Craft Fair: What Sells?

[Bob DiGiacomo]

I'm looking into selling some woodworking items in craft fairs, or on ebay. What projects work that are simple, small, and best sellers? Anyone have any good ideas or pictures to post?

[Paul Fitzgerald]

I was just thinking about asking the same question. Good timing Bob!

I'm eager to see the responses.

Paul

[Bruce Shiverdecker]

Well folks, although I have been told that you can sell profitably on Ebay, I've never seen a bid that I would sell anything I've made.

As far as "Craft Shows", I believe that "Fine Craft/ ART" shows are the best for receiving a fair price. You need to look as the shows you're interested in and see what is there and what the price range is.

Just my opinion, but it works for me.

Bruce

[Bob Goldsmith]

In my area, scroll saw items seem to sell pretty well. People selling little clever signs, clocks, or inlaid pictures always seem to have a crowd around them. For larger projects, cutting boards and bandsaw boxes seem to draw people's attention also.

I would think nice looking picture frames would also draw a crowd as well as a variety of clocks.

[Paul Joynes]

I have been thinking about this sort of thing too. My gut feeling is that people are generally cheap and the vast majority are unwilling to pay a significant premium for something that is handmade. In this vain, I have been thinking of purchasing a Shopbot and using it to produce small runs of children's toys, cutting boards, etc.

While I agree that purchasing a Shopbot solely for creating product for the craftfair market may not make financial sense, I have an interest in CNC and feel that this market could at least help cover the cost of the machine.

I think that there is a very low limit to what people are willing to pay for a present for someone else. For kids, I believe that it would be difficult to sell a toy that is more than $20-25. For adults, this could likely be stretched to $40-50. Because of these selling points, the material costs would have to be low and the production times would have to be short.

I have considered children's toys because most could likely be made from less than 1 board foot of lumber and some off the shelf project parts like wooden wheels etc. This puts the material cost around the $5 mark. With a CNC router, my manufacturing time would be shifted to design preparation and finishing of product. To test out the economics of this, I can see myself spending some time creating a set of jigs to mass produce a series of toys on the band saw and router table before investing in CNC. While it would take longer to produce the parts, it is equipment that I already have so the monetary investment would be negligible.

Something else you may consider would be wood turnings. Something like pens meet my criteria of low material cost and quick output.

I never want to get into a situation where I have to justify the price of a bookcase etc. because someone can get an MDF version from MalWart for a 1/4 of what I am charging.

I am interested in hearing others weigh in on what sells and at what price. I am sure that there will be those who read my post and say, "Whats the point of doing woodworking if you are not actually doing the woodworking", and I agree to a point, but let me give an example:

This Christmas, I decided to create a small jewelry box for a teenager in out lives. At the outset of the project I realized that while she would appreciate the present, she would not assign a great amount of intrinsic value to it. Accordingly, I tried to make the present in the most time efficient manner that I could think of. Because of this, I chose to make the box have nominal outside dimensions of 5x7x2.5 and be made from 1/2 Birch resawn from 6/4 stock. The sides were box jointed on the router table and a 3/16 thick bottom was glued to the underside and flush trimmed to the box walls on the router table. The 2 jewelry trays were made from 3/4 thick Jatoba. I created the pockets for the jewelry by drilling through the Jatoba with Ø2-1/2 and Ø1-1/2 forstner bits and applying a 3/16 thick Birch bottom. Finally the top was created from a piece of 5/8 Jatoba, chamfered on the top 4 sides using a raised panel bit and rabbeted on the bottom to spigot into the top of the box. The materials for this project were likely about $8-10 and it took me about 6 hours to complete. At a rate of $10/hr (yes I know that this is low but lets use it because the math is simple), this box would cost approximately $70. How many people would spend $70 for a jewelry box that would be given to a girl who would not assign a great amount of intrinsic value to it. Now if the same box could be manufactured in 2 hours, it would have a selling price of $30. This new price would be a much easier sell to potential customers.

I look forward to hearing others comments.

Paul

[Rick Thom]

..... How many people would spend $70 for a jewelry box that would be given to a girl who would not assign a great amount of intrinsic value to it. Now if the same box could be manufactured in 2 hours, it would have a selling price of $30. This new price would be a much easier sell to potential customers.


Paul

I believe you have just described the argument for 'off-shoring' North American jobs to cheaper labor markets.

[Gary McKown]

This year our WW club made "keepsake" boxes for charity, and I made several from walnut using fast, easy methods. These were fairly plain, glued-up cubes with the tops bandsawn off, mitered joints, etc., simple overlay hinges, with no internals except felt on the bottom. I would guess it took about 3 hours per box, from resawing the lumber to finishing, and I would not sell one for less than $40.

Then I was in Walmart around Xmas and saw offshore-produced jewelry boxes of about the same size, complete with internal pockets, fully lined, and lockable, for $14.95.

