Selling Wood Craft Items [Archive] - Woodworking Crafts Forums

randys_woods

11-06-2002, 11:49 AM

I havent had any luck selling things on ebay. It seems to me ebay is like an online garage sale. Noone wants to pay much money for quality things. Ive had better luck using Yahoo. I put in a classified ad refering people to look at my profile page for more photos of my projects. On my profile page I put up a picture of my latest project, then I have a photo album of my other projects. I have sold about 6 clocks this way. When someone is intrested in a particular item they will email me. After I receive the email Ill email them a word document with a larger picture of the item, more details, a picture listing of different clock incserts and music boxes. Its like an order form. They will mail the word document back to me in my regular mail with a deposit. After I make the item, I will send them a photo of the item, and I will mail it as soon as I receive the reminder of the money. works out well. Im still searching for a better way to sell my things. I have better luck with craft fairs. My Yahoo ID is: randys_woods@yahoo.com
Check it out if you have time.
Good luck :)

Pyrotechniques

11-09-2002, 10:54 AM

I also have been trying to find a good way to sell my wood crafts.
I am into pyrography (woodburning) and create several different things. Seems like people want something for nothing these days and most of my stuff I do wind up giving away to family members. If anyone out there finds a good way to sell the wood products please let me know. Right now I have my sister selling them when she does craft shows and I have also tried ebay. I pray the Lord will show me the right direction to go in.

I make a variety of things such as door hangers (that have your name or any saying you want on them), plaques or your favorite sayings. I think it would be great if someone knew how to set up a shop here online for all of us to be able to sell our stuff on that was strictly wood related!! Just a thought.

I wish everyone the best of luck in your journeys and just cause you cant sell stuff always continue making it if it brings you joy within yourself!!

Glad I joined, thanks for the welcome!
Peggy Srlb172865@hotmail.com

randys_woods

11-11-2002, 12:06 PM

Hello
I just found out about this online craft fair. I havent yet signed onto it yet, but it looks promising.
Here is a link to the web site:

http://hometown.aol.com/Paleoluvr/fan/index.htm

It looks like its a contract between you and the web page designer. Its a 6 month lease on web space for 10$ per month.

Im going to look and see what other items are selling here, and perhaps talk to someone who has a page listed with them, before I sign up. But so far it looks promising.

Take care,
Randy

Dryad

11-11-2002, 12:21 PM

I think having a web page with a focus on quality wood crafts from several sources is an excellant idea. I have written a few web pages in the past, and would be willing to do the research and "legwork" if there are enough people interested. If you are please send me a private response.

Pyrotechniques

11-11-2002, 11:08 PM

I would send you a private email however I dont see your email address!! So get in touch with me and we can discuss the whole webpage idea. I think we could make it work if enough of us really want it and are willing to WORK on it.
Srlb172865@hotmail.com

Admin

11-13-2002, 05:14 PM

I know that Steebar, one of the advertiser's here is going to be paying for and providing free web space right here for their customer's to sell their products - or, we may be able to work out another arrangement if anyone's interested.

Also, if you have a site currently you'll want to add a link to it in our Web Links directory - as you see categories that should be added just send me a note and I'll create them.

dwight

12-02-2002, 05:53 PM

Seems to me the best way is to start your own web business. There are some opportunities for consignment sales on the web but the site owners will often jury the work, select only the best quality, then take about 20% to get you and the buyer together.

Randy's sytem is working to some extent for him and is OK as long as you want to stick with made when ordered or commission work. For greater volume of items you have pre-made in quantity you probably need a website.

It takes patience not skill to build a website - - and some $$$$. I started out to build a simple site (www.TheDustyFox.com) but it is now over twenty pages and growing. But believe me, building the site is the easy part. Promoting the site to the search engines and indexes is difficult, frustrating and can get expensive.

Whatever the route you take, good luck.

Dwight

Admin

12-02-2002, 06:57 PM

dwight is correct,

I love watching the infomercials that promise instant success with your own personal web site business. I see folks all the time who think that the moment they put a site online the world will beat a path to their door.

A web site anymore is a necessary part of doing business - kind of like a street sign. You can put up a cardboard sign with your own lettering - or you can spend several thousand dollars and try to compete with McDonalds. The difference is - to open a McDonalds you need the additional 100K in cash to build the restaurant. On the internet, you can build the pretty sign and folks will never know that the actual building is a rented warehouse.

