Wood projects that can be easily sold for profit?

[Michael Yadfar]

I've had my own shop for a little over two years, and all I use it for is hobby purposes. I have a pretty well equipped shop, and most the stuff I do is build furniture out of rough sawn lumber using all wood joinery. I am not hurting for money by any means, but I just started looking into all the costs I put out and was thinking that maybe I can make some projects on the side and make enough just to make the hobby somewhat self funding.

I know for a fact the things I build now can't be sold for profit, because the coffee table I just built was about $350 in supplies alone. Factoring in the cost of the tools, the wear on the tools, energy used, shop space, and especially labor, I think I would have to charge at least $1,500 if I want a decent profit. Nobody would ever spend that when they can get a table that has a similar appearance from Ikea for $150.

I was thinking that smaller items would be the way to go, because I can keep them affordable and probably mass produce. I was thinking something that may be good is inlay cutting boards, but if someone happens to get sick while they're using it I can probably get sued. I can also maybe do small inlay boxes, which would be more involved, but still reasonable.

[John TenEyck]

You are going to get a lot of different replies and many of them might make sense. For me, I didn't want to do the craft show approach, didn't want to advertise, and absolutely didn't want to spend money on materials and storing stuff hoping that someone might buy it. I was lucky to find a small time house remodeler who needed someone who could do the occasional job for him doing specialized trim and mill work. I installed individual stair treads when he added tile for a new floor, for example, replicated some old style trim and installed it, built some custom cabinets or modified some stock ones to fill in a gap, etc. Things like that. I got paid for the work but more importantly, I got to meet the homeowners and they got to find out about me and the work I could do. In many cases, they called me back to build cabinets or furniture for them. And their friends saw what I did and some of them started calling me. It took 4 or 5 years, but I have more than enough work now to keep me as busy as I want, w/o advertising, and w/o ever spending money on something I don't know if I'll be able to sell.

John

[Cody Colston]

I think the biggest profit margin is in by-the-roadside, folksy/rustic items. I base that on what I see sell at the Canton, TX First Monday Tradesday held each month and it's a huge event. An item under $50 that is made from weathered pine, butt-jointed and stapled or drywall screwed together will sell like hotcakes there. If you screw on some metal decoration, they go faster and for more money. I've even had to chastise LOML for bringing that stuff home, reminding her that I can and will make something that looks 3 x better and will last 10x longer.

You are also right about the coffee table. One that is hand crafted from solid hardwood, that will last for at least two generations, get more beautiful with time and make a quality sound when one sets a cup on it is perceived as having an outrageous price while the Ikea version that will go to the junkpile in a very few years is considered "quality" and a bargain.

The fact is that there is no real need anymore for quality, hand-crafted furniture...not as furniture, anyway. A very few will appreciate that quality and aesthetics enough to pay a fair price for it but those customers are difficult to find.

[Irvin Gomez]

One that is hand crafted from solid hardwood, that will last for at least two generations, get more beautiful with time and make a quality sound when one sets a cup on it is perceived as having an outrageous price while the Ikea version that will go to the junkpile in a very few years is considered "quality" and a bargain.

The fact is that there is no real need anymore for quality, hand-crafted furniture...not as furniture, anyway. A very few will appreciate that quality and aesthetics enough to pay a fair price for it but those customers are difficult to find.

In all fairness (and this is coming from a hobbyist who fully understands it would be much cheaper to buy the things he makes!), the old furniture was made with the best tools available back then and it lasted more than one generation because, among other things, money was tight (the same reason the tradition of brides wearing their mother's wedding dress started). It HAD to last. The looks or nature of furniture was not optional - the 'industry' did the best it could.

Looks, strenght, materials and even manufacturing methods are optional today: you can buy IKEA quality (warts and all) or pay a lot of money for someone to mimic yesterday's work. Neither method is bad per se. Most people buy and most importantly, PERCEIVE and TREAT furniture as disposable, to be replaced a few years down the road. Even if they can afford the best, they still want to get brand new furniture with a totally different look every once in a while.

Times have changed. And so have people and taste. I think we live in wonderful times and don't particularly care much for the past - it's mostly an illusion about things that appeared better but were not...

