The topic has been bantered about here in several different threads.
Would some of you be willing to share the details of your marketing
strategies and give those of us who are new to the craft the benefit of your
experience?
How do you get your items out there for your buyers to find them?
Where do you put your items for sale?
If you consign, what is a good percentage rate?
Valuing your items - that's a toughie.

I'm going to post this in the woodworking group too...
Hopefully ya'll will have a lot to teach us 'newbies'

Thanks!

Kate
______
/l ,[____],
l-L -OlllllllO-
()_)-()_)--)_)

The shortest distance between two points,
is a lot more fun in a Jeep!

On Thu, 18 Oct 2007 13:07:52 -0500, "Kate" wrote:

The topic has been bantered about here in several different threads.
Would some of you be willing to share the details of your marketing
strategies and give those of us who are new to the craft the benefit of your
experience?
How do you get your items out there for your buyers to find them?
Where do you put your items for sale?
If you consign, what is a good percentage rate?
Valuing your items - that's a toughie.

I'm going to post this in the woodworking group too...
Hopefully ya'll will have a lot to teach us 'newbies'

Thanks!

Kate
______
/l ,[____],
l-L -OlllllllO-
()_)-()_)--)_)

The shortest distance between two points,
is a lot more fun in a Jeep!

Kate.. I think wodwork has more value with 2 o's.. kind of like shopPE.. *eg*

IMHO, consignment is a huge PITA and a way to get trapped into building someone
else's inventory..

Besides the obvious of "is there a chance that they can sell it", the real
nightmares are things like:

Who keeps track of what they have of your stuff?

Can you trust them to report sales and amounts?

Who's responsible for lost or damaged items, and will they make good on them?

If they have better market than you do, why do they need consignment?

I don't sell as much of my stuff as I'd like, but if I can't sell it personally,
I wholesale it..
Normal here (Baja Calif., Mx) seems to be 20% on consignment and 40% on
wholesale..

I've spent most of my life in sales, so I'd rather wholesale my stuff and spend
time in the shop, not in a store selling stuff..

An exception to both of the above has been pens...
I'm known in the local cantinas as the "pen guy" and always carry a roll with a
dozen assorted pens, perfume atomizers and key chains... I sell quite a few
during "gringo season" from word of mouth... Partly generated by quite a few
"gift pens" to the right folks when we moved here..

I say "both" because I do have a lady that sells my lower price pens on
consignment..
She has a gig at the golf course club house every Sunday, when bus loads of
folks come for the tour and to buy lots... Because she has a market position
that I don't, the consignment thing works well with her..
It also helps that I see her 2 or 3 times a week and can keep updated on sales,
comments, etc..

For pieces in your price range, assuming that you are only going to do boxes,
it's going to be a whole different ball game, IMHO..
Hard to give samples and you can't really carry them around showing them off..

Maybe look for local art shows? We have an annual "Art & Jazz Festival" here and
I've sold a few pieces there, but the real value was in meeting folks and
passing out cards..
A web page would work well for your stuff, also... Pictures like the one's that
you've posted here would sell pieces, unlike bowls, which are much more of a
"touchy-feely" market..

You might try some smaller stuff.. I can picture some really cool gift boxes,
treasure chests, playing card boxes, etc...
Things that folks can pick up and not want to put down are the ones that sell..
Depending on your local market, you might have fun with small wall
decorations... They sell well here in ceramic tile, but wood is probably very
popular in TN.. It's amazing what some folks will pay for that "perfect" accent
for their wall...

DON'T plan on making a living at it... if that somehow happens, and is something
you'd like, cool.... but don't put extra demands on your time and talents and
take the FUN out of it.. YMWV


mac

Please remove splinters before emailing

"Kate" wrote:

Valuing your items - that's a toughie.

Valuing the items is easy, getting people to pay what YOU think it is worth
is the toughie.

How much do you want to earn? How long does it take you to make an item and
what are the material costs? What are the real costs of overhead,
insurance, material procurement, supplies, telephone, etc.

That box with $10 worth of wood may in fact have $20 or more in other costs.
Add in labor and overhead, it may be fair to sell it for $75. The next
problems is, are there buyers willing to pay $75 for the item? If yes,
continue. If no, make some boxes as gifts and enjoy your hobby.