[Nathan Conner]

My thoughts, as I've often thought of this for some spare income to help support the addiction. I've noticed a couple of local guys that seem to get a lot of business and have chatted at length with them.

One of them is a guy who does turnings - tops @ $5/ea, a large rack or two of pens @ $15/ea, Christmas ornaments from $5 to $10/ea, larger bowls at all price ranges. He puts a nice shiny finish on everything, and while they're not "art", the stuff really seems to fly, and I've seen a lot of crowds around his booth, and have seen the cash in his box. He recommended stuff you can make quickly, in succession. Says it sells better, and he pulls in $2,000 on a decent weekend for 2-3 weeks' of solid work. The majority of the cash is from the smaller, simpler pieces that he can make production-style in a few minutes. He says he turns tops out of scrap in about 2 minutes.

The other guy who seemed to be doing well was a guy doing kitchen wares. Lots of handmade spoons, turned spoon holders, spatulas, segmented bowls, platters, all different sizes of cutting boards. He was a younger guy, had some really nice designs, and was doing well until another guy started "stealing" his designs. Actually set up a shop 50 feet from him selling the same collection of stuff out of cheaper material, poorer quality. He was still doing fine, but not what he'd done before the other guy showed up. This guy used a lot of flashy contrasts - purple heart/maple/walnut combos, stuff like that. He said that several times a month, someone would come in and re-outfit their kitchen at $300-$500. But he had a lot of money in the 8/4+ material, and you could tell he spent a lot of time on the work, so I'd be surprised to even see him still in business. He had a website, too, but sold very little via the site.

The last guy I've talked to several times made...ummm...interesting jewelry boxes. They were bland designs, gorgeous materials, but pretty poorly executed. He didn't have prices on anything, and a lot of it was 1/2 finished - like no finish on the box, no top, no felt, whatever. He said it was there for demos and custom orders, but it looked...unfinished. I don't think I ever saw anyone come to his shop - he was only there for a few months, looking more and more dejected each week. But I know why. Aside from the poor craftsmanship and hurried look to things - we discussed pricing a bit. He had one jewelry box I remember - a medium-sized quilted maple/mahogany number and his price was $750. Well done, and I mean WELL done, this box may have fetched $350. I said "Wow, that seems a bit high" at the price, and he justified by saying, "I keep track of all my hours and materials, and I have to make a minimum of $30/hr to support myself and my family." So, he had 20+ hours into the box, and that was his price. Amazing. Sort of sad business acumen, too, but he's not in business any longer.

Anyhow, I was intending to do this same sort of thing, but sort of lost interest after chatting with these guys. Two seemed to make some money - enough to support themselves and their woodworking habits, but both exclaimed over how little fun they had doing woodwork any longer. Isn't that the way of it? If you love doing something, the quickest way to ruin that love is to depend on it for a living. So, maybe making a years' worth of stuff in spare time with scraps - easy birdhouses, small outdoor ornaments and a few little quirky things, and then boxing it all up for a couple of days at the craft fair would be worthwhile. But it doesn't look like a way to make much money. Especially in these days of Wal*Mart specials and $10 jewelry boxes.

I do know several folks who can't keep up with orders by a long shot - these guys make outdoor ornaments - lighthouses, water wheels, trellises, benches. One guy who's 70, still making these like crazy and can't make them fast enough. Claims he makes more doing this by a long shot than he ever dreamed. He has a great rural home-location, a small shop, and a display in his yard. All word-of-mouth, and he says he can easily sell $40k a year in his spare time. I believe it. He has a bunch of jigs made out of hardboard and plywood, nice designs, and charges fairly high prices. Most of the pricing is in the detail work - handmade and assembled shingles on a little pumphouse, for example. Great guy, does a fantastic business. On the other hand, location is everything, and he's on a busy rural road on the way to some pretty expensive and populated 5-acre estates. So, that may be a kicker.

Anyhow, good luck with whatever you choose. I've been tempted, but enjoy the long honey-do list.

Maybe next year.

[Chuck Lenz]

I think when or if you would present your work at a craft show people aren't going to take your work seriously. They think it's a craft, a hobby, a spare time thing and people aren't going to be willing to pay much for it. It's really a shame, I have alot of money invested in tools over the years and continue to buy more, but not like I use too. The thrill is fadeing for me. I will not wear out my tools, work in a dangerous eviroment that is also not healthy for anyone with all the sawdust and spend countless hours designing and building custom products for a poverty wage with no bennies. Those days are over. You can do as you wish, but I'd almost gaurantee you someday you will see the light also. Right now I just do things for around our home and am trying to make it fun again. Being used and abused by family, friends, and the public is not my cup of tea.

