"Sweet Sawdust" wrote in message ...
Market is down right now and has been for the last two years. Customers are
being very picky about what they buy and at the better shows looking for
more quality. Shows that should have brought in 5x booth fee are doing 2 or
3x booth fee. Items that are unusual are going like hot cakes though. Cut
off point for most shows last year was around $50 US with items in the $20
and down range doing best. One show I did was only fair on both wholesale
and retail for most vendors, guy selling wooden hats for $600+ sold out and
had to stop taking orders. If you have good quality and a new twist to
something you can sell well at shows, or if you are cheap you can sell well
at shows, It's like any other business.
"js" wrote in message
...

I've tried to figure the economics of this ever since my sister showed
me a crappy plant stand that she bought at a craft show. It was a
simple pine stand with 3 shelves somewhat sanded, minwax stained, and
a coat of poly slapped on. They were sold for $15. At first I thought
why pay $15 for that crap, I can make much better for 1/2 the price
So since everyone in the family thought it was so nice, I decided to
make a bunch for presents. Material consisted of one 6' 1x6 pine, 12 -
1" drywall screws, 12 screwhole button plugs, a little stain and a
little poly. Average cost from the Borg about $8 ( I realize if buying
in bulk from someplace else I might get that down to $6). Cut the
board in half, crosscut one half into thirds for the shelves and rip
the other half into 4ths for the legs. 45 cut the corners of the
shelves. Round over all edges of the shelves and legs on the router.
Drill the 12 holes in the legs and counter bore for the plugs. Sand
everything (granted I wouldn't put as much effort into this for a
craft show as for presents). Stain everything. Poly everything (I
sanded between coats and gave them all 2 coats. Probably would stop at
one for the craft show). Screw it all together and glue in the screw
plugs and voila they were done. I cannot concieve of me averaging less
than a half hour per unit for craft show quality work (hell I couldn't
do it that fast, but I am real slow). Plus time for materials
purchasing, shop cleanup, etc. Then time to find craft shows, sign up,
load the truck, drive there, setup, sell the stuff, pack up and drive
home. Probably add about a half hour per unit sold. So, a minimum of
an hour or more per unit for at best a $9 gross profit (before
overhead, insurance, gasoline, show fees, etc.). Seems to me better to
work some crappy job and keep my woodworking for fun and relaxation.

Dave Hall