Sold my first project today

[Paul alan]

Have mixed emotions about it though, I really liked the laptop stand and have been using it as my own since I made it!
I forgot I had listed it on eBay and was surprised when notified that I needed to post it.
It sold for £35 plus postage which is very little for the hours I put in with the card scraper trying to remove plane tear out on white oak.
But considering it came to me as an old cupboard door for free I can’t grumble.

 

[marcros]

well done!

 

[thetyreman]

the money is better than nothing but you definitely undervalued that, at least it sold though so well done, out of interest how much did the material cost? and how many hours did you put into it?

 

[artie]

Congrats, the first sale is always sweet.

Finding how to make it profitable is the trick.

Looks very nice.

 

[Paul alan]

the money is better than nothing but you definitely undervalued that, at least it sold though so well done, out of interest how much did the material cost? and how many hours did you put into it?

The oak was free from an old cupboard door, the mahogany I bought fr £20 but only used about 1% of it for inlaying the piece.
God knows how many hours as I’m learning as I go along so a couple of hours each night after work, maybe 10 hours??
the hardest part was trying to plane it down as it kept tearing out on me.
I ended up card scraping it for at least a couple of hours to remove most of the tearout.

 

[marcros]

now your laptop will be too low for a week or two.

 

[Paul alan]

now your laptop will be too low for a week or two.

Yeah... and I’m too busy with the workshop building to do another yet!

 

[MikeG.]

I think that proves that Ebay isn't the best place for selling handcrafted stuff. Not that I know what is.....

 

[Paul alan]

I think that proves that Ebay isn't the best place for selling handcrafted stuff. Not that I know what is.....

No, not for me anyways!
I think for what it was and the time and effort gone in to it I’d never make a profit!
I’ve a lot of working out to do that’s for sure.

 

[flanajb]

Very nice. That's been my main reason for not returning back to the tools after 20 years. 95% of people want something for nothing. If you can find those that pay more because there is a face to the individual that manufactured it then I think it can work.

 

[Oddbod70]

Somebody got a real bargain there! That's an elegantly done piece.

 

[pcb1962]

That's beautiful, at twice the price it would still be a bargain.

 

[Trainee neophyte]

I can certainly see why someone bought it. Do you have any more cupboards to disassemble? If not you have a conundrum...

 

[Paul alan]

Thank you for the compliments!
I started woodworking 10 months ago as I've been stuck building my window cleaning business for the last 10 years and Ive done all I want to do with it, got totally bored and wanted something new to do.
Now I just want to get very good at making things in the hope that 1 day I can make some money from it and do a bit less window cleaning.
I'm just building my workshop and cherish every minute of it, the more of my life I get to spend in there the better.

 

[SamTheJarvis]

Looks great and fantastic you've used reclaimed timber. Undervaluing your first work is understandable. It's typically a function of the imposter syndrome (at least it was in my case and identified it in others) and it's important to not have that linger for longer than necessary.

 

[Paul alan]

Imposter syndrome? Sounds complicated. I kind of see where your coming from though.

I never did value the lap top stand, It went on the auction just to see if I could possibly sell something I made to see if it could be possible to make some money from my passion.

Ebay must of rolled the auction over for a few weeks as I totally forgot I had even listed it.

 

[Paul alan]

The same thing nearly happened with a sapeale and oak “box” I made. I listed it to see if any interest occurred.
Then I realized I hadn’t put a reserve on and someone nearly got it for a £5.
I took it right down, I love that box and my heart and sole went into it.
I gave it my boy in the hope that one day he might value it as I do as I made it.
There's something very special about making things with hand tools, you become attached to a piece after spending time with it and giving it your full attention for an extended period of time.

 

[Paul alan]

By the way the sapeale came to me from a customer of mine (window cleaning), its a part from an old conservatory he gave me and the oak is from the cupboard door.

 

[AJB Temple]

Presumably, selling on eBay (or Etsy or whatever) a minimum price could be set, or offers invited. This would surely avoid selling at undervalue (but may deliver no sale at all).

 

[Paul alan]

Presumably, selling on eBay (or Etsy or whatever) a minimum price could be set, or offers invited. This would surely avoid selling at undervalue (but may deliver no sale at all).

Correct, my mind was not present when listing though.