out cheaper too