Thread: Some Have Difficulty Understanding

There are very few people that actually buy our products that understand the amount of time and expences occured in making them. I only do pens for sale as I am not good enough to make bowls etc that warrent being placed out for sale. Here is hoping that you get your sales and make enough for a beer.

Wow, I can't believe that that is priced at $40, what do others think that works out to? Maybe $4-6 per hour of work? Plus you have to buy wood and consumables. Not worth doing, apart from for the love of turning. I don't sell my work yet, but surely it is better to price it reasonably (~$50/hour + wood + consumables), even if it doesn't sell immediately.

Its trying to sell in the wrong venue!

Also don't stick a price on it like its a sack of spuds. Have a nice tag or a little label down next to it! You have to make it look the business.

As TL said, wrong place to sell, cheap price ticket makes it look cheap, and as you said

It has a beautiful hard film finish . Probably lacquer or polyurethane.

gives the idea that it is a cheap chinese import.

Show it of in a gallery with a lovely ticket quoting the woods and other pertinent details and with a nice deep shiny oil finish and it would sell for much more.

Making beautiful work is only one part, selling it professionally is the other part to success.

Peter.

I agree with all the above .
I do have a minor criticism, the turner did a beautiful job of the segmented Vase , why did he put the solid Camphor mouth, I feel that it detracts from the Vase, and does not do justice to the piece , which is better than I can do at the moment( I wish I could).

As for priceing , yes there would be 10-15 hours of work in the piece , plus the cost of the timbers and adhesives . $40.00 seems a low price and in a Coffee Shop, probably not the best place to sell , but then I do not know the area, and so my comments must be taken with these factors in mind.
Jeff

Also......... I'm gonna get a little critical here...... although it might be a technical achievement the over all finish and design looks a little "stodgy" The rim looks thick and square. No finesse at all. And "shiny" is not the finish that looks expensive.

Maybe it's lacquer taste?
Someone might take shine to it
Mmmmmm better quit before I rub someone up the wrong way
Keith aka Scotty

Assuming: absolutely perfect construction, no tool marks, no sanding marks, perfectly finished bottom, signed and numbered, and yes, hand rubbed Danish oil finish; the above vase should sell for around $140 in a touristy town, or $240 in a crafts shop in Vancouver.

If the maker is in a logging town, the saw mill has closed, half the people are out of work, and to see a new face in town is an event, $40 may be too much.

If the turner is able, make 10 different pieces with the attributes of the first paragraph above. Write up a little biography of yourself. For each turning make a card, hand printed or done on a computer telling a little about each piece - number of segments, kinds of wood, size, and sign it. If you had a mishap and reworked the piece put that in.

Take all your stuff to a town that has a crafts shop and show the owner. ask if they think these things would sell, consult with the owner about selling price.

Some will buy outright, some sell on consignment. Usually consignment will give you a higher percentage. Have a duplicate list of the pieces, size, wood, and number of piece, with a space for the selling price.

Offer to take back any pieces that don't sell in a reasonable time. My crafts shop takes 40%, another I checked with takes 50%.

That is a big bite, but in the case of the above vase 60% of $140 is $84 vs $40.

People come to a crafts shop to buy crafts, not to eat.

I have been turning for about 5 years, selling through a crafts shop for 3. First I got good - see first paragraph. Then I got bigger, as a bigger bowl sells for more and takes about the same time as smaller ones, larger lathe, a real bowl gouge.

Now I'm working on faster, big chuck for the big lathe vs faceplate, another long and strong bowl gouge, big scraper, power sanding stuff, lots and lots of sandpaper.

I find as I do more, I get better and more efficient. I will rough out 8 - 10 bowl blanks with the chain saw & pile them by the lathe. I'll rough turn 2 - 3 then cut wood, build the fire.

Then I'll grab one that has dried in rough state and final turn it and maybe another, set them aside to move around, grab one that has rested and moved and final scrape, sand and first coat finish.

That stays on the lathe overnight, then it gets a sanding and vacuum, careful inspection for bruised grain, tool marks, scratches, warp, crack, etc. That gets corrected and another coat of finish and it stays on the lathe while I do other things for an hour or two.

I use a dry cloth and burnish the bowl running at slow speed on the lathe and carefully set it aside on a soft cloth over night and put something else in the chuck.

