Selling bowls

Carl mitchell

Member
Messages
15
Location
Yemassee South Carolina
So I have only been making bowls for about a month and a half and I was looking for a way to make a little profit by selling a couple bowls to help pay for my chisels and tools. Well during my normal job (HVAC tech) I meet a lot of people and do work for quite a few doctors. Well after telling the doctors about my bowls and giving them one, I have now received orders for several bowls from one person and they are doing MAJOR advertising to their doctor friends for me. Now I can barely keep up with all the request I have to keep filled. It’s a good thing I really enjoy spending time with my lathe. Keep turning my friends.
P.S. I was also thinking about doing some live turning sessions online for others to watch. Does this seem like a good idea
 
Yes. The key to selling is to find a market that likes, and can/will pay the price for hand crafted items. My pens did quite well in an art gallery until it was closed. A friend has a (secret) market he sends bowls to. He makes about one dozen a day before lunch. (He has a real system) These get shipped daily and they want more.
 
Congrats on finding a market demand for your products. :thumb:

...P.S. I was also thinking about doing some live turning sessions online for others to watch. Does this seem like a good idea

Given your somewhat limited experience at this stage, I'd suggest approaching videos with some caution. From what I've seen, so-called "experts" in the YouTube audience can be pretty brutal, and they don't hesitate to jump on people who do something differently than they do. ;)
 
Good luck on your marketing. Hope it holds up. I have to echo what Vaughn said about the videos. There are some really caustic critics out there and they will rip into you so fast you will wish you had left it alone.
 
Congrats on finding a market demand for your products. :thumb:



Given your somewhat limited experience at this stage, I'd suggest approaching videos with some caution. From what I've seen, so-called "experts" in the YouTube audience can be pretty brutal, and they don't hesitate to jump on people who do something differently than they do. ;)

Are yes, I have seen the results of a close friend who struggled after a broadside of "constructive criticism" followed up with some very hectic comments on plagiarism. It took him a while to get back into the swing of things, no more videos tho'.
 
Congrats on finding a market demand for your products. :thumb:

Given your somewhat limited experience at this stage, I'd suggest approaching videos with some caution. From what I've seen, so-called "experts" in the YouTube audience can be pretty brutal, and they don't hesitate to jump on people who do something differently than they do. ;)

I've watched a number of these "experts" and wonder sometimes how they get anything done with all the measuring and checking and what ever.... I've had a definition of an "expert" for some time now....

"X" is the unknown quantity, a "Spert" is a drip under pressure.

There are some very knowledgeable turners out there that I watch often and I do learn from them... but I'm not sure there is a right or wrong way to accomplish what we do... if it works for you, it's right for you... if it doesn't work, then it's wrong....

In a 4 hour session on my lathe, I can turn about 4 or 5 bowls from blank to ready to finish. Sizes will range from about 6 inches to about 12 inches diameter... 4 hours is about as long as I ever work, my back starts to give way and my legs and knees start to protest.... I'll go back later after I have a number done and clean up the bottoms... on the bigger bowls it takes a couple of minutes to set up my vacuum chuck so I usually do them in batches. (I don't use the Longworth chuck anymore after not being able to duck fast enough when it released a bowl.)

I also do a lot of pepper mills, I can do a crush grind pepper mill from a raw blank to a ready to finish mill in just about 30 minutes... I don't spend any time measuring, strictly design on the fly...I've watch a couple of videos where the guy took 5 or 6 videos to show how he made one pepper mill....

I do not under any circumstances consider myself an expert... just a guy have fun with my lathe.

My point is, If you have a thick enough skin and are confident to what you are doing, I say go for it and let the "expert critics" have their 15 minutes of fame.
 
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