When did you decide to start selling?

[Toothpick]

At what point did you (anyone in general) decide you wanted to start selling? 

I’ve toyed with the idea. And might consider it seriously when I get better. But also, I keep thinking about how much of a pain it is. I did retail management for 10 years and got burnt out. I just got away from the selling, managing, business running side of my life. Have a new career I enjoy. 

But also also.....the thought of making this hobby pay for itself is appealing. Selling what i make to save up for a better scroll saw, or to buy supplies, etc. Not necessarily make a living, or profit. But just break even and still enjoy the hobby. 

Anyone just settle for that?

[loftyhermes]

I started selling when the wife said "it's about time you got rid of some of these boxes out of the living room." So that was 6 years ago and instead of getting rid of some, when it sold I'd just go and make more. After 6 years the pile of boxes hasn't got smaller, just has a better quality stuff inside. 

[Toothpick]

That’s what I considered too. Build up a supply and then see what sells. I think the pieces I have been making should go for 10-20 bucks each. I really just want a new saw but I want to see if I can make it pay for itself. 

[JimErn]

Small town here and not much tourist traffic at all, I do one show a month (Jan, Feb, Jul, Aug it is not open), cheap booth rent, and I sell to buy more wood/blades etc.  And it is an excuse to get out and BS with other crafts-folk, and I even pick up a custom order or two each month.

I did the vendor fairs with my wife's business, sheeez just too much of a hassle for me, thankfully she felt the same way (after a couple of years) and quit that aspect.

The craft is a hobby, the trade fair is just an extension of that hobby.

[tgiro]

When the bowls started o pile up and the walls were getting covered with intarsia - and I wanted to make more . . .

I only do three shows each year and normally do pretty good at each show. It keeps me in wood, blades, sanding paper, etc. And is a good tax write off.

I do this as a hobby. The only reason there is any semblance of business is for sales and income tax reasons.

[jbrowning]

When I finished my first Santa Sleigh and Reindeer and my niece said (Uncle Jim I want to buy that). It's all been a blur since then. That with 3/4" plywood and a jigsaw. Then my sister wanted me to make the same set up but smaller. That is when I found out about scroll saws.

[kmmcrafts]

Selling just sort of fell into my lap... LOL 

20 years ago somehow my wife talked me into quitting my job and being a stay at home dad.. at that time I was actively working at starting a auto collision repair shop.. while working a full time + job.. she said it would be a good opportunity to put more time into the body shop.. that lasted about 3 years before I'd had enough.. love doing body work as a hobby but the business end of it sucks.. plus... who knew that being a stay at home dad meant dishes, laundry, vacuuming, window washing, on top of watching the kids... also didn't know that they was supposed to be bathed and ready to go to bed when momma gets home from work ... who knew that cooking would also be involved.. anyway fast forward a few years and I tried getting back to running a business again.. this time lawn care and landscaping.. which worked out decent for a few years but again.. didn't like doing the work as much as I had thought I would.. plus it just didn't jive with the wife's schedule and sitting the kids.. etc etc.. so I stopped that one too.. 

Then one cold winter evening wife at work and kids playing in the house I went out and grabbed my dads old Delta 2 speed 16" scroll saw and cut out on some scrap 3/8 plywood making Christmas presents.. people really liked the things I was making and suggested I try selling my stuff.. I played it off as if they was crazy.. I was active in a garden tractor group that people restored and collected old Wheel Horse tractors.. I made me a clock with the wheel horse logo.. the new logo and old one combined made a cool clock.. I posted a photo of the thing on the club website and ... EVERYONE.. just had to have one.. how much etc etc.. I made about 200 of them before I realized I could charge more for them... and then somehow I found etsy.. still just playing around with it.. then several years later the kids was much bigger.. trying to find a job as the kids really was big enough to not really need me here all the time any longer.. I found that getting a job when you have no real work history for the past 20 years is tough to do unless you work a factory job with mandatory over time which is almost always 7 day 365.. I didn't want to not see my family ever.. I looked harder into selling my work.. at my age.. going back into the car repair career with all the changes to paints etc.. I didn't keep up with my certifications etc.. so getting a job in that field would be about impossible to do.. not to mention hard on my old body after not working at it regularly for 20 years, LOL