It still takes a great deal of hard work and professionalism on the part of the owners to be successful. Anyone who thinks it's easy will be swallowed up by the real business folk.
---------------------------

Dusty - Very nice site and nice integration w/your paypal cart. You have some unique designs and the pens are beautiful...
I like how the flared & hourglass designs make the grain design stand out.

Linster

12-05-2002, 01:41 AM

Hi All, I'm new to this forum and so far liking it.

I do scrolling, mainly portraits but also a few odds and ends things like mini clocks, tealite candle holders, ornaments, sculptures, crosses, etc.

I have sold my items thru a few avenues.

1. I rent space in a local crafter's gallery. I pay a monthly booth rental fee and the owners take 5% of the sales. About 10 out of 12 months I make over my rental fee. It doesn't make a lot of money, but it's a place I can keep my stuff set up at all the time.

2. I bring some items into work from time to time and display them on my desk. I sell items occasionally this way.

3. I do craft fairs and arts festivals. My experience in this area is like this: Small time craft fairs don't bring in much sales but it's an avenue I use to promote my custom portraits. It's cheap and gives you the opportunity to meet people and introduce your craft. In my area, scrolling is rarely seen at any type of craft fair or arts festival. I try to stay away from most of the craft fairs that allow vendors in who sell non handcrafted items. It's very hard to compete with imported items that sell so cheaply. The places I do the best at are Arts Festivals. These avenues only take juried arts and you have to submit photo's of your items. (Note: If you ever do a festival that specifically states "handcrafted" only and you see someone there selling items that are NOT hand crafted, you should report them to the organizers. By doing this you are helping to keep it "strictly handcrafted"). At Arts Fests you will see high quality crafts and if your woodworking is high quality, this is where you need to be. If you're into Country Crafts and painted wood, this is not an area you would probably be accepted into but if you're doing scrolled clocks, wood portraits and other "hardwood" crafts, I highly recommnd trying this sort of thing. One exception to Arts Festivals: If they are run in conjucntion with a family orientated festival, such as kids activities, rides and games, don't expect much in sales. Many times these types of festivals draw lots of people but they are not there to buy quality crafts but to entertain the kids.

These are just my opinions and experiences. There are no set rules in the craft business and what works for me may not work for you in your area.

Good Luck!
Linster
www.portraitsinwood.freewebspace.com

Linster

12-05-2002, 01:56 AM

I forgot to mention my experience with websites.

I recently cancelled a web site I held for 3 years. (Not wood related). It cost me a minimum of $50/month in fees and I only got 1 order in 3 years.
I promoted it at every opportunity I had including search engines, signature line on EVERY e-mail, on business cards that I left EVERYWHERE, in ads, and even magnetic signs on both sides of my truck.

I'm not saying you can't have success with a web site but you do have to have some $$$ and it's not an "if you build it they will come" thing. To get into the top listing of web sites these days, you have to buy your spot and it's not cheap. You also either have to have lots of TIME to work on your site, keeping it updated and submitting to search engines every couple of weeks or hire someone to do it for you ($$$$).

I currently have a web site for my custom portraits. It's like my on-line brochure. You can't order a portrait using a shopping cart or paypal. It's more an informational site. When I'm talking to people about what I do, I can give them a business card and send them to my site for more information and examples of my work.

Another tip: When someone asks you "What you been up to?" don't say "same old-same old" . Tell them what your doing. Others may hear the conversation, become interested and whala! you've just promoted/marketed yourself the cheapest way you can. Most of my custom portrait orders have come to me thru word of mouth, either by someone who has purchased a custom job or has seen my work.

Linster

Admin

12-07-2002, 09:43 AM

Linster - Your last paragraph is a great tip. Most of us have that 'awe shucks' attitude and are afraid folks won't be interested if we tell them what we're doing - but - self promotion needs to be a business persons number 1 priority. If we don't believe in ourself & our business nobody else will.