If you feel $75 is a fair price, it may have to be marked up to $150 in a
retail store. Is the market still there?

The other side is pricing too low. If you are comfortable with $75, but is
is truly a masterpiece, are buyers willing to pay $300 for it? If so, that
is the fair value. That same hunk of wood is going to bring a much higher
price sitting in a jewler's window than on a flea market table. Pick your
sales venue with care.

At work, my concern is how many dollars per hour do the machine earn. At a
restaurant, it is how may dollars an hour does each table bring in. Don't
sell too cheap. Far easier to adjust down than up.

I can tell you that a website and lots of business cards handed out all over
the place work great. If your not computer savy, try to find a website
designer that specializes in small companies or small jobs. Also one that
is willing to do parts and not the whole job. I know this because my wife
is a web designer and specializes in small companies (one man shops).

Jack
Atlanta, GA

"mac davis" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 18 Oct 2007 13:07:52 -0500, "Kate" wrote:

The topic has been bantered about here in several different threads.
Would some of you be willing to share the details of your marketing
strategies and give those of us who are new to the craft the benefit of
your
experience?
How do you get your items out there for your buyers to find them?
Where do you put your items for sale?
If you consign, what is a good percentage rate?
Valuing your items - that's a toughie.

I'm going to post this in the woodworking group too...
Hopefully ya'll will have a lot to teach us 'newbies'

Thanks!

Kate
______
/l ,[____],
l-L -OlllllllO-
()_)-()_)--)_)

The shortest distance between two points,
is a lot more fun in a Jeep!

Kate.. I think wodwork has more value with 2 o's.. kind of like shopPE..
*eg*

IMHO, consignment is a huge PITA and a way to get trapped into building
someone
else's inventory..

Besides the obvious of "is there a chance that they can sell it", the real
nightmares are things like:

Who keeps track of what they have of your stuff?

Can you trust them to report sales and amounts?

Who's responsible for lost or damaged items, and will they make good on
them?

If they have better market than you do, why do they need consignment?

I don't sell as much of my stuff as I'd like, but if I can't sell it
personally,
I wholesale it..
Normal here (Baja Calif., Mx) seems to be 20% on consignment and 40% on
wholesale..

I've spent most of my life in sales, so I'd rather wholesale my stuff and
spend
time in the shop, not in a store selling stuff..

An exception to both of the above has been pens...
I'm known in the local cantinas as the "pen guy" and always carry a roll
with a
dozen assorted pens, perfume atomizers and key chains... I sell quite a
few
during "gringo season" from word of mouth... Partly generated by quite a
few
"gift pens" to the right folks when we moved here..

I say "both" because I do have a lady that sells my lower price pens on
consignment..
She has a gig at the golf course club house every Sunday, when bus loads
of
folks come for the tour and to buy lots... Because she has a market
position
that I don't, the consignment thing works well with her..
It also helps that I see her 2 or 3 times a week and can keep updated on
sales,
comments, etc..

For pieces in your price range, assuming that you are only going to do
boxes,
it's going to be a whole different ball game, IMHO..
Hard to give samples and you can't really carry them around showing them
off..

Maybe look for local art shows? We have an annual "Art & Jazz Festival"
here and
I've sold a few pieces there, but the real value was in meeting folks and
passing out cards..
A web page would work well for your stuff, also... Pictures like the one's
that
you've posted here would sell pieces, unlike bowls, which are much more of
a
"touchy-feely" market..

You might try some smaller stuff.. I can picture some really cool gift
boxes,
treasure chests, playing card boxes, etc...
Things that folks can pick up and not want to put down are the ones that
sell..
Depending on your local market, you might have fun with small wall
decorations... They sell well here in ceramic tile, but wood is probably
very
popular in TN.. It's amazing what some folks will pay for that "perfect"
accent
for their wall...

DON'T plan on making a living at it... if that somehow happens, and is
something
you'd like, cool.... but don't put extra demands on your time and talents
and
take the FUN out of it.. YMWV


mac

Please remove splinters before emailing