 

[dgman]

I had no intention on selling. I was the scroll saw instructor at the Woodcraft store in Ventura Ca. The owners decided to do a crafters Christmas bazaar. They asked me to participate. I didn’t have much to sell but I agreed to do it. I had a month to build up stock. We were set up in the isles of the store. Frankly, I thought it a poor idea as what woodworker will want to buy someone else’s wood projects? There were about 20 woodworkers displaying their work. There was one other scroller there but he just had Intarsia projects. 

The store owners advertised the event very well. There were a lot of non woodworking customers  there. I did amazingly well. They held this event two more years and each year I did better than the year before. The fourth year, they decided it was too much work, so it was canceled. As I had been building stock, I decided to look for another venue. Found the two shows I am doing now. 

I was in the hospital this year during my two shows. I missed the first one. For the second show, which was a two day show, my lovely wife decided to take it on herself! She had never helped me on any show before, but she did great. She actually sold more than I have in the past!

[ike]

I started selling at the Church craft sale in the 90"s just broke even for the first couple of years and they sold at a profit so I decided to sells at other  Church sales and sell at one or 2 large sales earache year . but I like the church sales best the sales are smaller but they are more enjoyable. The sale operators are much nicer people some times you get free coffee iand donuts in the start and coffee all day long , some give you a discount on lunch and one gives you lunch with a table fee of around $20.This is a hobby and I enjoy it This year I lsold $1050 and cleared $375. That is not much profit but as I said this is hobby and I am having fun. at my age (79) that is the name of the game

IKE

Edited December 23, 2018 by ike

[Toothpick]

2 hours ago, kmmcrafts said:

Selling just sort of fell into my lap... LOL 

20 years ago somehow my wife talked me into quitting my job and being a stay at home dad.. at that time I was actively working at starting a auto collision repair shop.. while working a full time + job.. she said it would be a good opportunity to put more time into the body shop.. that lasted about 3 years before I'd had enough.. love doing body work as a hobby but the business end of it sucks.. plus... who knew that being a stay at home dad meant dishes, laundry, vacuuming, window washing, on top of watching the kids... also didn't know that they was supposed to be bathed and ready to go to bed when momma gets home from work ... who knew that cooking would also be involved.. anyway fast forward a few years and I tried getting back to running a business again.. this time lawn care and landscaping.. which worked out decent for a few years but again.. didn't like doing the work as much as I had thought I would.. plus it just didn't jive with the wife's schedule and sitting the kids.. etc etc.. so I stopped that one too.. 

Then one cold winter evening wife at work and kids playing in the house I went out and grabbed my dads old Delta 2 speed 16" scroll saw and cut out on some scrap 3/8 plywood making Christmas presents.. people really liked the things I was making and suggested I try selling my stuff.. I played it off as if they was crazy.. I was active in a garden tractor group that people restored and collected old Wheel Horse tractors.. I made me a clock with the wheel horse logo.. the new logo and old one combined made a cool clock.. I posted a photo of the thing on the club website and ... EVERYONE.. just had to have one.. how much etc etc.. I made about 200 of them before I realized I could charge more for them... and then somehow I found etsy.. still just playing around with it.. then several years later the kids was much bigger.. trying to find a job as the kids really was big enough to not really need me here all the time any longer.. I found that getting a job when you have no real work history for the past 20 years is tough to do unless you work a factory job with mandatory over time which is almost always 7 day 365.. I didn't want to not see my family ever.. I looked harder into selling my work.. at my age.. going back into the car repair career with all the changes to paints etc.. I didn't keep up with my certifications etc.. so getting a job in that field would be about impossible to do.. not to mention hard on my old body after not working at it regularly for 20 years, LOL

 

Do you still have the etsy store? How do I find your stuff? 