I am sorry to hear about your expensive web lesson. I am a strong believer in paid sites however. For around $10 /month you can have a quality hosting service with email tied to your domain name and I think it's money well spent - even if it's just a brochure and you don't sell from the site. The free services with their pop up ads really dilute your site's message and theme.

dwight

12-13-2002, 09:16 PM

Some thoughts on building a website without going broke:

I use Homestead for my site. For roughly $20 per month they host the site, register the domain name, provide three email addresses, and provide the software to build and maintain the site. An upgrade to the software is in Beta test - - I'm using it and it looks as if it will be a good step forward. There are limits on storage but with over 30 pages built and uploaded (not all are visible on the site), well over 100 photos uploaded, and three PDF catalogs uploaded I am nowhere near that limit - - probably around the 20% mark. There is a bandwidth limit that I only wish were being pushed because that would probably mean more sales.

I use Paypal for all online transactions right now and that works pretty well. At the level of sales I have right now PayPal is far cheaper and simpler then going the merchant account route. I will probably be adding CCNow soon so that those who are leery of PayPal will have a way to pay via credit card.

I built my downloadable catalogs using MS Publisher and converted them to PDF using a free service provided online by Adobe. There are limits on this but it is a very good opportunity for those who cannot afford Acrobat.

To build a site the size of mine a digital camera is a must. I use a 2meg Fuji and will someday upgrade but I am the limiting factor right now, not the camera. Anyone who looks at my site can tell I do all my own photography and any photo manipulation required. It's getting better but not near professional grade yet.

I'd like to see this discussion continue with other folks chipping in. How about it? And give us the names of the good services you have found and why you like them.

Admin

12-14-2002, 08:56 AM

Homestead is a fairly good hosting service now - I had some problems with them years ago that left a bad taste.

I have a personal interest in this recommendation so you can judge accordingly:

We are currently using www.eLiveHost.com. Domain registration is $15/yr, hosting is $10/mo. with enough space and transfer bandwidth to build a very large site. Up to 100 email addresses, mailing lists, email forwarding, database support all included. For less than the cost of a newspaper ad any business can have a web site online 24 hrs. a day for the year. Plus, when you have your own domain name you have a professional looking email address tied to your business. I see folks all the time giving people their email address as 'xxx@yahoo.com or xxx@hotmail.com'. In my opinion, it's worth 120/yr. just to have a professional looking email address.

There are several shareware HTML editors that provide all you need to create and publish your site (the best is probably CoffeeCup Editor (http://www.qksrv.net/click-1235390-5041692?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.coffeecup.com%2F) - plus, then it will work with any hosting service you want should you decide to change later on. There are several hosting companies that use proprietary software to publish your site, but should you decide to go somewhere else you basically need to start over.

I was just on another board looking for a source for a client of mine. Someone had posted a link to their web site - a nice domain name - but it forwarded me to a geocities site w/pop up ads and all the junk that comes with it. Really not very appealing

dwight

12-14-2002, 01:21 PM

Admin,

I agree with you on the email addresses. It may be inexcusable arrogance on my part but I don't want to buy from someone that uses a free email.

Also agree on the pop-ups not looking professional. I originally used one of those free hit statistic services on my site til I figured out they were the cause of a lot of annoying pop-ups. I switched to one from extremetracking.com and got rid of the problem - - and it is still free.

(One of these days the site will earn enough that I won't be so concerned with "free".)

As to learning HTML and all else required to build a quality site, well there is only so much time. We make everything we sell on our site so that requires time. The business end (accounting, tax reports, etc) takes time; and even with Homestead's software building and maintaining the site it is still time consuming. Plus I still work part time. Bottom line: I don't seem to have time to study HTML - - so I'll continue to hope Homestead remains viable.

tmullanejr

12-15-2002, 11:15 AM

Aside from my scrolling business.. my primary living is as a web designer.... I have been using a hosting company called A+ Plus Hosting for a couple of years now for almost all my clients... there service is great and occassionally they have some insane offers.
Currently they are offering what is called their A+ Eternal... the first year will cost you approximately $200, this includes your domain name registration. Then the cost will only be $25/yr, and that includes the renewal of your domain registration... they only offer this program a couple of times a year, so if you are interested in a good hosting company for your web site at an absolutely insane price look them up (http://www.aplushosting.com/. You get 375MB of storage space, 6GB of monthly transfer, 20 email addresses If anyone has any questions, email me at tjm@mousetek.net and I will try to help
BTW... this is the same service I use for my own websites.
Tom
http://www.mousetek.net

Gentleben

01-08-2003, 11:46 PM

I am new to this site and fairly new to scroll sawing.

