Thread: Woodenink at work selling pens

Some more pictures.............

Great pictures Fred, thanks for sharing those with us. Good luck with the sale Amos.

That's a nice looking display. Hope it all goes well for you Amos.

Do you have time to eat or sleep in between making all those pens? It's quite the collection.

Great pics.. beautiful layout you've got there.

Look at all that white hair.. you look like Jerry Vale

We can all vouch for the fact that Amos can't sing like Jerry

Thanks for posting Big Shed. Hope the sale went well Amos

Disapointed totally we missed it by just a few days

Hope it goes well Amos

thanks BS

Like most people, I think the selling is the hard part of our addiction ,but the feedback from the public is invaluable Sometimes just churning out pens ,hoping someone will like them enough to buy them can be a bit discouraging , I like it when people order something so you know what is wanted and where it.s going ,just adds a little extra to the enjoyment of the process , when we lay out our pens its like laying out our souls sometimes lol. Amos you have put in a mighty effort there let's hope you get the rewards you deserve ,cheers and keep on keeping on ~ John

Great shots there Fred, thanks for sharing

I can see a lot of $'s of stock sitting on those tables .

Thanks for posting those great pictures it's nice to see how folks in other countries st up at shows.
Amos you have a very nice display and very nice signage, that is something that is sorely missing from my display, is your done on Cloth or on Vinyl, it looks like a tremendous assortment of very nice pens.

Congratulations on your display Amos and thanks for the pictures Fred.

Hope you sell plenty Amos!!!

Well, I'm back and still have a lot of pens!! BUT, did sell some and a few people took cards and promised to order gifts in the future, in fact there was an email waiting for me when I got home saying they saw me at the show and wanted some pricing.
The banners are Vinyl. Thank you for all who wished me well , thanks Fred for posting the pictures.
It was stinking hot all 3 days and regular stall holders told me that attendance was well down on last year;
Once again, learnt heaps from doing this show, the immediate financial situation would be that I did not get enough in to pay for my spot, though I got close.
The hope is that there may be a flow on for those who have said they would contact me in the future.
Nevertheless, I would be willing to do it again now that I know what to expect, some things I would leave behind and some other things would come along.
Also, there is general ignorance about Pen Turning; most have never seen something dearer than the humble biro!, suddenly they see an array of pens from $35 to $735 and they wonder what has hit them, for those that stopped and asked I explained the background to some of the pens.
Then of course there were the actual wood turners who came to check it out;
However, I tried my best, and put on as good a display as possible.
When it comes to pricing, don't sell yourself short. Also when others do mention pricing, make sure you are comparing apples with apples, it is one thing to whip up a slimline with one coat of EEE, and another to use the Verniers to make sure they are 0.334" at the ends, then multiple coats of CA etc.
What I missed the most was making pens!!! hopeless addict!
Thanks again to all well wishers, Amos

Well done Amos.
Having a go is important.

Amos ! last year people were spending up with the bonus money, from all accounts this year at the markets has been very slow for most ,at least around our way but seems pretty general, some of the xmas spending and back to school expenses etc are keeping the money a bit tight ,Probably at your end to break even or close while a little discouraging is probably not a bad result, some of these events and costs are exorbatent to say the least. One thing I do is educate people on what goes into the penmaking process if they show any interest , I have a board with several pictures of the process which people can follow very simply, gives them some insight into the workings ,given a chance your love of it all will come through naturally . My wife and I work a small stall only about a hundred pens on display ,even then it takes a while for them to see all of them I am a long way from being a good salesman , but enthusiasm and love of what we do and pride as well all plays a part ,I have a box of my classier pens or specials out of sight ,and only bring these pens out to show to "special" people lol. which in my case is any one I think may be looking for that special pen hehe. a simple ploy but effective . Then again I know we are at opposite ends of the spectrum ,I only have to make one sale to pay the rent on the day, so no pressure and all good. Sorry for such a long post but its a big subject hehe. Cheers ~ John