Wood projects that can be easily sold for profit?

[Dan Masshardt]

Cheaper items are impossible for a woodworker to create at a profit. Just go to any upscale home store and you will literally find all sorts of great-looking wooden items selling for 5, 10, 20, 40 bucks. I dare any woodworker on earth to create cutting $40 boards for profit that can compete with similarly priced items coming out of a Chinese (or American) factory. Look at these bird houses on Amazon. Can you produce something similar in quality and price and still show a profit? http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_no...d+house+wooden Sorry if my posts appear negative; I'm just trying to offer objective observations. Maybe I'm totally wrong, but I don't see how it is possible for the average woodworker to compete with factories.

Those little cheese slicer boards sell quickly at $40 to $50 dollars with a basic 2 wood lamination. You can glue up a section and cut 4 slicer boards off it easily. The kit is $5. Or you can use scrap wood.

If you already have wood planed for furniture making or their projects it's a great easy use.

[Myk Rian]

I have my own design for a 3' tall lighthouse. I get $100 for them. I have also sold a couple mailbox posts/mounts. Another $100 each.
Haven't made either one in a couple years, but there is a market.
Want to upscale it? Tool chests go for $500-$800 depending on style. Downscale? Pull toys for the kids. $15-$30.
All kinds of possibilities.

[Jim Finn]

August 22 display of boxes.jpg

I like making boxes small ones are easer to sell.And store they start adding up quick.
I really enjoy making that's my bliss.

This is what I do also. I enjoy it. I do some custom boxes but most I mass produce. I sell mine at a local farmers market. Could not earn a living at it but it does more than fund my hobby/addiction. Images and letter is maple inlaid into cedar.

[Yonak Hawkins]

Michael, if you don't mind mass production, I have had good luck finding a niche and manufacturing items to fill a very specific need. The way I did it was to look around every place I went for simple wooden items that can be mass produced .. even component parts. Everything made of wood must be made somehow by somebody. I have been in business for myself doing this for 15 years and I'm never lacking for orders. My main competition is probably in China but I have the advantage of reliability, quality work, flexibility and quick response.

Another advantage of this tack is there's no wasting shop time selling at a flea market or advertising. Once you sell your brand it's all about re-orders.

Good luck.

[Bob Varney]

I think you need to figure out something that uses all your scrap left over from other projects. That can be made with little time and goods(sand paper, finish, ect.).

Bob

[Michelle Rich]

my best sellers are cuttingboards under 50.00 (made from leftovers from furniture) and turned bowls.

[Irvin Gomez]

Those little cheese slicer boards sell quickly at $40 to $50 dollars with a basic 2 wood lamination. You can glue up a section and cut 4 slicer boards off it easily. The kit is $5. Or you can use scrap wood.

If you already have wood planed for furniture making or their projects it's a great easy use.

$15-20 at Amazon

$15 here:http://www.wayfair.com/Fox-Run-Craft...8-FRU1053.html


$20 at Target.

http://www.target.com/p/wood-and-met...r/-/A-10396416

Honestly, I can't see a real $40-50 market for this product. Or profit for anyone other than a huge factory making thousands of them at a total cost of $5 per item, including packaging. How long would it take a very good woodworker to create one of these units, including gluing, cutting, sanding, finishing, assembling, testing and packaging? If the answer is "over 20 minutes", it means he/she would be better off driving a Uber car...

[Hoang N Nguyen]

I was kinda in the same mind thought as the OP when I got serious about wood working and my tool collection started to grow out of control (according to the wife).

I have an folder on my facebook page that I post all my woodworking projects under. After awhile, my projects started getting really good and lots of friends started to take notice. A few would send me messages asking me how much this and that cost me to make and how much I would charge them to make something similar.

I started off making a cutting board for a friend, a few more for family, than it went onto dining tables for this and that person. They all told their friends and now I can't keep up with them and having to turn a few down or giving others long lead time (months). I basically have a bunch of people who now have me as their "go-to" person for custom furniture. They find pictures of stuff they like and text them to me asking if I could "recreate" it.

I'm currently working on a table for a big green egg right now. My cost, $350 final sales price.... $1500. Estimated time to build = 15 hours. That brings me to about $76 an hour and I'm happy with that.

I have a friend who's family is very wealthy and they have my number on speed dial. Most times I don't even need to quote them on the things they want built. They'll text me a picture of a small night stand and say "can you build this for me out of so and so wood for $1500 ea. and I need 2"? I take a quick look and think to myself, that's $150 in material. SOLD AND DONE!! All this was due to be posting stuff on my FB page, otherwise they would have never known I did this kind of stuff (their words).

I have a full time office job so all my woodworking is done either after work or during weekends when I can find help watching my 16 month old son. I'm not looking to quite my day job any time soon but I can say that I've made good money on the side building things for people. Enough to allow me to grow my tool inventory and even dip into the green cool-aid party (festool).

Like others have said, it all comes down to whose willing to pay for what. I have friends on my FB page who thought I was crazy for wanting over 2 grand for a dining table when they can buy one similar for $600 at world market. While others would gladly pay more knowing it's hand crafted and made of solid wood instead of MDF core with veneers and would last them forever.

[Dan Masshardt]

There absolutely is a market. They sell very well I know several others who sell them at craft shows well in the range I mentioned.

As a matter of fact last fall I sold all I had and took orders for more.