By changing around I do not get cramping or overly sore places from doing one thing too long.

I heat with wood, as I'm cutting and splitting I'm making bowl blanks, some get to be bowls, some are firewood.

Attached are the latest batch to go to the shop. The cherry with the hourglass figure just sold for $75. The one with the holes is from a locust stump, I told the shop owner that is my first $100 bowl, she agreed and said lets price it at $95 because of the $100 barrier. I agreed. These are all sanded to 400 grit and then many coats of tung oil rubbed on while on the lathe.

The things that sell have crazy grain or unusual shapes. The nice plain straight grain ones just sit there.

Turn a long time, sell to the Smithsonian Institution, become famous, and die.

Then your stuff sells for good money.

See: Rude Osolnik Cherry Wood Bowl : Modern50

http://www.brunkauctions.com/search/...=57355&print=1

http://216.97.232.125/search/lotdetailfull.php?id=65448

Home | Rude Osolnik

Rude Osolnik taught at Berea College in KY. He sold bowls at the Southern Highlands Handicraft Fair in Asheville years ago. I bought bowls from him for $15, $18, $20 and gave them away as wedding gifts, Christmas gifts, etc. I did not keep one for myself.

Rude was a sweet person and wonderful turner.

Market research and the venue, who are your target buyers? What do they like/prefer?
As stated Vancouver or similar along with the venue/gallery, Watsons Lake or similar wouldnt cut it

As the original heading says "Some Have Difficulty Understanding"
I didn't expect everyone to understand and possibly only half. I personally know many who do understand because they have experienced the same thing. Tried selling on line and took more of their time to manage sites of their own and others like etsy only to get a few sales a year.

It is a case of an area in the Rocky mountains with a very long travelling distance to any highly populated areas with upscale boutique's or galleries or sales venues. Not a one to be found within 150 km and they are all spoken for.
6.5 hour drive one way to the nearest large city.
Predominantly a retirement town because of its beautiful location with valleys surrounded by majestic mountains (snow capped already) .
Only industry is two sawmills with lots of layoffs and a small brewery plus fruit farmers . Weather is very dependant on the farmers profit or loss . About every 10th store on the small main street is empty . Not enough young people here that will work for minimum wage so the farmers get help from Mexico and Quebec and from whoever will work rather than let the fruit rot on the trees. . Farmers often have to pay the workers transportation here as an inscentive but they have to save enough to pay for their own trip back home.
Yes, it is difficult for ones in highly populated areas with big wage earners to imagine the other side of the situation and I can certainly appreciate that . I know some in better locations that do very well with their sales of woodworkiing items. .
Yes marketing has a lot to do with sales in any area but it mostly boils down to as the real estate people say, . . . location , location, location.
I certainly get a lot of enjoyment from my woodworking and will continue to do so as long as I am able but I have scaled back to making stuff for family and friends and to give to charities rather than stay in production mode like a full time job and sell in volume at hundreds of craft sales over the years at a price that boiled down to breaking even. Price high and take it all back home every time or price what the particlar area will pay and sell it.
Been retired for 15 years so it is now time to actually go into retirement mode and enjoy a few other things in life .

William ,

You could try doing what my Dad did. He also did not want a fulltime job in retirement. So he just produced as many as he saw fit and dropped them off once a month or so to a particular store/outlet.
Ok each time they tried to get him to make heaps, his attitude was 'take or leave it' This went on for several years, in the end he made himself an exclusive market, all quite by accident.

Originally Posted by William Young

. . why I cannot get much for my turnings

A good BIG question WY...and it is asked by many woodworkers..
..This is up there with.."why can't I sell my rustic burl coffee table for more than I paid for the raw materials"?

..Firstly....The reason many turners do segmented turnings is simply the challenge of doing them....non turners (understandably) do not get this...consequently the amount of work involved will not be a consideration in their reason for purchase..

..Secondly...The other question many turners ask is...Why is that bloke (in that magazine) getting $500 for that simple bowl ?..(that I could whip up in 2 hrs)..

..That is a much more complex question...but involves things like...understanding contemporary design, the market , self promotion, presentation, galleries, collectors, competition, etc etc..
a few turners make good money...most don't
most turners really enjoy what they do...some don't