Advice on which youtuber might review my new products

[petermillard]

... I did wonder who their market is because I wouldn't dream of spending that sort of money on effectively a compass and a pencil sharpener...

That’s the classic ‘maker’ error; *you* can’t imagine spending that much on ‘X‘ so how could anyone else??

You are not the customer. I was never the customer for the wardrobes and fitted furniture I made - but other people were.

As I think I said further up the thread, price isn’t an issue if you can scratch an itch someone has. But you need to find that itch.

HTH P

 

[AJB Temple]

Peter is right.

It is very "accountanty" Philip to base your pricing just on an estimate of your costs. The way marketing people (good ones) operate is to identify a need or desire and maximise the price point that fills that. Product positioning is key. You need to understand the size of your market and who the buyers are and how to get your product in front of them.

Your costs are secondary in a way: if your costs exceed the price the market will bear for your product, then it is not worth making.

The pencil sharpener analogy is an interesting one. a favourite shop of mine is Manufactum in Koln (Cologne). They sell a lot of designer artefacts, including very expensive pencil sharpeners at around Euro 200m and they sell because they are a top notch retail distribution destination. Lots of people like fancy desk artefacts.

Your dilemma is will tradespeople value a nicely made scribing tool, rather than a dirt cheap Chinese one? Are you at the screw fix end of the market, or the workshop heaven end?

 

[philip sewell]

I suppose it gives you a definite line to plane to and a uniform gap and in theory less time checking the fit.

I do it by eye but will try the scriber out next time out of interest.

I can see it being more useful for heavy full size doors when you don’t want to keep heaving the door into place to check the gap.

 

[owen]

Just a quick update on the scriber. I’ve taken notice of peoples comments about the wing nut and have changed to a stainless steel knurled knob.

I think brass is too soft for this application and the threads would quickly shear.

I’ve had some positive feedback from a kitchen company who are using the scribe to fit their doors as well as on site fitting. They are using a metal scribe rather than a pencil for door fitting so that’s something I could add with the scriber.

I know people think this is too expensive but I have tried to keep the cost down as much as possible.

This is a break down of the price.

The scriber takes an hours labour. This includes all the different machining operations and admin work ( invoices, postage labels etc). There is some handwork smoothing the edges of the aluminium after machining. It looks like a very simple tool but there are a number of machining operations involved.

I try to earn £20 p/hr. Out of that £20 come all the associated costs of running a business (heating, electricity, vehicle, tooling, workshop repairs, insurance, workshop maintenance, and on and on they go).

The cost of materials and postage is £7.

If I was making hundreds I could reduce material and time but as this has a limited market its pointless me making it in any number.

Ultimately none of this matters if the consumer deems it to be too expensive but that’s why I’m charging £27.00.

Thanks again for all the input from people.

Philip.

That's better, but the woodscrew holding the pencil still looks cheap

 

[artie]

Thanks Akirk, good advice. I've seen the pencil sharpener you are talking about, I believe they also make a very fancy tool for drawing circles as well. I did wonder who their market is because I wouldn't dream of spending that sort of money on effectively a compass and a pencil sharpener but there are obviously people who will buy them.
Making things is a breeze compared to trying to sell things!

20 years or so ago I had a conversation with a man who had made and lost and remade a lot of money selling things..
He told me " Artie, your mistake is making things which people need, People will not pay much for what they need. If you make things that people want the sky is the limit. If they don't want what you make, you must make them want it."

I think he had a point, but have to admit, I'm still doing what I was 20 yrs ago.

 

[philip sewell]

Fair enough Owen.

This is an interesting marketing exercise for me.

I obviously gave both the wing nut and the woodscrew some thought. Coming from a purely practical view point I opted for a wing nut because you can apply more torque with your fingers. Having used this tool for many years I like to have it really torqued up so it doesn't move. I totally agree the knurled knob looks much better but practically it's not as good although I have tested it out and you can still tighten it sufficiently (I will probably include a wing nut with the scribe so customers can swap over if they prefer).

With the pencil hold down I need a course thread for the delrin.

I could tap the thread for a nominal size (m5, m6) and use a knurled knob again but fine thread in plastic will be susceptible to shearing over time in my opinion (especially if people use a metal scribe, a pencil will compress).

Ideally I need a course thread on a knurled knob but as far as I know they aren't available.

I did think of using self tapping screws (perhaps with a domed head) which look a bit more presentable than a woodscrew but it's still doesn't look great (but would work well just like the woodscrew).

If anyone knows of a fixing with a course thread but a more presentable head I'd appreciate your help.

Thanks for all the other advice re the pricing. Perhaps pricing it as I do with commissions is the wrong approach.

With all these things I have no expectations that any of it will have any success (most things I've tried over the years have ended in failure) but you have to keep trying!
Philip.

 

[philip sewell]

For those who aren’t fed up this I’ve gone back to the drawing board and revised the scriber.

There are now two.

To accommodate a metal scribe I’ve made a larger version so that I can fit in a barrel nut. The cross section shows 2 positions for the scribe or pencil which can now fit on top or below the centre bolt. I did this primarily so the metal scribe isn’t at too acute an angle in relation to the wood which isn’t such an issue with a pencil.

I’ve added a small brass dowel so the thread on the knob isn’t damaged by the knurling on the metal scribe. I’ve drilled a hole in the body (which you can see in the cross section) where the brass can be stored if the operator is using a pencil so it doesn’t get lost.

The original is pretty much the same but now has a knurled knob for holding in the pencil. I experimented with this and the delrin is strong enough for the thread not to be damaged as it’s squashing a pencil rather than metal.

I’ve also added a 3mm nylon spacer to bring the knurled knob (stopping the body from turning) away enough to make it more comfortable to use.

Of course the larger one is a lot more involved and so is going to cost £5 more or £9 with the metal scribe added.

I hope I’ve ironed out all the issues now!

Thanks again for all the input.

Philip.