How many pieces of your work can you have in the house? After the bedroom, living room, bathroom, guest room, and even the kid’s room all have an original, one-of-a-kind turned piece and all of your friends and family have your work, it’s time to look at the possibility of selling some of your treasures.
So where do you begin? In the next few pages, some of the answers will start to take shape, and hopefully a few solid ideas will get you motivated to free your home of all of those pieces that have been collecting.
There are volumes of books written on marketing your work. This is by no means a slam-dunk, surefire few pages of pure golden knowledge on the subject.
It is a realistic approach on how to offer your work for sale, where to sell it, the best way to display it, and a way to value it for sale.
Marketing
So let’s start with the dirty little “M” word. Marketing-there, I said it A dirty word to most, but to me it means “Money.”
Marketing is evolving all of the time, constantly changing. One day marketing may be advertising, the next day it may be selling, and the next day it may mean trying to contact other people concerning your work. Marketing is anything to do with your business and the business of promoting your product. You are marketing all the time without realizing it.
This article is excerpted from Learn To Turn by Barry Gross. ©2005 Fox Chapel Publishing Company Inc.
When setting up for a show, do not be shy about promoting yourself. A banner with your name on it demonstrates to the public who you are. Also, lighting your work is a must Brght light5 will 5how how well your products are finished. ever notice that a diamond looks better in a jewelry store than at home? The difference is the lighting.
Each time you speak with someone concerning your turnings, you are effectively marketing your work, Do not be ashamed to tell people what you do in your spare time. I have been a sales manager in the medical industry for over 25 years, and I cannot tell you how many times I have sold items to physicians simply because I mentioned to them what I did in my spare time.
The more people know you and your work, the better off you will be. The best sales to me are the word-of-mouth sales and the repeat sales from prior customers.
Points of sale
The first question you must answer is, “Where can I sell my work?” The answer is simple: Ask other turners either where they display their work or what shows they attend.
Attend craft shows and other local artisan shows to see what is being offered in your area. When you attend these shows, see what the turners are selling and what prices they are charging. Ask the turners if they are selling any of their products. Examine how they have their turnings displayed. lake in the whole experience of the show; watch the people-are they buying or just kicking tires? If they are buying, what are they buying and how much are they spending? By the way, as you are observing these things guess what-you are marketing! So the “M” word is starting to look better.
Let’s take a moment to examine craft shows. There are many types of craft shows and fairs. You will hear of juried shows and non-juried shows. A juried show is one where you have to present either your actual work or good-quality 35mm slides representative of your work to a group of people who will judge if the quality of your work is good enough to be in their show. Usually a juried show will bring higher prices for your work because a more affluent crowd of people will attend, knowing the quality of workmanship will be good.
Listen to your customers...
You were born with two ears and one mouth, so listen twice as much as you speak! Ask questions and take a moment to listen to what your customers want. If you find that the market in your area loves natural edge bowls, then you will have a difficult time selling them open-ended vessels. As customers walk by your booth, greet them, invite them in, and then listen to what they have to say. Once they are in your booth, are your items well lighted? There is nothing more frustrating than having a beautiful quilted bowl that is so poorly lighted that the customers cannot see the shine of your finish! Speaking of sales, make sure that your customer knows you take credit cards. Many sales have been made due to the fact that credit cards were accepted.
Keep your display clean, neat, and well organized.
This article is excerpted from Learn To Turn by Barry Gross. ©2005 Fox Chapel Publishing Company Inc.
Wholesale versus retail?
Do you want to go to craft fairs or just put your work in a few shops and let someone else sell your work? One key thing to remember is that no one can sell your work like you can! When I first started out, I placed my work all over in upscale boutiques and shops on consignment, I can tell you that this was a disaster! I lost more items because these shops would sell the items and not pay me or go out of business and take my merchandise. Many bad things can happen when your work is on consignment, so my tendency is to sell retail at upscale craft fairs.
As an experiment, I placed my work with a friend, and he went to a large show in Washington, D.C. He had items similar to mine, and he sold 18 items of his and only one of mine. At the next large show, in Philadelphia, I took his work with me. This time 1 sold 16 pieces of my work and none of his!
If you are selling to the public, they like to buy directly from the artisan themselves. No one can sell your work like yourself. I tell humorous (at least I think they are) stories of how the turning was made and what type of wood it is, where it comes from, and a lot of other details that only I can know. It is the personal touch of that “M” word, and people like it!
Pricing: the touchy part of the “M” thing
What do I charge for this widget? While you are at the various craft fairs, you are studying prices to see what the market will tolerate. What the market will tolerate and what you want to charge may be two entirely different things.
One item artists tend to overlook is their time. Time is money! Your time has a value, and you should not diminish the fact that you did spend the time making the piece. If people want cheap, they’re probably not going to appreciate a hand turned piece, so let them buy a knock-off bowl. You are creating one-of-a-kind, handmade items and should be compensated accordingly.
A simple formula for pricing is: PRiCE = cost of material + overhead + labor + profit. What was the cost of the material? A friend told you to come over and help take the tree down, so the wood was free, right? How about the time you spent cutting the tree down and the time and gas you consumed going to his house? All of these factors have to come into play when figuring actual cost of material.
The overhead is the cost of your tools, heat, electricity, insurance, and rent. If you are using one room in your home to produce these items, then you may want to obtain a total cost of the room over the period of a year and then divide this by the number of pieces you actually turned.
Labor is time, and time is money What is the local shop rate for a handyman in your area: $20, $45, $75 per hour? You have to place a value on your time, but you also have to be realistic. You are not a brain surgeon, so do not charge like one!
Profit-the “P” word.
You are allowed to make money, and the person who is buying your product knows that; however, since you have charged a fair price, they are willing to pay for your item. A fair percentage profit is 30 percent. Let’s say that, after figuring all of the above factors, a bowl cost you $45 to produce. Add 30 percent of $45, or $13-$14, and the total cost to the consumer is $59.
Once you have established what prices you will charge for your work, you can determine where to be in the food chain of craft shows or upscale boutiques.
By following some of these guidelines for marketing, you can take the “M” word and make some money.
This article is excerpted from Learn To Turn by Barry Gross. ©2005 Fox Chapel Publishing Company Inc.
