I think you should take your stuff 8n to the girls and set a donation bin beside them and let them decide what to pay , and let them know it’s a one t8me deal as your not set up to post prices on them quite yet. Then see what they pay for lot!
Pricing advice
- Thread starter Stigmorgan
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Trainee neophyte
Established Member
https://www.etsy.com/search?q=olivewood bowl
It seems there's quite a premium for olive wood stuff. If only we knew someone with access to an infinite amount of freshly cut olive branches... (@Adam Pinson for eg, or me, for that matter)
It seems there's quite a premium for olive wood stuff. If only we knew someone with access to an infinite amount of freshly cut olive branches... (@Adam Pinson for eg, or me, for that matter)
You may want to consider branding. A business which used to operate close to us before they moved to larger premises sold stoves they had made in china and sold on ebay. After they started to sell the same stoves using a prestige name they invented as a brand they were able to increase sales and prices as well. Buyers are fickle and assume it is better quality if it has a posh sounding name and don't necessarily research the history of that prestige sounding name. Also, in this sad age of Instagram and shameless self-promotion, Influencers have a pied-piper like following. Is there someone famous you are friendly with who you could gift an item to and they may be willing to help you promote your new business promotion with an Instagram post? If not, look on 'PeoplePerHour' as there are people on there who offer a service to magically acquire lots of followers for you on Instagram. I know it seems false but in this age in which we live, it is normal for successful people to use all the levers they can find to push themselves to the front. You may need to think up some sort of unique feature to consistently use as an identifier. Robert Thompson's Mouseman furniture comes to mind. I have seen that someone is making River resin and wood tables with their own vintage style stamp emblazoned on the top. We woodworkers seem to be a refined, quiet bunch, but look at car makers through the ages, they display their name loud and proud. This seems to be a loud and proud age. Thankfully not everyone appreciates such vulgarity, but even so you may like to consider using a prominent name as a brand and perhaps stamp the bottom of your articles with it. Oh, and don't forget discounting. The public love a 50% off. So you will need to display at an inflated price for a while before bringing in the promotion. There are rules you need to research and follow. I think it is a horrible way to operate but the public seem to like it and we live in the world as it has become so it's sink or swim.
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Adam Pinson
Established Member
Indeed, not quite sure when I'll be able to make it over to Blighty but saying that, we do have a lovely little holiday home here in Olive land, if someone were to drive here for a weeks vacation we could visit the magical wood man and fill up your back seats for just a few euros..... The only issue now is that UK cars are pretty heavily scrutinized on leaving Europe and I don't know what their policy concerning raw wood is .....
Stigmorgan
Established Member
I've always admired olive Wood projects on YouTube, defo want to get some when I'm a bit more proficient on the lathe, will most likely be picking up some nice bits from yandles while I'm down there over Christmas
@Oakay branding is already sorted -Hidden by Nature, and have started an Instagram account and linked it to my personal account purely to show my work rather to sell it but if it leads to the occasional sale that's great. As I've said previously, I don't want this to be a business and become something I have to do, I love the craft, it's my escape from the world, when I'm in my maker space I totally relax and forget the world outside exists.
@Oakay branding is already sorted -Hidden by Nature, and have started an Instagram account and linked it to my personal account purely to show my work rather to sell it but if it leads to the occasional sale that's great. As I've said previously, I don't want this to be a business and become something I have to do, I love the craft, it's my escape from the world, when I'm in my maker space I totally relax and forget the world outside exists.
Nelly111s
Established Member
I sell olive wood and know how much it costs me, my customers and their customers. The costs are a)for sawing and kiln drying b) carriage
I know of people who will charge £10 for a bowl and some who charge as much as £950 (admittedly that's burr, not olive). Both of them sell their stuff. I also make and sell both turned items and things like bar tops etc.
My experience is that if you're selling stuff that's nicely made, people will buy it. The price depends on where you're selling it and to whom you're selling it. I've sold charcuterie boards to some clients for 3x the price others have paid for the same thing. The high prices were for a Russian couple living near Wentworth who were using a management agency to buy things (who presumablyalso had a cut). Much lower prices can be obtained in the impoverished NW of England.
