How much is too little?

[John T Barker]

A while back I found a place to sell some woodworking; a number of women that do a barn sale once a month. I was very happy to find this outlet until I took a good look at their prices. Very low. Let me put this in context. The barn is to drool over, beautiful 18th century Chester County (Pa.) on a ridiculously beautiful piece of property. I'm sure these ladies did this for fun, to keep busy, etc. It did not seem they needed money from the look of the property, at least one did not. As I said the prices seemed low. One that stood out to me was a four drawer chest which appeared hand made which sold for ~$300-400. Many of the pieces were average looking craft items with low end prices as well.
My background is initially with a company from this area that did 18th century reproductions...very high end, traditional joinery. I have also worked retail furniture sales and become familiar with the pricing of pieces made a little differently, a little cheaper. It was my intention to make a one door (two panel) cupboard, about 55" tall. I thought I would paint it and distress the painting. In the manufactured, unfinished furniture world I had come from recently this piece would sell for $700-900 unfinished. In this barn sale I don't think this price would fit. I should point out that when I approached one of the ladies working the sale and discussed their pricing I was told that they purposely keep the prices low so they might sell to everyone.
I'm torn between looking elsewhere or trying my hand with them hoping that it becomes a good venture in some way. I'd appreciate any thoughts.

[Rick Potter]

It doesn't sound like a fit to me.

If you decide to try it anyway, I would come up with one or two much smaller ideas, where you wouldn't break the bank. A quality keepsake box for example. Find out if quality sells there.

Are you saying they control the prices?

[Frederick Skelly]

I'm torn between looking elsewhere or trying my hand with them hoping that it becomes a good venture in some way.

My thoughts John, FWIW
1. If you are willing to build and sell your work at their price point (and can make money doing so), then it could become an outlet for you.
2. If you are going to put a few pieces there as loss-leaders, in hopes of drawing additional work at normal prices for work of your quality, it's a question of how much you can afford to invest (lose) in the attempt. (In a way, this is sort of like buying an advertisement for your business, so it might be tax deductable as a business expense.)
3. If you just take pleasure in seeing your work get used by other people, regardless of price, I'd give it a try. Nothing wrong with that, but I'm guessing that's not your gig here.

Personally, I wouldn't be willing to sell a $900 piece for half price, unless it was going into a high traffic retail location and had a sign on it with my contact information. But that's just me.

Good luck!
Fred

[Jon Endres]

Assuming that you are able to control the prices of your furniture, I would drop a few pieces in with them, make sure your maker's mark stands out on the piece, and ask the price you want to get. I have been in a few antique and unfinished furniture stores lately and can say that I have been disappointed in the quality of the products. If you product is able to stand out for its' quality and it is obvious to a buyer, you might be surprised to find people willing to pay for that higher quality.

On the other hand, if you have no control over the pricing, walk away. I would treat it like eBay - set a minimum and tell them they can't sell it unless they meet the minimum. If they balk, don't bother. if they agree and then sell your work for less than the minimum, they owe you the difference (and then you walk away).

[John T Barker]

It doesn't sound like a fit to me.

If you decide to try it anyway, I would come up with one or two much smaller ideas, where you wouldn't break the bank. A quality keepsake box for example. Find out if quality sells there.

Are you saying they control the prices?

It's not that they control the prices but that if I put a 20"wX16"dX55"t cupboard in there for $900 it would be overpriced when they have Dutch cupboards in there for a similar price. Wouldn't a $500 nightstand stand out (oddly) in a store that sells a chest of drawers for less?
It has been my experience that most people wouldn't recognize quality if you hit them with it. I have many times tried to explain quality construction to customers and am quite sure they did not absorb any of it.

[Bradley Gray]

I sold work at craft fairs for 20 years. I quickly learned to avoid the shows that let vendors sell t-shirts and mass produced goods at low prices. If you wholesale, you are already selling at half price. I would look for a better outlet. A trip to some big city galleries with good photos and some samples might be in order.

Also, Wendy Rosen has an excellent wholesale show in Baltimore every year.

[Cody Colston]

Heya John. My thoughts are that cheap prices attract cheap customers. I've had potential customers at an art show offer what I considered an insulting price for my stuff. I told them that I would put it in the road and run over it with my pick-up before I would sell it that cheap,