Beginnings of a December craft fair

[John Kali]

Well, I have decided to sell cutting boards at my local craft fair this December to see if I could make a bit of extra cash for the holidays. 1 down and 30-40 more to go lol.

Also, since I've got your attention, what do you think people at craft fairs would be willing to pay for one of these things (I've never sold anything before)? I was thinking like $65-85 for a big thick end grain, and maybe $20-40 for a long grain. Thoughts?

Here's #1

[David Peterson MN]

I am doing my first craft/art festival as well in november. I have been asking myself those same questions. A buddy of mine goes to numerous festivals. He has actually been doing very well at them even though the economy is down. He gets alot of special orders. He sold an end grain like yours for 50 dollars I think. I was thinking of pricing my long grain boards at around 28-30 dollars. Good luck.

[Todd Bin]

You might check out Williams Sonoma and see what they price cutting boards at. Since your cutting boards would be nicer than theirs it would give you a starting point.

~Todd

[Art Mulder]

You might check out Williams Sonoma and see what they price cutting boards at. Since your cutting boards would be nicer than theirs it would give you a starting point.

~Todd

Definitely check out some stores. I forget where I was a year or so back and was surprised to see them charging $40 for what I thought was a very plain long-grain cutting board. It was nothing fancy, just all one species; a basic board.

[John Czaplicki]

Good luck selling at the fair. I'm very interested to see hear how you do because I thought of doing the same.....just haven't gotten around to it. please post an update after the fair.

Cooking and woodworking are two of my favorite hobbies, so making end grain cutting boards is a perfect match. I've made a bunch of them. They started as gifts, but everyone that saw them wanted to buy one, so I started sellilng them to supplement my wood and tool addiction. They make great house warming gifts and the like.

They have gotten larger over time, and I've become more efficient, but they still take a decent amount of time. Add the cost of wood and wear on your tools and it's not easy to make money. The one in the pic seems quite small, so maybe the price you're suggesting is reasonable, but you may be short changing yourself.

what is your cost of wood per board?

The prices I charge vary based upon the wood I used, but I try to add some bells and whistles like homemade oil/wax and a nice descriptive card about the board and how to care for it. Smaller boards $125....larger boards $200. see pics.....the larger one is about 18 x 24 x 1 5/8

A hand made piece of functional art will be appreciated by many, and I've seen designer boards (John Boo) that can be $600+.....so $200 for a functional piece of art that should last years is not out of line in my opinion.

[John Thompson]

Nice board John.. I really can't help with the pricing as I don't sell anything.... yet.