Sucess in selling your wares.

There are a number of people here that have a desire to make a little extra through the sale of their work to the public. At a recent get together i promised a couple of our fellow woodworkers that are so inclined or have an intent to persue this avenue some information on marketing and selling that is appropriate to be considered for this task.

I would like to share this with all those interested but would not like to turn our forum into a platform to do this.

Would those that are interested please send me a Pm with an email address and i will send you some thoughts.

There is no trickery etc involved here just wanting to see those that do sell their products do a little better cause they understand more of what they are trying to do.

I dont claim to be the ultimate expert but i do know a little about the subject and its from more than an academic point of view. I certainly know more about the subject than I do about woodworking.

Some of what I provide as info, you will realise you actually know.

The difference between the sucessfull and the unsuccessfull is the same as the difference between sharp cutting tools and blunt ones and the people that take the time and practice to learn to sharpen properly before they use the tool and eventually after a great deal of waste come round to accepting that sharp tools really make the difference.

You have opened a wormy bucket.
What may sell well in one location is a dud in others.
And the prices one can get for items varies tremendously with location.
e.g. In my town only very inexpensive pens will sell. And, then only gaudy synthetics. Better pens with fine woods go begging. In other towns luxury pens sell well. One man flew from New York city to Little Rock to buy and order some of my pens as executive gifts.
One e-friend sells perfume atomizers as fast as he can make them. I, literally, have not been able to give them away.
For the record, my best selling item is the European pen made with Bethlehem Olive wood or Dogwood and sporting a Christian cross on the clip. I only make them from the Tn gold kits and sell for $40.00.
Actually, most of my 'sales' have been pieces of wood and wood pen blanks to other spinners.

I finally figured out how to discourage people from treating me like Im a child when it comes to making something for them.
I get alot of Oh, thats soooo nice, I didnt know you know how to do that, do you think you could make me an armoir?

And now, my answer is simply, Yes. For a piece that large, my fees start at one thousand dollars. Thats the base fee. Hardware, design changes or additions after I start are extra, usually figure on a piece this size running 2200-2800 dollars. What lumber species would you like it in?(I do tell them I will deliver it for free)

well to those who have read this and might be apprehensive on robs credentials.. well i can vouch for them from my experience with him on a few occasions and i was one of the listeners in the conversation..he makes sense and can possibly help those who are lookin for some quideance..just drop him a pm and see for your self..

allen levine said:

I finally figured out how to discourage people from treating me like Im a child when it comes to making something for them.
I get alot of Oh, thats soooo nice, I didnt know you know how to do that, do you think you could make me an armoir?

And now, my answer is simply, Yes. For a piece that large, my fees start at one thousand dollars. Thats the base fee. Hardware, design changes or additions after I start are extra, usually figure on a piece this size running 2200-2800 dollars. What lumber species would you like it in?(I do tell them I will deliver it for free)

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That reminds me that famous doctor that completely fed up of people at partys asking him to give free diagnoses as soon as they knew he was a doctor, his answer was: " all right let me examine you, take your clothes off."