Jim Ruckman

[Jim Ruckman]

I have become addicted to woodturning, and I am very happy to have found this forum.
I have only been turning about a year, and was lucky enough to obtain a 36" Delta after beginning with a Harbor F inexpensive one that we bought for my son to use to make chess pieces
He lost interest, and I became addicted

Getting better, but still having some tool marks, esp across the grain
Hoping to get a small booth in a local venue to sell my growing inventory
I don't want to undercut anyone, but I really don't know what I should price I can sell my stuff

 

[Brian Gustin]

Welcome.

Sounds like you realize you're in need of practice - I'd highly recommend looking for a turner's club local to you.. Perhaps you can hook up with a mentor to learn from, which could likely help shorten the learning curve...

As far as pricing, if you are the only one selling turned work, you can pretty much set your pricing to whatever you like - but I'd probably err on the side of being overpriced... Easy enough to slash prices later, but hard to raise them by much after folks have gotten used to what you were selling at before.. As well, "Too Much" and "Too Cheap" reactions are likely to happen at any venue - what sells well at one venue where folks think nothing of dropping $75 - $100 on a nice functional bowl, may be seen as "Way overpriced" at the same price at a different venue the next town over...

On the other hand, if you first take your time to visit the actual venues and see other vendors you may find other woodturners to network with, and get an idea of pricing on your own items (Pretty much every piece is gonna be unique so it is difficult to compare 2 items to one another, but you don't want to be blatantly undercutting. Plus, you'd be able to chat with other vendors and see if it is even a venue you actually want to spend a booth fee and try to sell at (learned that the hard way - just because they call it a craft show or art festival, does not mean your stuff is gonna appeal to the crowds - two of those "shows" I went to were just a plain waste of booth fee with sales not even covering cost of fees & transportation/setup/etc)

 

[Jim Ruckman]

Thanks. I read about shows and such as a way to sell. I will have a booth in a busy "Emporium" when one opens, and I will be the only one selling turned items
Here is my latest

 

[Jim Ruckman]

More of my turnings9

Thanks. I read about shows and such as a way to sell. I will have a booth in a busy "Emporium" when one opens, and I will be the only one selling turned items
Here is my latest

 

[Jim Ruckman]

Welcome.

Sounds like you realize you're in need of practice - I'd highly recommend looking for a turner's club local to you.. Perhaps you can hook up with a mentor to learn from, which could likely help shorten the learning curve...

As far as pricing, if you are the only one selling turned work, you can pretty much set your pricing to whatever you like - but I'd probably err on the side of being overpriced... Easy enough to slash prices later, but hard to raise them by much after folks have gotten used to what you were selling at before.. As well, "Too Much" and "Too Cheap" reactions are likely to happen at any venue - what sells well at one venue where folks think nothing of dropping $75 - $100 on a nice functional bowl, may be seen as "Way overpriced" at the same price at a different venue the next town over...

On the other hand, if you first take your time to visit the actual venues and see other vendors you may find other woodturners to network with, and get an idea of pricing on your own items (Pretty much every piece is gonna be unique so it is difficult to compare 2 items to one another, but you don't want to be blatantly undercutting. Plus, you'd be able to chat with other vendors and see if it is even a venue you actually want to spend a booth fee and try to sell at (learned that the hard way - just because they call it a craft show or art festival, does not mean your stuff is gonna appeal to the crowds - two of those "shows" I went to were just a plain waste of booth fee with sales not even covering cost of fees & transportation/setup/etc)

Seems like there's 2 major practices: one is to do bulk and sell low, with moderate to good quality, and the other in which you sell high dollar "nice," higher quality and charge substantially more

 

[Brian Gustin]

Seems like there's 2 major practices: one is to do bulk and sell low, with moderate to good quality, and the other in which you sell high dollar "nice," higher quality and charge substantially more

In a nutshell, kinda yes - I'd considered trying to do production "tourist trap" bowls for a local tourist attraction gift shop - but for what he was willing to pay, it decidedly was not worth it... It does rather depend on your local economic climate (Chattanooga? - To me, that's "Big City" - around here, we're rural - Whole county population could fit into an average football stadium and still have the other half of the stadium empty.. In other words, more cows than people!) Another good reason to actually visit some of these venues you plan to sell at - to gauge the market (What sort of shoppers visit - Just because you have a low price on bulk quality items, doesn't mean they're gonna be buying your stuff, etc.)

 

[Gerald Lawrence]

Welcome to the forum. As previous posters have stated pricing is somewhat subjective and depends highly on the location you are selling in . Sometimes variety of items helps to gain sales.

 

[Jim Ruckman]

Thanks
Found a small, local venue where I will be alone selling wood turnings. Very yuppie.
Should sell there, I'm hoping