There are several factors but two of them are the handcrafted aspect as well as the different species of wood that can offer more unique configuration ls than the bland single species in the links.

This way of thinking also says why would anyone buy a $50 or $100 pen when they could have a $1 Bic. I sell plenty of these pens too.

[Cody Colston]

$15-20 at Amazon

$15 here:http://www.wayfair.com/Fox-Run-Craft...8-FRU1053.html


$20 at Target.

http://www.target.com/p/wood-and-met...r/-/A-10396416

Honestly, I can't see a real $40-50 market for this product. Or profit for anyone other than a huge factory making thousands of them at a total cost of $5 per item, including packaging. How long would it take a very good woodworker to create one of these units, including gluing, cutting, sanding, finishing, assembling, testing and packaging? If the answer is "over 20 minutes", it means he/she would be better off driving a Uber car...

That is a fact if one is trying to make a living from selling hand-crafted items. However, the OP is simply trying to make his woodworking hobby self-funding. In that regard, one can't really figure the cost of the time involved. Simple craft items can be made with inexpensive materials and if set up in a "production mode" they can be made relatively quickly. (note the relatively description). It's not like putting 100 hrs into a fine furniture piece and then trying to sell it for profit.

The real question is if one will be satisfied making cheap, craft items. For me, the answer is no. I tried it and found no satisfaction in the process even though I was selling enough to fund my hobby.

[Prashun Patel]

I struggle with this too, as a hobbyist. I think there are a couple ways to make $$:

1) do plywood cabinets or built-ins and buy your molding. Then your job is largely cutting, assembly, and finishing; no acclimating and milling. There are quick ways to do all that stuff. So, while your material costs go up a little, the time goes way down. The only evidence I have for this is the 3-4 entertainment/cabinets I did this way. In the end it was straightforward, and my time/$$ made it way more worth it than to buy anything or pay anyone else.

2) build a brand for yourself and make studio furniture. Then you can tap into a higher end market where people value and can pay for artistry and crafstmanship.

3) make slab tables. This fad may die, but for now, these pieces are relatively straightforward to make, and can command high prices.

[Ben Silver]

That is a fact if one is trying to make a living from selling hand-crafted items. However, the OP is simply trying to make his woodworking hobby self-funding. In that regard, one can't really figure the cost of the time involved. Simple craft items can be made with inexpensive materials and if set up in a "production mode" they can be made relatively quickly. (note the relatively description). It's not like putting 100 hrs into a fine furniture piece and then trying to sell it for profit.

The real question is if one will be satisfied making cheap, craft items. For me, the answer is no. I tried it and found no satisfaction in the process even though I was selling enough to fund my hobby.

If it cannot fund the rest of the hobby, that is the better tools and materials for making other items, then there is no point. It isn't a hobby, it is a second job that you don't like.

[Dan Masshardt]

Making items is only half the equation of course. You have to have an outlet to sell them in or market them. Consignment, word of mouth, orders, craft shows, online... Just making things is only part of of.


One reason that I think it's cool to make smaller projects is that what's extra or doesn't sell is great for personal gifts.

Your family and friends who know that you are a woodworker might never get a dining table or dresser from you as a gift, but smaller items are a way to share your passion with them in a smaller way.

AND the money you save buying regular gifts can go for more tools. And once your spouse starts requesting items, you can tell her/him that you need a new tool to make it. ;-)

Buying custom furniture is probably mostly about the end owner purchasing.

Small items is all about gifts. People are looking for nice, unique gifts. That's a big part of the reason small wood projects can sell for halfway decent money.

[Jim Becker]

I think it's a mistake to think that folks will not pay $1500 for a well crafted coffee table...you just have to identify the right folks. Case in point, I've built not quite a dozen high-end tack trunks for equestrians over the past 6 years or so and depending on the design, wood species and hardware choices, I've gotten as much as $1500 for...what is essentially a fancy box. (I've also kept it low-key because I honestly do not want to earn money from this...I only took the commissions because it combined two of my wonderful avocations and I enjoyed making the folks smile)

One of our members here, who's local to me and been a friend for years, retired not long ago and has been regularly getting nice commissioned work for high-quality furniture and cabinetry work. If I ever get to retire someday, I might consider doing that kind of thing myself where I can choose the work I want to do and only make it for the kind of folks who will actually appreciate...and pay...for it.

But as you identify, there are pitfalls to taking your hobby and turning it into a business, even part time and incidental. Insurance is one of them. And marketing "stuff" is another challenge, especially determining what your market actually is and what/how things might be sold. I'm not saying this to discourage you; rather, I'm just pointing out that you need to have your "ducks in a row" across multiple things.

[Bill Ryall]

What about a non-traditional/specialty product or exploring commercial markets?

I have largely given up on the crafty stuff and custom furniture as a source of income. The bulk of my WW income comes from specialty commercial stuff. My full-time job is as a broadcast engineer- I design, build and maintain radio stations. Several years ago, I built the furniture for a broadcast studio for the previous owner of my company and it was a hit. I now have a handful of clients that keep me as busy as I want to be. My WW addiction has become an actual profitable sideline. The backbone is studio furniture, but I also do things like copy stands, prize wheels, promotional games, etc. I have also developed a line of specialty products for another niche market that is gaining traction and will be profitable soon. During slow periods, I build small furniture, folk toys and other little things, mostly using up the scrap generated from the bigger commercial jobs. I have found I can't keep the toys in stock. They go as fast as I can make them, especially around the holidays.