Selling Your Work Locally

[ashley_phil]

i haven't faithfully followed this thread but i just saw an ad on the lates woodshop news flyer for a website custommade.com?

http://custommade.com/subscribe2.php

i took a quick look and there's a lot of people on it so it must be doing them some good.

 

[merrill77]

Wow...there's some nice stuff there. This guy makes some amazing custom stuff, but $370 for this quilt rack is laughable, IMO. It looks like a nice quilt rack and all...but $370? Come on

 

[KenH]

Here is a suggestion for your consideration. Could this website be used to sell items made by members. (I don’t know enough about the overall working of this site to know if this would be OK.)

I happen to also be interested in knife making and belong to a knifing making forum - Bladeforum (http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/index.php). They have an area where members can sell the knifes they make (http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=754). Also, selling members pay a fee to be able to sell.

Would this be a workable model for NC Woodworker website?

Ken

 

[SSuther]

Interesting thread. Selling locally has a new meaning given the potential of the internet. I would think there might be some good potential to play up the reputation of North Carolina as a center of furniture making. The trick is to convince the surfing public that we have unique products of excellent quality and design. I wonder if there is a way to find out the sales results of some of the vendors on etsy.com and custommade.com. Also, do any of you internet wizards have the skills to put together a sales site and get good search engine placement?

 

[gator]

Here is a suggestion for your consideration. Could this website be used to sell items made by members. (I don’t know enough about the overall working of this site to know if this would be OK.)

I happen to also be interested in knife making and belong to a knifing making forum - Bladeforum (http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/index.php). They have an area where members can sell the knifes they make (http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=754). Also, selling members pay a fee to be able to sell.

Would this be a workable model for NC Woodworker website?

Ken

Similar to the post I had in another thread:

Re: Classified ad donation....
I'm really not trying to hijack this thread but it is the thread that started a thought through my mind (small thoughts form in small minds).

Talks in another thread about gallery sales for North Carolina Woodworker members and this thread started the thought process.

Consider an apendant website (or even a web-directly accessible forum) of woodwork for sale (an on line gallery if you will) attached to North Carolina Woodworker. Members (maybe even a perk for 'Corporate Members') could have items in the gallery but all sales actually go through North Carolina Woodworker (PayPal, CC, whatever) and North Carolina Woodworker collects a percentage (20%-25%) of the sale price. When a sale is made, North Carolina Woodworker notifies the member with the particulars and the member ships to the customer.

This is just a skeleton of the idea which would need much discussion and fleshing out, but could be a money maker for North Carolina Woodworker and members.

George
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2B1ASK1



George

 

[DavidF]

Wow...there's some nice stuff there. This guy makes some amazing custom stuff, but $370 for this quilt rack is laughable, IMO. It looks like a nice quilt rack and all...but $370? Come on

And therein lies the problem. Looking at the description of the rack with wedged through tenons and well made joinery, there is a lot of work in the rack and he has tried to make it a bit special by those details, so maybe it SHOULD be worth that much?? From rough to finished is going to be 20 hrs? take out material costs and that doesn't leave much of an hourly rate to pay the mortgage with... We have to look at woodcrafts with the same view as someone who doesn't have a clue how they would make it, but they really want it - then they might pay $370 - until they see an inferior one in walmart and can't see the difference!

 

[walnutjerry]

And therein lies the problem. Looking at the description of the rack with wedged through tenons and well made joinery, there is a lot of work in the rack and he has tried to make it a bit special by those details, so maybe it SHOULD be worth that much?? From rough to finished is going to be 20 hrs? take out material costs and that doesn't leave much of an hourly rate to pay the mortgage with... We have to look at woodcrafts with the same view as someone who doesn't have a clue how they would make it, but they really want it - then they might pay $370 - until they see an inferior one in walmart and can't see the difference!

Very well stated David. All handwork is a perceived value in my opinion. If the customer does not recognize the material, does not understand the tecniques used to produce it, and has no clue as to the time it takes or the tooling it takes to do the project----------then it is not worth much to them.

Windsor chairs are not cheap chairs--------when I was doing craft shows, I told people up front, "you are paying a lot more for my time and expertise than you are for material". People that recognized the chairs for what they are did not have a problem with the price.

I had the opinion a lot of woodworking was overpriced until I tried to make a living at it. Sure, I can make a lot of the items for a fraction of their price if I only consider the material costs. The fact remains, crafts people have to eat too.

Just my thoughts-----------------Jerry

 

[ashley_phil]

i remember talking with joe at woodcraft a few months ago about turned pens. i said if i sell a pen it'll be at least $ 35 for a slimline.

i'm sorry guys but my time is worth something.

imho you should always include profit in your projects.

the asking price should include the cost of:
Materials (Marked up if applicable, i mean just because you scored some sweet walnut for a 1 a bdft on craigslist from some lady who didn't know what she had don't mean you have to pass that saving on to your customer)
Cost for your time (if you don't know what to charge figure your rate at what you make at your day job, i mean your time is worth at least that if not more right?)
Overhead (prorated cost for blades, bits, knives, electricity, etc. my suggestion would be to figure a percentage of material cost say 5 - 7% and fix your overhead at that.)
Last but not least is Profit as Joe pointed out to me if you only cover the first 3 you're just breaking even and not making any money.

with said i've never sold anything. i've given a lot of stuff away as gifts and always enjoy the reaction i get from folks but rest assured when i get around to selling my work i will take a page from Thomas Moser who i've seen quoting as he'd rather bust up his work and burn it as kindling than sell it for less than he thinks it's worth.

that's my .02 ...no wait i'm now charging .10 for my opinion.:rotflm:

 

[cskipper]

An interesting discussion.

 

[walnutjerry]

An interesting discussion.

Yes it is-------------If I had the "sure fire" answers for selling crafts, I would write the book and not worry about selling handmade woodwork.

I would probably make enough money to support all the NC Woodworkers and half the "wanna be woodworkers".

Jerry

 

[JackLeg]

I've been reading this thread with great interest. I think one mistake that my previous partner and I made was selling to "dealers." Although a good source for volume, THEY want to make the profit on the items. I've found that the margin THEY added to our stuff would have put US in the black if we were the recipients instead of the dealers.

I remember something Walnut Jerry told my partner one day when we visited his shop. Jerry asked, "Are you trying to make money or keep from LOSING money? :eusa_thin There's a big difference!" :eusa_thin That was SAGE advice from a man who knows. :icon_thum

I, like Phil, enjoy making stuff and giving it away, and if I sell something, now at least I'm making a small return. I still sell stuff to NCWW members at what I used to sell dealers and will continue to do so.

Just my rambling 2 pennies worth.
:wsmile: