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  1. #61
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    Dec 2020
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    Quote Originally Posted by double.d View Post
    This was an informative thread until it got hacked with caravans.
    It's all good. I do appreciate all input, so thanks everyone again.

    Caravans - yeah. I stand 6'4'' on a good day (or about 195 cm if that's your preferred thing), so caravans have never really done it for me, though I did inhabit one for a year or so, way back when, and managed to avoid a perpetual stoop afterwards. Have caravans evolved, I wonder, to cater for dudes (and dudettes?) of such excessive height?

    Anyways, making a buck... there have been some good ideas put forward here. It's all a bit up in the air, I guess, with things how they are currently. Maybe I'm better off just doing my own thing in my own space for a while... I was going to say, in my own "socially distanced" space, but I've grown to hate that term so much I can barely bring myself to type it

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  3. #62
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    Jul 2008
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    geelong
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    359

    Default -$50 -no worries

    Every now and then someone picks a winner. most people make a STUNNING table or whatever -they get the odd gig or 4 then they still got to eat -hard to do -some make it some don't -not necessarily based on talent or design. Obviously if you have neither. well that is what is. Having any talent is not a guaranteed path either -then again Susan Boyle wasn't famous before she was either. One never knows. Do your best and most creative -possibly you be the "books" that the next gen look at.

  4. #63
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    Jul 2008
    Location
    geelong
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    359

    Default Known someone

    An old ie not now workmate made one for personal use including curved /rounded window frames -all wood / plywood . Was regretting it very quickly -the weathering aspect. You want to go varnish -better have a shed to hide it in. To keep it out of the weather -or learn and go aluminium like ALL the caravan companies learned. Woodgrain -be ply or other looks cool -sucks to look after.

  5. #64
    Join Date
    Mar 2009
    Location
    Sydney
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    509

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    This year is the year I finally set up my shed in Sydney’s inner west - there is a thread elsewhere on my intentions that I will revive. The shed needs to pay for itself because that building in my backyard currently brings in rent from short term accomodation. All I want to do is bring in the equivalent of the rent that currently comes in. I have a few ideas for different business models, but initially providing a shared space may be the way I go.
    Making stuff and selling it would be tough. My suburb - Marrickville - has a quite a few wood workers. There are three people running very good schools where they teach adults. I suspect all three of them, given a choice, would prefer to make a living creating beautiful furniture.
    Somebody wrote above about the importance of social media. My wife runs a ceramics studio here at home - right now she has seven people in there doing a workshop. She also makes and sells ceramics and has an 'open studio' a few times a week where people pay to come and do their own thing. She is very good at social media. Every morning at 7.30am she does a post on Instagram. She has a website and does some Facebook and sends out a monthly newsletter, too, but Instagram is the key. And it needs to be a daily thing. People like what she posts and she now has a following and gets contacted by people who order work from her which she mails to them. The way she runs her home based business is no different from the way a woodwork business could be run. This is her business: ABOUT — Bakehouse Studio Marrickville

  6. #65
    Join Date
    Sep 2016
    Location
    Bentleigh East
    Age
    50
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    423

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    Quote Originally Posted by scottbr View Post
    This year is the year I finally set up my shed in Sydney’s inner west - there is a thread elsewhere on my intentions that I will revive. The shed needs to pay for itself because that building in my backyard currently brings in rent from short term accomodation. All I want to do is bring in the equivalent of the rent that currently comes in. I have a few ideas for different business models, but initially providing a shared space may be the way I go.
    Making stuff and selling it would be tough. My suburb - Marrickville - has a quite a few wood workers. There are three people running very good schools where they teach adults. I suspect all three of them, given a choice, would prefer to make a living creating beautiful furniture.
    Somebody wrote above about the importance of social media. My wife runs a ceramics studio here at home - right now she has seven people in there doing a workshop. She also makes and sells ceramics and has an 'open studio' a few times a week where people pay to come and do their own thing. She is very good at social media. Every morning at 7.30am she does a post on Instagram. She has a website and does some Facebook and sends out a monthly newsletter, too, but Instagram is the key. And it needs to be a daily thing. People like what she posts and she now has a following and gets contacted by people who order work from her which she mails to them. The way she runs her home based business is no different from the way a woodwork business could be run. This is her business: ABOUT — Bakehouse Studio Marrickville
    If you have a good enough relationship with your woodworking neighbours another option is to start a co-op, make one website, one social media account, one Etsy shopfront and share the costs & time of maintaining them. A few things to sort out and typical partnering risks involved obviously in that sort of thing, but there are many benefits as well. You can actually take time off occasionally, there is always production by somebody, you can offer more products and share the load of running a business (especially the boring admin/selling stuff and updating your social media frequently to keep people interested).