I find this thread very interesting because like most crafters I have noticed that it is very hard to get a fair price for the Items we make. I have mainly done local craft fairs and have had a lot of problems with spring shows in general and shows that are in combination with Santa Clause or the Easter Bunny therefore,will not do anymore of these types of shows.

Also would like to know if anyone can give me a formula to come up with a fair price for the finished product.

I am looking for a source for scroll saw patterns if anyone can help.

dwight

01-09-2003, 01:42 AM

Gentleben,

I don't do shows, just my website plus personal contact sales. And don't carve these in stone because overall I just do a bit better then breakeven.

My formula for pricing for production or semi-production items is cost of materials + hourly shop charge + my hourly labor rate.

Commission work is same plus design cost (time x labor rate) but I will discount the design cost if it leads to a new product I will make in quantity.

For patterns try these:

http://www.woodworkersworkshop.com/dcd/Woodworking/Index_of_Links/Plans_Free/ free plans for lots of woodworking projects

http://www.scrollerltd.com/ some free plans, lots of plans for sale

http://www.thewinfieldcollection.com/ some free plans, lots of plans for sale

Good luck,

Gentleben

01-09-2003, 10:51 AM

Dwight

Thanks for the info. I have bought most of my patterns from Scroller Ltd but that woodworkers workshop site has some great patterns. Since I am fairly new at scroll sawing I am not very fast so my hourly rate is about $1.00. Can't make a lot of money at that rate. It is a lot of fun and sure beats being a couch potato.

Any tips on scrolling are greatly appreciated

Ben

dwight

01-09-2003, 01:10 PM

Ben

Looking at last night's post I see a chance for confusion - - the hourly shop charge.

My shop rate isn't for just the shop, it includes my office and internet costs as well. These areas require regular money input even if sales are really slow and have to get covered somewhere.

Another pattern source I should have mentioned is the series of books by Patrick Spielman. They have lots of howtos and good starter patterns.

Spoonwoman

01-10-2003, 02:52 PM

If I had learned anything from craft shows and consignment sales, I wouldn't be in the spoon business at all now; however, I opened my own shop in June of 1998, and I have expanded its size and my output every year. That may sound a bit grand, but I started VERY small with an 8'x10" storage shed in my front yard.

It's the same old real estate proverb, "Location, location location!" I moved on purpose to live in a small town (pop. 397 during the winter), but it is at the edge of Glacier National Park in Montana. If you truly want to sell your work, you can be as crazy as I am or find some like-minded people to create a co-op in a high traffic/tourist area, but I have a few thoughts that apply no matter where you are.

First, no one can sell your work better than you can if you are truly engaged in what you do. If you love it, you will communicate your enthusiasm to your customers. It also doesn't hurt if what you do is unique and that people can watch you work. Remember that more often than not you are selling a part of yourself with your work.

Second, if you must do consignment, choose a shop that has a similar theme. I accept some consignments in my shop, but I stick to items made of wood--hand-carved if possible--that are made in Montana. I look at consignees as an opportunity to try out their work with an eye to buying wholesale from them in the future. Believe me, I have a vested iinterest in finding and selling items that I don't have to carve myself, so ASK. In other words, look at the businesses in you area that are already selling woodwork, and strike a deal with the owner even if he does not normally do consignment.

Third, don't give up. Try anything and everything that sounds reliable or just plain stupid. You never know when or where you will fing your niche.

OldTimer

01-22-2003, 08:19 AM

Hi Spoonwoman,

Can you clarify your first paragraph? Does this mean that craft shows and consignment sales did not work at all for you?

As for your location, it may not the best, but from other businesses I've seen with 'second best' locations the ones that do well are ones that continually cultivate their existing customers by using regular mailings, having specials throughout the year, etc.