[Jeff Heath]

Craftsmen who earn their living making furniture and cabinetry for sale are not selling the product to the IKEA crowd. Like with any business, you have to identify who and where your market is, and get yourself in front of them. It takes a lot of time, and a lot of effort. Many fantastic woodworkers exist that make absolutely stunning works of art, but cannot make a living doing it because they are lousy salesmen. Running a successful business of any kind means that you have to wear more than one hat. In many instances, you are the craftsman, the janitor, the accountant, and the salesman, just to name a few off the top of my head.

Trying to sell $1500 coffee tables to the "everything is disposable" crowd will land you in bankruptcy court, if it's your only means of income. You have to know, first, how to identify where your target customer is, and then you have to know how to get yourself, and your product, in front of them. Once you've figured that out, the next step is to hone your sales ability. If you can't sell food to a starving man, then you're going to find yourself in trouble, once again.

The first sale is always the hardest, and eating rejection for breakfast is the only way, it seems, to get through it all and keep on pressing on. Unless you're independently wealthy, it's best not to quit your day job right way. A lot of beginning talented woodworkers, and craftsmen in other arena's, used to get themselves involved with galleries, architectural firms, and decorator's. Doing this, you could concentrate on the making of your product, and let them worry about selling it. Problem with that is you're sharing your profit, and a good portion of it, with the house.

Most businesses fail in the early stages, not because they're not good at what they do, but because they either are terrible at sales, or they do a poor job of identifying what, and where, their market truly is.

BTW, $1500 is extremely cheap for a quality, custom made sofa table, or display table, or curiosity table, or a set of end tables. You'll go broke trying to convince the ikea and walmart crowd to buy custom furniture. You have to be very good at what you do....woodworking, and you need to get yourself in front of the demographic that is sick and tired of the crap sold at those stores, and is looking to invest in a fine work of art. Something that they are proud to display in their home, and pass down to their kids for generations. Believe me when I tell you that they are out there. I made a pretty good living doing just that for almost 30 years. I was always a better salesman than I was a craftsman, but I was still pretty good at whacking wood together, too.

Now, I prefer to go fishing, or restore OWWM's, or crack open a log with my sawmill, just to see what's inside.

[johnny means]

The laws of economics dictate that nothing is easy to sell for profit.

[Irvin Gomez]

Craftsmen who earn their living making furniture and cabinetry for sale are not selling the product to the IKEA crowd. Like with any business, you have to identify who and where your market is, and get yourself in front of them. It takes a lot of time, and a lot of effort. Many fantastic woodworkers exist that make absolutely stunning works of art, but cannot make a living doing it because they are lousy salesmen. Running a successful business of any kind means that you have to wear more than one hat. In many instances, you are the craftsman, the janitor, the accountant, and the salesman, just to name a few off the top of my head.

Trying to sell $1500 coffee tables to the "everything is disposable" crowd will land you in bankruptcy court, if it's your only means of income. You have to know, first, how to identify where your target customer is, and then you have to know how to get yourself, and your product, in front of them. Once you've figured that out, the next step is to hone your sales ability. If you can't sell food to a starving man, then you're going to find yourself in trouble, once again.

The first sale is always the hardest, and eating rejection for breakfast is the only way, it seems, to get through it all and keep on pressing on. Unless you're independently wealthy, it's best not to quit your day job right way. A lot of beginning talented woodworkers, and craftsmen in other arena's, used to get themselves involved with galleries, architectural firms, and decorator's. Doing this, you could concentrate on the making of your product, and let them worry about selling it. Problem with that is you're sharing your profit, and a good portion of it, with the house.

Most businesses fail in the early stages, not because they're not good at what they do, but because they either are terrible at sales, or they do a poor job of identifying what, and where, their market truly is.

BTW, $1500 is extremely cheap for a quality, custom made sofa table, or display table, or curiosity table, or a set of end tables. You'll go broke trying to convince the ikea and walmart crowd to buy custom furniture. You have to be very good at what you do....woodworking, and you need to get yourself in front of the demographic that is sick and tired of the crap sold at those stores, and is looking to invest in a fine work of art. Something that they are proud to display in their home, and pass down to their kids for generations. Believe me when I tell you that they are out there. I made a pretty good living doing just that for almost 30 years. I was always a better salesman than I was a craftsman, but I was still pretty good at whacking wood together, too.