Sounds a bit like how I started. I inherited my grandfathers Harbor freight scroll saw about 3 years ago. It sat unused all of 3 years I had it, no telling how long it sat unused when he had it. Decided last month on a whim (boredom) that I’d get it down from the shed loft and see what I can do with it. Went to Google something like “what can i do with a scroll saw”. The rest blossomed from there! 

[kmmcrafts]

1 hour ago, Toothpick said:

Do you still have the etsy store? How do I find your stuff? 

Sounds a bit like how I started. I inherited my grandfathers Harbor freight scroll saw about 3 years ago. It sat unused all of 3 years I had it, no telling how long it sat unused when he had it. Decided last month on a whim (boredom) that I’d get it down from the shed loft and see what I can do with it. Went to Google something like “what can i do with a scroll saw”. The rest blossomed from there! 

https://www.etsy.com/shop/kevskrafts

https://www.kevskrafts.com/

https://www.amazon.com/handmade/KevsKrafts?ref=hnd_dp_smp_img_c

 

[JTTHECLOCKMAN]

Well my story started over 35 years ago. I always loved hand made items and loved going to craft shows and see how creative people were and the different things people made. I always loved woodworking and picked it up basically from my Dad even though he did not do it full time. I always loved working with my hands and could not sit behind a desk all day. I started my woodworking hobby and decided to try to get into a few shows. So I started applying to some local shows and at that time there were waiting lists and the show circuit was just starting to become popular. I got into a couple large shows and things went well right from the start. I started getting larger spaces because my line kept expanding. Going into the 90's was king. I did some work in a mall one day and ran into a store owner who was opening a craft consignment store. I talked to him and next thing I know I wound up selling in 6 stores in 3 major malls plus doing crafts shows. At that time I was doing 6 shows. Plus working construction as my normal job. Have to say the money was great and I went from hobby to business. It got hectic especially Christmas time and trying to keep stores stocked. My items were not small ornaments or desk clocks just. I was making shelves mirrors, magazine racks, lamps, and much much more. Plus taking orders at the stores surely kept me busy. About 6 years into it the shop owner sold the business and the new owners did not follow same protocol and things went down hill fast with breakage and stolen items that I finally pulled out of all stores. I continued doing shows but they became slower and slower because the internet became big as well as Walmart and China made items. Plus more people were doing their own things now. So I dwindled my shows down to 2 to 3 shows a year which I currently still do. 

My point is I still am able to make enough to keep the now once again a hobby /business  aspect of it to keep me busy because I retired now and need something to keep out of trouble. I am not in it for the money any more. I am in it to have some fun and challenge myself with new projects every day. I got bored of cutting the same things over and over and one reason I have close to 800 different items I have made or still make. Doing shows is just a way to stay in touch with people and bounce ideas off them. I make a few $$ to help pay for supplys. 

I will say this if you decide to take your hobby up a couple notches do it slowly and do not put eggs all in one basket. Selling at shows is different than selling on line. Neither is that easy because of different circumstances and you learn that right away. Keep good records because you WILL have to start collecting taxes and pay Uncle Sam. But have an accountant walk you through all the legal stuff because I found here that some people have different views of what can be done and what can not. Each state is different as well as each county. 

You can try some small church shows to just get the feet wet and will not be bothered with tax things if you do not do alot of blabbing. Having stock is a good idea but you will find in a hurry you have no clue what the public likes or will buy. Do not over build items. They have a tendency to sit around a long time. Ask anyone here. Things change from show to show and year to year. If you start doing shows you develop a following and word of mouth is a good advertiser. Do the very best work you can from start to finish. Present pieces well and become a salesperson. You will start to learn how to charge for your work and what methods to use to calculate and after awhile you throw all those numbers out and you just know by instinct of following trends. To start check out different web sites and different selling platforms such as Etsy, Ebaly and Now Amazon. Good luck to you and Happy Scrolling. 