Dan

01-24-2003, 09:17 PM

My wife and I attend 12-15 arts and craft shows per year. Our worst show this yr, we sold $156.00 the best 2 day show was $4100.00. Most run between $1000.00 to $2500.00. Must pick and chose the ones you go to. Some charge lots of $ to set up, others are very low. we spent $800.00 on one hot air ballon show and in 4 days sold 2,100.00 not good. i fell that the promoter should only be a 10% partner in my sales max!!!!
The amount of availablee product contrls the potential sales. If you have only one product, one desigh, one finish you can not expect high sales. We carry 150 diff items, with diff finishes, sizes, and in volume. we sold at one show 63 pcs of one item. Wish we had more, we could have sold 150 pcs easy.

better get back to work

Dan

01-24-2003, 09:26 PM

try this http://rngengravers.com/ he has frett work patters by the truck load. also shopbot support. all patterns can be licenced for one price. I use his stuff a lot

tmullanejr

01-25-2003, 04:58 AM

Went to the site you mentioned and there were no patterns just a lot of hype about joining their server and getting movies... what gives.

JimD

03-02-2003, 01:19 PM

New to the forum, but I've been woodworking for close to 15 years and have finally decided to start trying to make a profit at it. In the past I've just made things for family and friends.

All of the information posted is very helpful.

I know some of the posts on this topic are a few months old but I did have a couple of questions:

dwight: Great looking website, are you making any sales from it?

anyone: Has anyone used or tried the free HTML editor from Eversoft, can't remember the name of the software.

I'm still trying to decide on a product line so anyone have any suggestions on smaller items that can be shipped without a great deal of expense?

I've registered a domain name with dotster, went with them because the wife's domain name is through them, and have hostlane hosting e-mail addresses. Decided to go with them 'cause it was a good deal. Now business and personal e-mail @ are all the same. sort of simplifies life.

Thanks to all. Sorry about the length of the post.

Jim D.

dwight

03-02-2003, 02:37 PM

Jim,

We've had the site online for seven months now and been even or ahead in four of those. The rest have been basically dead, including February which had zero sales.

Our site promotion is not very extensive and that is undoubtedly one of the major problems - - you can't sell if you don't have customers. I'm currently running my second campaign in Google Adwords but so far not a single sale from either this or the first one. Later this month I'll try to get listed in Froogle (have to go visit our first grandchild first, though - - priorities, you know).

We get catalog hardcopy requests (guess some folk just don't want to download and print their own) for both retail and wholesale but have never had a single response to the ones we sent out. Considering the cost we'll probably discontinue that idea.

I am in the process of redesigning the site to make it faster loading and potentially move it off Homestead to a cheaper hosting service. This means I'm learning a lot about HTML and graphics that I didn't think I really wanted to know. For now I'm just using a text book and Notepad to do this. I downloaded two free/shareware editors but have not used either to any extent.

As to a product line: if I had any worthwhile ideas, Jim, I'd be making them myself.

Good luck,

Dwight

randys_woods

03-02-2003, 07:34 PM

I have pretty much givin up on trying to sell anything on the internet. Ive tried e-bay, excite classified, Yahoo chassified. And even tried my own website. Not a bite. Ive come to the conclusion that the best way to sell my wood crafts is by doing craft shows, and selling to people I know.
In my running arround I have found a cool place. Theirs one in my town. Its called "Coomers Crafts". You rent a space their, and set up a small area to display your items. I havent found anyone in their who is making the same kind of stuff I am. I like to make intricate fret work clocks, Intarsia, Lamps, Jewlery boxes, and recently fancy tables with lots of scroll work. I like the idea of setting up a small space. As of right now, I dont have enough stuff made to fill a booth at a craft fair. This Coomers Crafts might be a good place to set up shop for now.
Im giving up on the internet sales thing. Its too complicated, and too expensive for me to chase at this point in time.
Good luck to the rest of you.
Randy Anderson

dwight

03-02-2003, 07:58 PM

Randy

Maybe I'm gonna have to face the possibility that I'm just selling stuff no one wants, but I tried Coomers over here in Mesa with less success than the internet.

I had problems with my product growing legs (both around the store and out the door), with shoppers spilling soda on my display and with breakage. I ended up going in once a week just to rebuild the display and find my product where it had moved to other booths.

But if nothing else I'm stubborn: now i'm looking at a booth at Kimberly's Craft Mall about half a mile from the house. They just opened and claim to be getting much more traffic than they had planned on. A 1x2 foot booth will be $60/mo rather than $52 I paid for a 2x2 at Coomers two years ago.