  7. #66
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    Sep 2016
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    Bentleigh East
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    Another nice little market for woodworkers and/or metalworkers is making niche tools for other crafts and hobbies. All it takes really is to establish a presence in their online communities, figure out what they're after and show them you can do it. Makers generally figure out easily what other makers need, even if it's a different craft.

    For example I know a lot of leather workers are searching the world over for good quality traditional leather working clams. Which take time and skill to make but it gets easier once you've made the jigs for it, and they command a fair price. That's what they look like, it involves some steaming and bending. It's a nice project.




    And the other thing is that craftspeople understand and appreciate the work of other craftsmen, and they will occasionally pay a premium to buy a well made item for their craft. Only problem is they are usually on a shoestring budget

  8. #67
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    Sep 2016
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    Here's a couple of stitching ponies I made for my own leather working. A couple of people saw them and asked me to make and sell them one, I just don't have the time for that sort of thing.
    The solid wood one takes some time to make but the plywood one can be made cheaply and quickly, and a couple of small businesses do exactly that. Look up "stitching pony" on Etsy to get an idea of pricing and quality.




  9. #68
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    Apr 2006
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    Hobart
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    Quote Originally Posted by Spyro View Post
    If you have a good enough relationship with your woodworking neighbours another option is to start a co-op, make one website, one social media account, one Etsy shopfront and share the costs & time of maintaining them. ......

    Anyone who goes anywhere near etsy either as a buyer or seller is very brave, as Sir Humphrey would say.

  10. #69
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    Sep 2016
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    Quote Originally Posted by GraemeCook View Post
    Anyone who goes anywhere near etsy either as a buyer or seller is very brave, as Sir Humphrey would say.
    There's good and bad. I buy nearly all of my leather working tools and supplies from etsy and never had a problem.
    You can (and should) check the feedback for every seller.

  11. #70
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    Quote Originally Posted by Spyro View Post
    There's good and bad. ...You can (and should) check the feedback for every seller.

    No way. I simply do not deal with inherently dishonest organisations.

  12. #71
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    Quote Originally Posted by GraemeCook View Post
    No way. I simply do not deal with inherently dishonest organisations.
    What happened??

  13. #72
    Join Date
    Jan 2009
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    Brisbane
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    1,766

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    Your a brave man Gungadin. Fortune favours the brave.

    to go from hobbiest to a woodworker relying on income is a hard road. But it can be very satisfying.

    i had been selling my wares for many, many years at a hobby level. I developed a few products, joined Etsy, and went from there. Identifying what the market wants is key. I had a good gig going making serving platters and the like for restaurants and cafes and I did quite well out of that. My prices were about 30% more than the imported garbage, but the longevity was far greater. I have product in industry that is still in service 5 or more years after initial supply. Generally hospo replace their boards and platters at least annually so the value proposition was easy to sell. Then came the great stuff up, as I like to call it.

    A dish pig didn’t do their job properly, left food remnants on the board, stacked them close together, thus encouraging the development of bacteria in the food remnants. Food was placed on those slightly damp boards and folk got sick after eating at the particular establishment. Council mandated that there had to be a piece of baking style paper placed between board and food at service. The concept and style died in the bum. A whole market share lost virtually overnight. I’ll add that it was not one of my pieces that was involved. The risk though is there.

    about three years ago I sold my house to buy a commercial space to set up my equipment. A big jump. I had a year off pretty much. I sold well, bought well, had a fair stack of cash and set about making my space workable, and liveable. I’ve still a long way to go before I can say I am comfortable. But I am happy, prolly the happiest I have ever been. I live a frugal existence. I make food, I don’t buy it in cause I cook well and hate paying $25.00 for something I can put on a plate for less than $5.00. I don’t really see the point.

    i have a number of outlets around Australia that buy my products to on sell. I do not do stock on consignment, nor will I rent space in an outlet. My products have a healthy margin for the retailer, and for me. My products are sought after and turn over in the outlets that carry them. As far as Etsy is concerned, to me it is passive income, fairly healthy passive income. The selling costs average out at less than 25% so greater than what you would achieve with a wholesale arrangement. That number included packaging costs as well. Often the cost to sell can be as low as 10%. I like sitting in my local bar having a couple in the middle of the afternoon and hearing my phone make a cash register sound. Hmmm, can I afford to have another? I have sold product to more than 17 different countries and regularly have folk in the states pay $15.50 for a product and pay $18.00 to ship it. Then they leave a 5 star review.