Now, I prefer to go fishing, or restore OWWM's, or crack open a log with my sawmill, just to see what's inside.

very good and valid points made there, but a few clarifications are in order:

1. It's not IKEA vs Custom Furniture. it's not Walmart Quality vs Krenov Quality. Most of the time it's Custom Furniture vs Custom-quality Furniture made at a significantly lower cost in sophisticated factories. It's almost impossible for the single operator to offer good enough value to smart buyers under those conditions.

2. In order to overcome the advantages of a big operation, the single operator or small shop has to be exceptionally good. As in truly extraordinary. 99% of woodworkers never reach that level. And even then, the public has to decide it likes the work: as is the case in painting, music, photography and all sorts of artistic endeavors, success is determined by the "unwashed masses", not the experts.

3. It's not a matter of being a good salesman (but it helps, of course!). You have to be PERCEIVED as being exceptionally good at what you do.

4. You have to be realistic and know when or when not chase a certain dream. Success is - more often than people think - avoiding errors of judgement by keeping your feet firmly planted on the ground.

5. A LOT of old furniture just looks objectively....old and ugly! I'd say most old furniture was sturdy, but ugly. But then again, taste changes. Virtually nobody paints in the style of DaVinci anymore...

6. There's great artistic value in some (not all, of course) totally modern (or even futuristic) looking furniture

7. Most people buy furniture not thinking of passing it down to future generations. They just buy what they like and can afford.

[Brian W Smith]

That 350 is more than our material cost for a period correct,late 18th century sideboard.

[Michael Yadfar]

I think my point is being misunderstood. I'm not looking to do this as a job, or even a side job, I'm just looking for some pocket change to support the hobby. Also, the table I mentioned was not built to be sold, it was built for my parents. This is completely unrelated to the question, but when I graduated high school I wanted to be a custom furniture maker. I chose to opt out of that, because there are other things I enjoy that make easier money, so I chose college. I know a hardwood table and an Ikea table aren't even comparisons, but that's what 95 percent of the demand is. The points made about business skills are true, it really is tough. I've found in my short career that you can't really judge a book by it's cover either. I work landscaping on the side, and my two biggest paying customers were a divorced lady with no money, and a guy with a falling apart house. On the same note, I've worked for rich people that payed me like dirt. With the furniture industry, you're right, it's all about the way people view things. One person may highly value a well built table, and the other may just view it as something to set their drinks down on. Unfortunately, when you look at society, more people are going for cost and efficiency rather than quality. Just look at how everything is being outsourced and mom and pop businesses are being overtaken by corporations.

Off with my ramble and back to the question, I'm just looking for some quick selling items. Like a birdhouse, I can get a piece of plywood for $20, make it into 20 simple birdhouses, and sell them for say $20 each. That's no fun, but it's an example. I don't even necessarily have to sell anything either, it's just a concept.

[Dan Masshardt]

Cheese slicer boards are a hit.

[Dan Hahr]

Cutting boards and boxes would probably sell well anywhere. I'd skip the inlay part, as it would run the price up past most would want to play. Use food safe wood and glue and quit worrying about getting sued.

Another thing might be a variety of wood toys. Rubber band guns, trains, swords, magic wands, etc. all sell well at craft shops.

Dan

[Andrew Hughes]

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.

[Irvin Gomez]

I'm not looking to do this as a job, or even a side job, I'm just looking for some pocket change to support the hobby.

I'm just looking for some quick selling items. Like a birdhouse, I can get a piece of plywood for $20, make it into 20 simple birdhouses, and sell them for say $20 each. That's no fun, but it's an example. I don't even necessarily have to sell anything either, it's just a concept.

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.

[Rich Riddle]

I have seen lots of folks selling their tools after trying to make a go at a living based on woodworking. My dad says he makes about $5 an hour when he sells toys but he does it for a hobby. You almost need a niche market item.

[Bruce Wrenn]

If being sued is your worry, form a corp, which owns NOTHING other than inventory. Pay yourself all the profits. Lease your shop and tools to corp. Buy insurance, which is a lot cheaper than you think. Do all banking in corp account, including cutting your check. If you (corp) get sued, all they can take are corp's assets, of which there are none. SOP in many situations.