If you do go with Coomers push for a month to month lease from the start. They want to lock you in for six months before you even know whther or not it is going to work for you.

Person to person sales are still my best area. I put together a brochure and handed a bunch out to friends, neighbors and innocent passerby. Did fair sales from those and subsequent referrals last Christmas - - enough to tell me I might be onto something anyway.

Good luck and when you find something that works be sure and share it with the rest of us,

Dwight

JimD

03-02-2003, 08:51 PM

Dwight
Randy

Do either of you have a American Craft Mall in your area? There are 2 here and I've been thinking about them.

I heard both good and bad from a couple of local crafts people. One lady makes "up scale" bandsawn puzzles and she said she's doing real good. A gentleman I talked to makes kids wooden toys and he said he hadn't sold anything in months.

A friend of mine, a cabinet maker, said the best thing to do is hand out lots of business cards to anyone and everyone. Guess I need to learn how to use my Printshop program. He also told me it took him almost 3 years to break even. Said the main thing is to produce quailty work and be persistent.

JIm D.

dwight

03-02-2003, 09:07 PM

Jim

Randy and I are both in the general Phoenix area.

I have never heard of American Craft Mall around here - - doesn't mean they aren't here, just that I've never heard of them.

Dwight

Admin

03-03-2003, 09:02 AM

Randy,

How long have you been selling on the internet? It takes consistency in any medium to make an impact - a year or more on the internet before you'll start to do much business. I think you have to look at the internet as just another sales tool and implement it into your entire marketing plan. For a little over $100 / yr. (less than a single newspaper ad or 2-30 second radio spots) it's a place that anyone can see your products 24/7.

Unless you're an entrenched brand name, most of your sales will always be face to face or at least from a personal referral. Any other marketing you do is just to supplement that.

I have a friend who's been (for 4 years now) making wood toys full time and is very successful on the internet. He does 10 shows a year and with every sale he makes sure to mention the web site and hands them a business card w/the site address. They may only see him at that one show each year, but can purchase additional items for gifts, etc. off the site at any time.

He has a total of about 30 regular items he sells. He also is continuously creating new items (from customer suggestions or interesting ideas he has) and removing poor sellers.

It's just the business of doing business.

dwight

03-03-2003, 01:19 PM

Jim

More info: I did a search on American Craft Malls and found they are located primarily in the Oklahoma-Texas area. And the company president is named Coomer. Hmmmmm

Dwight

DayDr

03-10-2003, 11:34 AM

I think online sites can be of benefit to crafters...with this warning. I am trying www.awesomeoriginals.com and a few others. They only problem with alot of these sites is that major search engines don't always display these sites. With a little bit of personal advertising (had a magnetic sign placing the site name on my truck), results DO spark up. I just posted some items last week and have managed to sell over half of them. Vast majority saw the site name on my truck.
You can't just join a site and expect customers to come to you.......you do have to advertise that site. After all, it benefits the site and YOU !:D

Admin

04-19-2003, 12:38 PM

I like your idea of posting a sign on your truck. It's amazing how much 'regular' advertising can drive traffic to your site. When advertising on the net folks kind of gloss over your URL when they see it - but put it on a billboard, print ad or street sign and they will check it out.

AwesomeOriginals looks like a great idea - when posting your site address how do you get them to your own vendor section? Is there a direct URL they can type in?

Also, I'm a little concerned about how they run the CC orders through. Does each vendor need a processing account or do all the orders get paid to them and they pass the money (less commission) on to the vendors?

Thanks,
Dean

DayDr

04-20-2003, 12:02 AM

The magnetic sign has really done wonders...I can honestly say that sales have picked up dramatically. I have an hour and a half drive to work each day on interstate. It gets SEEN. Of course, driving a Ford Harley Edition truck really helps.....I think the WOLF of the lid attracts attention.

AO (AwesomeOriginals) handles all CC payments. After a tracking number is provided to assure delivery of goods, payment is made less commission. It is done on a monthly basis. So far, it works.

AO will be purchasing products from its vendors to open an Ebay store in the future. This may be a good thing.

I am in close touch with the Admin of the site as we are both in the same computer field. If I can be of help....give me a shout.