Thread: Your advice please..

They look to be beautifully made and are very attractive pieces. I suspect that any upmarket craft gallery would be happy to stock them. How such an arrangement works would depend on the retailer, ie. wholesale purchase or on consignment. If you are happy to place them on consignment, a gallery may be more inclined to test their saleability. However, I think you need to approach them with some idea of what your work is worth, and be able to confidently assure them of continuity of supply. Good luck with them.

Buzz

Have you done any simple practical market research?

Here are some possibilities
1) Do you know anyone at a local preschool? Donate a sample of a dozen or so toys on the proviso that you will come back and look at them every month over a year - offer to fix the broken ones. The condition they are in will tell you about which toys are most popular and most sturdy. Meanwhile you will get free exposure especially to the parents that come an pick the kids up - they will see the toys and ooh-haa - where did you get those?

2) Another way to market research / sell your stuff is using the party plan - aka the tupperware system.

3) Finally I reckon flea markets are one vehicle you could use to gauge interest.

4) I know stuff all about toys but my guess is that your toys may appeal to parents maybe even more than kids. They're the sorts of toys a nursery would be decked out with - maybe baby shops in a rtizi area would take some on consignment?

Nice looking toys, with cool retro design to them.

Maybe you could sell them on eBay, or some such similar site?

I'd try ebay. It's a shame but I think well made toys like this are becoming a relic of the past. Kids are bombarded with all sorts of advertising and plastic products which come in and out of fashion every year.

remember the Cabbage Patch Dolls ?

Seems to me that having outlets for the sale of your (very well made) gear is only part of the problem. Might be time to take a step back and reasses. I know a guy who does this sort of thing for businesses in your position and could well bring a different perspective to it.

I agree that this type of product doesn't seem to be as available as it once was and I think it still has a place in any child's toy box, so there should be a market for it. PM me if you wish and I'll give you some details.

Cheers,
Keith

Originally Posted by Gumby

...remember the Cabbage Patch Dolls ?

Aren't they a girly pop group or something ?

Don't have anything to offer in the way of advice. Your stuff looks great and there should be more of it instead of the plastic crap.

One observation: as a parent myself I can tell you that most of the toys our kids have were bought for them by family and friends, not by us. Often they are parents themselves, but not always. Your market is wider than just parents and I find that the people who spend the most are the ones who don't have kids, or whose kids have grown up and left home.

My Grandfather and his brother made wooden toys for Coles in Melbourne just after the war. None of them had batteries

Ebay gets the exposure but there are a couple of drawbacks.

It costs you even if you don't sell anything.

People want screaming bargains on ebay, few will pay what is a fair price.

First the toys: Fabulous! Don't be put off, there is a market out there somewhere.

Now the business:

If you were seriously in the business of selling wooden toys, you'd send your designs to a little factory in Asia or Poland or wherever, and import the completed product for less than the timber is costing you.

The decisions you need to make are:

How much money do you want to make out of the business?
Is this purely about the satisfaction you get from doing the work?
Can you make more money doing a similar thing, working for someone else?

Grab a hold of "The E-Myth" by Michael Gerber (all libraries have them), then ask the question again after you've read it!

I'd like to follow your decision making process!

Personally, I aspire to be able to build stuff to that quality, just for my grandkids!

BobL's advice about preschools is sound - why not hit a few in your area. Print up a simple catalogue, as well as repairing a few of their other toys (gives you a chance to bad-mouth your competitors ).

Most up-market toys are bought by grandparents. You could try advertising to that market - e.g. local bowls club magazine - and offering a seniors discount. Also, try writing an article emphasising the hand made high quality of your toys for the local rag. Many editors love new articles and will publish it unchanged, especially if you pay for an ad as well.

Also, this is where galleries come in. Most woodworkers hate paying commission, but you are really paying for a service. The gallery gets the buyers, smiles sincerely at customers, does the marketing and should be able to give you advice on the preferred lines. You should look for a gallery that does all these things well. In return, they will collect a commission. It's only fair to them that they have a guaranteed supply.

Good luck, you seem to have a nice product.

i got a toy truck made of wood similar to that

thanks for the advice folks

I have done (a fair while ago mind) a fair bit of market research and tried the neis program way back when.

what most of you are saying is what I know already.. I guess I just need to get over the nerves and get to showing my product to the right people.

Originally Posted by bitingmidge

If you were seriously in the business of selling wooden toys, you'd send your designs to a little factory in Asia or Poland or wherever, and import the completed product for less than the timber is costing you.

The decisions you need to make are:

How much money do you want to make out of the business?
Is this purely about the satisfaction you get from doing the work?
Can you make more money doing a similar thing, working for someone else?

I am in the business of selling toys.. but to make a living doing something I enjoy, not to reap undeserved profits from some poor bastards misery.
I will never go down the made in china road, thats just not the sort of man I want to be.

to answer your 3 questions.
#1 I'd like to make a modest wage, I expect to work for my living and be paid fairly.
#2 I wouldn't say its purely about the satisfaction, although I have enjoyed teaching myself the skills in the last year more than anything I've done before, if I think back to this time last year I couldn't have told you what a lathe or a bandsaw was
the satisfaction is great, but I'm doing this for a whole bunch of other reasons.
#3 I doubt it.. sure I could work with wood for sombody else given some formal training and some luck but I doubt very much that I'd have the creative freedom that I do now. now I've got it, I aint giving it back!

Originally Posted by bitingmidge

I'd like to follow your decision making process!

glad to have you along

Originally Posted by buzz

I think you need to approach them with some idea of what your work is worth, and be able to confidently assure them of continuity of supply. Good luck with them.

good advice.. I'll take that on the road with me

Originally Posted by bobL

3) Finally I reckon flea markets are one vehicle you could use to gauge interest.

exactly what Ive been doing, just locally for the last few months. tbh I think I've been doing it for too long and its got me down its not a high class market and although everyone wants to touch and talk I'm not selling much. I seem to sell more bowls than anything which suprised me.

Originally Posted by silentC

My Grandfather and his brother made wooden toys for Coles in Melbourne just after the war. None of them had batteries

that's beautiful.. I hope you have a toy or two from them.

Originally Posted by gumby

I'd try ebay. It's a shame but I think well made toys like this are becoming a relic of the past. Kids are bombarded with all sorts of advertising and plastic products which come in and out of fashion every year.

you're right gumby and its for that exact reason I recon silentC's right about my market being more than just the kids anf their parents.


righto.. I think I'm sufficiently quoted out:eek: thanks again for the advice and kind words.. I reckon I'll put aside a day next week to travel to melbourne and do say 5 outlets, maybe a couple of toy shops and a few galleries. maybe if I keep a day a fortnight aside and make myself stick to it I'll be out of the woods.

I'll keep you all posted

and I'll try to post photo's of my work more often rather than just lurk and feed off the collective

ooroo!

Originally Posted by keith53

Seems to me that having outlets for the sale of your (very well made) gear is only part of the problem. Might be time to take a step back and reasses. I know a guy who does this sort of thing for businesses in your position and could well bring a different perspective to it.

I agree that this type of product doesn't seem to be as available as it once was and I think it still has a place in any child's toy box, so there should be a market for it. PM me if you wish and I'll give you some details.

Cheers,
Keith

I'm probobly at the point where I could use a fresh view, I'll pop a pm your way tomorrow Keith... thankyou

When you said you made toys,I knew they would be good, but I didn't know they would be that good.Got a heap more cedar n kauri offcuts for u too