Edited December 24, 2018 by JTTHECLOCKMAN

[Toothpick]

9 hours ago, kmmcrafts said:

https://www.etsy.com/shop/kevskrafts

https://www.kevskrafts.com/

https://www.amazon.com/handmade/KevsKrafts?ref=hnd_dp_smp_img_c

 

Perfect. Thanks!

[trailfndr]

I started selling after my 5th Intarsia, when I showed a photo of my work to  a friend and he asked me to make one for him.  I have since sold 90% of what I make, and do one show a year.  I plan to keep to this pace until I retire in a few years.  I may do more after that.

[Toothpick]

Intarsia.....wow. I’d love to try my hand at that one day. 

[barb.j.enders]

I have sold some pieces to friends who have seen pictures.  Did one "show" last year at an assisted living place. Mostly the residents presenting stuff.  I emailed the contact person this year and never heard back.  Didn't follow up as life got in the way.  I think, for now, I will try to do a couple of church sales, mostly to get the family and friends off my back to go into shows.  I am not interested in taking any orders as I am a slow cutter/finisher and don't like having that pressure.  Might change in a couple of years when I retire!!

 

[Bpardue]

Starting selling about 4 years ago. Mainly to support my intarsia habit. I do a couple of shows a year, one in May and the other in October and I do 5 or 6 custom pieces for clients a year. Through selling I have been able to redesign my shop and upgrade a lot of my tools including the Hawk I bought just over a year ago. Nice thing about selling my intarsia I don’t have to dip into the household funds. 

Brian

[WayneMahler]

For me it was when I made table center pieces for a Valentines Day Luncheon at our church. I had done some other pieces for the to raffle off or use as gifts. Our Pastor told my wife I needed to stop giving it away and get it out in the world. That was 6 years ago, since then it has become a full time job that I truly enjoy . The book work is another story. To this day I still keep things in perspective and enjoy learning new things . It does take a major amount of time between cutting, finishing and doing shows and fairs. Would I say is  it worth it. For me and my wife yes. But definitely not for all . You truly have to be 120% committed . Or maybe that was just committed, I forgot the Dr said  

[MTCowpoke22]

When I got to college, the lack of funds made buying Christmas gifts difficult. So I put my money towards a 16' Delta SS200 and started making gifts. I had been introduced to scrolling and figured it was a good way to make cheap (to me) gifts. After I started into more complex cuttings, but quickly realized there were only so many I'd want to keep and so much room in my house to display them. I took a few to town and got one of the bars to hang them on the wall. Nothing ever came of that. I did get a few people who wanted other things cut and I put a few things out on Facebook. Fast forward a few years, my wife finally put her foot down and told me my hobby had to at least cover it's own costs. She was tired of me buying tools and wood with our personal account. I was gifted a hand-me-down lathe with my combined scrolling and turned items, I started doing a few local craftshows. She also got me set up with an Esty shop. By far, I've had the most luck and sales doing the craftshows. Around here, most of them are tons of vendors (Scentsy, etc.) so handmade goods tend to sell well. Etsy hasn't really panned out. I've sold two items, to the same person. But then I really haven't put the time into it that is needed, like Kevin does. Also, with moving this past summer, everything went into storage and I've just gotten started again. We'll see if I can get enough stuff put together for the craft circuit this year or not.

I would say, as far as pricing, I do not sell simply to cover my costs. Yes, I do need to break even, but the goal is make a little money so I can upgrade tools and purchase lumber as I need to. Also, I don't feel that I should short change my time just to make a sale. My time is valuable and as long as I'm producing quality pieces I should be getting paid accordingly for them.