    The last twelve months has seen my export sales decline by 97% year on year, but I sill had a 50% increase in terms of revenue. My projections for the present twelve moths is for 80% growth year on year, just for Etsy sales.

    i also offer custom builds, I work with a builder who makes tiny homes and provide his business with fit out products, ( the list is too long for here), I make display products for marketeers and I provide product development consultancy to folk who have an idea that they want to bring to market.

    currently I am booked solid till March.

    There is money out there. There are folk who are willing to pay for good work. There is nothing easy about working for yourself. But by golly it puts a smile on my face. It takes time to build clientele. That clientele can be ripped out from under your feet through no wrong doing on your behalf. Always do your best work. Always do better next time. Never, ever sell yourself short. Learn and understand what your costs are. Learn and understand how long it takes to make s product. Be better, demonstrate that.

    Good fortune in your endeavours. Believe in you. Other people’s opinions do not matter if you are happy in what you do. How important is money to you in the happiness equation?

    Best.
    B
    There ain't no devil, it's just god when he's drunk!!

    Tom Waits

  14. #73
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    Quote Originally Posted by Spyro View Post
    What happened??

    They broke the three stikes rule.

    Strike 1: Middle of last year; product delivered was totally different and much lower value than item ordered.

    Strike 2: Late last year; was working as a business advisor to an online retailer. The "gentlemen" reversed some revenue transactions without explanation.

    Strike 3: This year; bought inexpensive downloadable item priced in Australian dollars. I was charged ForEx fees even though I had not agreed to an international transaction. Product only partially downloaded.

    In all three cases it was impossible to discuss matter with the criminals. Simply got moronic responses generated by an algorithm.

    If you choose to deal with them, then I wish you luck. For me, strike 4 does not exist.

    I must admit that I was negligent in failing to check their reviews in places like productreview, trustpilot, consumeraffairs, etc. Not nice.

  15. #74
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    Sep 2016
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    Bentleigh East
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    423

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    Quote Originally Posted by GraemeCook View Post
    They broke the three stikes rule.

    Strike 1: Middle of last year; product delivered was totally different and much lower value than item ordered.

    Strike 2: Late last year; was working as a business advisor to an online retailer. The "gentlemen" reversed some revenue transactions without explanation.

    Strike 3: This year; bought inexpensive downloadable item priced in Australian dollars. I was charged ForEx fees even though I had not agreed to an international transaction. Product only partially downloaded.

    In all three cases it was impossible to discuss matter with the criminals. Simply got moronic responses generated by an algorithm.

    If you choose to deal with them, then I wish you luck. For me, strike 4 does not exist.

    I must admit that I was negligent in failing to check their reviews in places like productreview, trustpilot, consumeraffairs, etc. Not nice.
    I get it, and you're right, but there is no reason to write off every seller on etsy because of this, otherwise you'd have to do the same for amazon, ebay and any other selling platform, there's always dodgy shops within them. Same as Westfield actually, or a farmer's market, or a shopping strip, if you have a bad experience with a shop you're not gonna set foot again in the whole shopping centre? Anyway it's your decision, if you feel that the selling platform (or shopping centre) should have intervened and fixed those for you then don't use them again, all good.

    For what it's worth I don't trust etsy either (or anybody else), what I do to protect myself is I always pay with paypal, and within paypal I have connected the paying account to my credit card. That way if someone does something stupid like charge me non-existent Forex I have 3 layers of protection, I can lodge a complaint with etsy, paypal, and my bank. One of the three will most definitely reverse the transaction. Especially my bank has been great like that in the past, took them a couple of months but they investigated and reversed transactions twice.

    The feedback on etsy shops is within etsy, literally one click away from where you're placing the order. You don't have to go to any other website.

  16. #75
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    Quote Originally Posted by Spyro View Post
    I get it, and you're right, but there is no reason to write off every seller on etsy because of this, otherwise you'd have to do the same for amazon, ebay and any other selling platform.....

    No; the problem is with Etsy, not their shops. They simply do not have a functional dispute resolution process. Ebay, Amazon do. Try to contact E or its vendors and you "talk" to a computer.

    True my bank and/or credit card company can, and has reversed the transactions, but its a PIA having to do so.

    Not the same outcome for my commercial acquaintance.

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