Anyone make Peppermills for Sale?

[Scrums]

Don't know if any of you lot do this.....I've made a few, but not for sale - the cost of the mechanisms at £3/£4 makes them unviable.

But Mrs Scrums came back from town the other day with a wooden one from 'halfpriceorless.com' at 49p.....I nicked it straight away! Today she's been in to get 20....OK, so the mechanism ain't the greatest thing since sliced bread, but at a resale price of £6 in an English hardwood it should be a goer.

Chris.

 

[duncanh]

I can't believe that you're charging so little for the finished grinder.
How much does the wood cost, how much for the abrasive, the finish, tool wear etc, time?

You may not be able to compete price-wise with mass produced wooden ones but if you try to make yours distinctive in some way that they can't be you could perhaps charge more - maybe use pyrography or carving, or design for a certain market.

I do occasionally make pepper grinders and they sell for £55. It's a very small, niche market but I have orders for several more.

Duncan

 

[Scrums]

£55 for a peppermill ???? - where do you find your customers and can I have some of them.

£7.50 was the selling price I ended up on, the wood, like most of mine is free or no more than £10/cube - and that's a lot of peppermills and 3 per hour is possible. I'm happy to work for £20/hour....sold 4 this past weekend.

Chris

 

[duncanh]

My customers are either friends or people I meet through my juggling hobby. They appreciate the craft involved in making my grinders and the time and skill needed to get the unique product which I provide.



The grinders aren't your typical shape - 50cm tall, approx 9cm diameter. 6 pieces of wood are involved and the fit needs to be precise. Because of the different joints and holes which have to be turned the pieces have to be chucked various times. All this complexity adds time.
For the design I have to use the Crushgrind mechanism and these are £6.50 to start with.

I've no idea how long each takes but I'm hoping to make some more before September so I'll try timing to get an idea.

Duncan

 

[Bob Chapman]

Hi Chris,

If your work is good then don't undervalue it. People will value it at the price you put on it, so don't undersell yourself. Putting cheap mechanisms into peppermills and selling them at knock down prices is asking to have your work judged as rubbish. I'm with Duncan on this one. Do work you can be proud to ask a proper price for.

Bob

 

[Scrums]

Hmmmm....

Definitely beginning to feel 'got at' here , I'm doing Craft Shows of various sizes every weekend - about 10 or 12 a month and selling a certain amount on the internet. Things are tough out there selling wise at the moment and likely to remain that way for some time.

I've got a range of 30 or so 'stock' items, priced competitively which I can make within my £/hour quota to cover Business Rates/Rent etc + bowls, lidded pots etc,etc. I'd love to charge Tracey Owen/Bob Chapman prices...(.another big smiley face..).....but the market for us little guys, jobbing woodturners - just isn't there.

My stuff's good - functional, well designed and well finished - and It sells, I'd rather sell half a dozen £15 bowls on a weekend + the other bits, than wait around for someone to make that £90 impulse buy.

Interesting debate though, not seen you around for a while Bob....

Chris.

 

[duncanh]

Sorry Chris, I wasn't trying to get at you. I just don't like to see people under valuing their work.
I should say that I've never tried to sell at a craft show, but I can understand the need to charge a price that will actually sell.

Out of interest - do you make your living wholly from turning or is it just a side line/paying hobby?

Duncan

 

[Bob Chapman]

Chris, I'm sorry, I didn't mean that at all. It's just that I think it a shame when I see good turners selling themselves short because they think they have to be cheap to sell anything at all. I see people in my club who produce excellent stuff but can't be convinced that it is excellent!

You obviously have your prices matched to your costs, and you know what you can charge for the stuff you make. I can't imagine doing ten or twelve craft shows a month - how do you make enough stuff to keep up with them all?

As for 'Bob Chapman prices' - well, my income from sales alone is probably much smaller than yours.

I'm sorry I made you feel 'got at', and perhaps I spoke out of turn but, like Duncan, I hate to see people putting themselves down.

Good luck for the future.

Bob

 

[big soft moose]

Hmmmm....

Definitely beginning to feel 'got at' here , I'm doing Craft Shows of various sizes every weekend - about 10 or 12 a month and selling a certain amount on the internet. Things are tough out there selling wise at the moment and likely to remain that way for some time.

I agree with you chris - I tend to charge about £12.50 for pepper mills - but then i dont make them routinely so it probably takes me longer to assemble them than it does you , which ends up reflected in the price.

I agree that no turner should be selling himself short or undercutting the market but 55 notes for a pepper mill seems outrageously high to me - the craft fairs i go to you'd be laughed out the door if you charged that much.

I do charge that much (or more) for a large hollow form but that sort of piece is more artistic and thus a different fish of kettles from something you put on the table to use at meal times

 

[Scrums]

First off, Duncan, Bob......I wasn't seriously feeling got at - just trying to make a point.

As for keeping up with the making for shows - unfortunately not all the shows demand a huge remake, ie: some are crap ! ( am I allowed to say crap nowadays, for indeed that is what they can be...) Others, like last weekend demand working like mad for the 5 intervening days before the next weekend and also trying to get a surplus ready for bigger shows. ( Hence an easily re-made stock list of stuff like Pepper mills etc)

As for making a living from turning - I don't think it's possible.....depends on how much of a living needs to be made. Fortunately I don't have a mortgage or kids to fund and have a cheap workshop. From what I see of it, the 'professional' turners write magazine articles/ books, do teaching and make videos etc to get by, but to be in that position one needs to be RPT and then lucky.

Chris.

 

[duncanh]

Just thought I'd post this link to pepper grinders that I found for sale whilst looking for more Crush Grind mechanisms - http://www.constablewoodcrafts.co.uk/
Follow the 'Finished Mills, etc' link at the top
You'll see prices from £20 up to £80

Obviously these aren't being sold at a craft fair but as some of them are marked as sold it shows what some people are willing to pay (or perhaps that's just a marketing technique!)

Duncan