[Al Killian]

I have good luck selling scrollsaw windchimes. I spend about 1 hour on each including assembly and sell them for between $35-$60. I started tis be couse the LOML seen one and had to have it. Well, her mother seen it and orderd two. She took one into the resturuant to show the morin coffee guys and next day I had 6 more orders. The best part is they set the price and it more then paid for itself and left me extra cash for shop up grades, namely a dewalt ss that should be here any day know.

[Phil Sanders]

I have been thinking about this sort of thing too. My gut feeling is that people are generally cheap and the vast majority are unwilling to pay a significant premium for something that is handmade.

I agree... but I put it down to the general population is accustomed to mass production / factory economy-of-scale-pricing. As stated, unwilling to pay, for just 'handmade'. Yet, they will pay thousands of dollars for a artist painting.

The point I keep trying to make, if the customer believes they are getting something intangible, as well as the craft item, they will pay more money to acquire the intangible. For example: bragging rights to ownership of a product from a 'know' craftsman, unique artistic item, an item that will prove to their friends the artistic flair and taste of the buyer, or something that if given as a gift will reflect very favourably on the giver. General population will pay for intangibles, if it is pointed out to them what the intangibles are.

...I think that there is a very low limit to what people are willing to pay for a present for someone else. For kids, I believe that it would be difficult to sell a toy that is more than $20-25. For adults, this could likely be stretched to $40-50. Because of these selling points, the material costs would have to be low and the production times would have to be short.....

I agree.

If I may add, however, that sometimes it comes down to the weight and size of the item. If a customer is 1/2 mile from the their car, and the item weights more than 20 lbs,....its a long walk.

Once heard a talk by a craft-show expert: people tend to arrive at a craft show, or craft store, with some mental expectation of what they will spend. This is usually some upper limit but it may be a lower limit also. You will not make a sale if you are above, or below, these limits. Some shows, ie church basement shows, that limit is a low $. But there are also fine art street shows where a carved figurine or a painting could sell for $2500.00.

Re-read Nathan's post. The guy with the jewellery boxes.
Just keep in mind that the war between style and substance it has been a complete rout by the forces of style. Just because it is well made, it won't sell only due to "well made." But a flashy, well finished, pretty veneered poorly constructed item will sell. Substance lost out to the economic forces of mass production and marketing a long time ago. Image and style is everything in marketing.

So....
- come up with something unique of your own, say a bent wood music stand. Storage of guitar off the back. Focus your efforts as a music stand artisan (or whatever you make.) Don't spread you self thin by making chairs, music stands, and end-tables. Focus.

- keep the completed weight down as low as you can.

- KISS (Keep It Simple, Stupid.)

- publish a magazine article on your item, and your production technique. The higher end the magazine the better. Offer Xerox copies of article to buyers, if they want it. (For showing off to their friends as to the artisan who made it is.)

- Brand, or sign your work as if you are 'named' craftsman.

- at the crafts show, or store, be sure you are in costume. Greet customer's as a master craftsman. You are not a business man in a business suit (you are not a "TIE"). But you are not a blue collar factory wage slave either. You are a master craftsman, who has consented to offer his fine products to the few select customers present. You are not a huckster at a carnival.

- Never compete directly with a factory mass production, or in-expensive imports. Your economics will kill you fast. Always look to unique positive aspects of what you are doing.

Sorry for long post.

Phil

[John Terefenko]

I too sell many different scrollsawn items and have for about 20 years now and have done quite well. I used to do consignment stores and now just do craft shows. Tried ebay but that is like a fleemarket on the web so I stay away from that. I just got into turning so added some stuff in the line. Here is some of my setup at a show.

[Doug Jones from Oregon]

In my experience, anything that is a hobby you love, made into a business....is a hobby you come to dislike.

I did woodworking as a hobby for many years, then went into business...and now I have no desire to work wood any longer.

Today, my dream is to have a business that has nothing to do with my hobbies and hopefully get a desire again someday to make sawdust...I was really good at it!

Doug

[Al Killian]

Nice setup, John. I am hopeing by summer to have a store setup in my garage. It is always nice when other give the push needed to make the leap. How long does it take you to setup?

[Bill Huber]

In my experience, anything that is a hobby you love, made into a business....is a hobby you come to dislike.

Doug

Boy do I agree with that....

I like taking pictures, got into shooting weddings and did that on the side for 2 years and then started to realize I was not having fun. I stopped and sold most of my stuff and 20 years later I got a new camera and am enjoying it again.

This year was a good example, I started making cutting boards for my daughters and wife, then someone else wanted one and on and on and on. I was getting to the point I was not enjoying it anymore, I had to get them done (key word had to).
I would just as well build something and give it away then have to worry about selling it.
I enjoy WW and I don't plan on getting to the point where I am selling my work. I think I learned my lesson with photography and this year the cutting boards brought it back again.