I know of people who will charge £10 for a bowl and some who charge as much as £950 (admittedly that's burr, not olive). Both of them sell their stuff. I also make and sell both turned items and things like bar tops etc.
My experience is that if you're selling stuff that's nicely made, people will buy it. The price depends on where you're selling it and to whom you're selling it. I've sold charcuterie boards to some clients for 3x the price others have paid for the same thing. The high prices were for a Russian couple living near Wentworth who were using a management agency to buy things (who presumablyalso had a cut). Much lower prices can be obtained in the impoverished NW of England.
Stigmorgan
Established Member
Well it's done and too late to change my mind, I guess I'll know soon enough
Stigmorgan
Established Member
So I am very happy to say that all but 4 had sold by lunchtime, the remaining 4 are the 2 cherry bowls, the sycamore lidded pot and the silver birch bowl, going to leave them till Friday so everyone gets to see.
Admondo
Established Member
I’ve been lurking in this thread for a while and just saw the result. It’s great that you have made a bit of money from something you enjoy doing!
Are you going to keep selling? And do you wish you put them up for abit more or are you happy with the price?
Stigmorgan
Established Member
Overall I'm happy with the prices, one member of staff even paid £5 more than I had priced, my plan is to only sell a few times a year because I don't want this to be a business that ends up taking the enjoyment out of it, I dont want little bits of money coming in that never have chance to amount to anything, by only opening a sale window of a week or two a few times a year (the schools Christmas and summer fairs) I will have more of a lump sum that can then be put back into the hobby by buying tools, materials and finishes. Generally the prices I've set now will remain for the woods I have free access to such as Silver Birch and Oak, pieces I make from woods I buy will likely be more artistic/refined and probably cost more.
Admondo
Established Member
A great summary, thanks! Keep posting your work on here, really enjoy seeing what people make!
Is that $20 I see for a lidded box? If so that is really low. I’d cost $20for the wood before it even touched the lathe. Just made this. $450.00 sold in one day. And a beginner could make what I make. Just take your time step by step.
now mind you I live in a really tourist town and sell in a gallery. ( so out of the $450 I get 225.00) if at a craft market I’d be lucky to get 100.00, and I do give them away to business clients for free. It’s all a matter of where you live and your market.
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Stigmorgan
Established Member
£ not $ but yes it was £20 for the spalted silver birch box, barely bigger than a tennis ball and £25 for the sycamore box that is about 50% bigger, neither of them are perfect by any means and my prices are based on what I could find on Etsy of similar sizes and material.
a very fine maker that I know charges (he's retired) a $50 shop rate. He's got a small list of extremely wealthy clients who don't even think about price so none have come close to complaining.
It would seem to me that despite all of the hand wringing about wealthy people (another guy I know works as an "engineer" in a luxury high rise building and gets paid a ridiculous wage to mostly sit - he complains about the excesses of the wealthy people there without ever connecting that with a little OT, he can make 6 figures because the residents are rich enough to not care that they could find someone who would work for half the cost).
AT any rate, it would seem to me that getting a large rate for work has to be connected (and sometimes even moderate) to making small things quickly (where the average person can thoughtlessly buy or buy a group for gifts) or being so good as a maker that the highest level clientele (who aren't just rich, but are also enthusiasts about the weird stuff they buy) will come to you and not find someone else better.
I guessed at my mother's rate earlier - somewhere around $20 an hour, or what would be $30 an hour in today's money. She made mostly 1 1/2 to 5 things, I'd say, in a given hour. Speed and moderate income clientele was her group (which brings people who buy one thing and then come back for 10 the next year to give out as gifts). It sounds ridiculous like you'd have to hurry, but her regular pace was efficient and she could paint and watch TV or paint and have a conversation and paint 5 or 10 pieces in the time the average person would do 1.
I can't help with moving between that and "rich people" and making the finest stuff as nobody on that craft circuit figured out how to sell much of anything that was high cost - they all sold at or below the impulse level and displayed a couple of larger more expensive items behind the regular stuff (makes the little stuff look more valuable somehow).
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