[edward]

Once I retired That's when I started selling, couldn't do it before because I always worked weekends.  edward

[bcdennis]

About 11 years ago my kids volunteered me to help them with a project for their church youth group.  They took some of the woodwork I had done to church and got orders for them.  Of course all the money went to their group but it made me think that people would actually by my stuff.  I started doing all the Holiday Crafts Fairs (from Nov - Dec) and have done pretty well.  Not sure I make any money but it is kind of like a Christmas Savings Plan.  I spend money on my materials throughout the year but get it all back and then some at Christmas.  I fill special orders and Custom orders when they come up but the Crafts Fairs are my biggest sellers. 

[teachnlearn]

Our family went to some craft fairs and town crafts and walked about. One vendor took a small flatbed trailer, don't know 4x8 5x10 and built display counters covered by flip open display boxes that drop below the first counter. Did this completely around the trailer. Created a fold out tent from the center. The products where put in compartment dividers and each had a door, glass, plexiglass for view. He pulled up, unhitched the trailer, opened the boxes, setup the tent and a folding chair. Took less then 2 minutes setup and break down. He sold nick-nacks, coins, old tools, what not. Only one I have seen over the years and kept it in mind. Have see folks take hours carting and setting up to reverse the whole thing in the rain. Thought it was a novel idea to the hassle of the setup and break down of craft fairs. Wondered if he pushed the trailer into indoor mall fairs. RJF

[kmmcrafts]

15 hours ago, teachnlearn said:

Our family went to some craft fairs and town crafts and walked about. One vendor took a small flatbed trailer, don't know 4x8 5x10 and built display counters covered by flip open display boxes that drop below the first counter. Did this completely around the trailer. Created a fold out tent from the center. The products where put in compartment dividers and each had a door, glass, plexiglass for view. He pulled up, unhitched the trailer, opened the boxes, setup the tent and a folding chair. Took less then 2 minutes setup and break down. He sold nick-nacks, coins, old tools, what not. Only one I have seen over the years and kept it in mind. Have see folks take hours carting and setting up to reverse the whole thing in the rain. Thought it was a novel idea to the hassle of the setup and break down of craft fairs. Wondered if he pushed the trailer into indoor mall fairs. RJF

Was at a show last year that a person had a set up very much like you describe... He had laser cutters set up in the trailer and made custom stuff right there for customers.. quite a neat display of products.. Probably the smartest set up ever for one that only does the show seen on a big time type scale.. I pretty much only sell online.. to avoid having to commit to a certain time and day to do shows.. and to avoid this set-up take down over and over again.. BUT... packaging stuff to send out in the mail is probably more of a pain in the rear than set up and take down... especially at Christmas time when I might be sending 200-300 packages a week, LOL

[JTTHECLOCKMAN]

Doing this for over 35 years I think I have seen every possible way to cart show items, set up items for shows both indoor and outdoor.  I have seen trailer set ups like that. One in particular that a guy use to make lamps. His thing was he would make theme lamps and buy all sorts of sports things and other theme things and attach to a base and make a lamp out of it. His trailer was set up with compartments and were basically theme oriented such as baseball, one compartment football another and so on. Pretty cool and he did a great business.

How you handle that show scene depends alot on how many you d and what type, indoor or outdoor. Takes different set-ups. Also how much help you can have will help. Also alot depends on the projects you sell and the size. Customers need to realize this part of the vendors endeavors when they are shopping. All this goes into pricing as well. Just as is shipping when doing web work. Anyway you sell it is a labor of love and yes it all comes with work that is unseen.  

[Wichman]

On 3/16/2019 at 3:23 PM, teachnlearn said:

Our family went to some craft fairs and town crafts and walked about. One vendor took a small flatbed trailer, don't know 4x8 5x10 and built display counters covered by flip open display boxes that drop below the first counter. Did this completely around the trailer. Created a fold out tent from the center. The products where put in compartment dividers and each had a door, glass, plexiglass for view. He pulled up, unhitched the trailer, opened the boxes, setup the tent and a folding chair. Took less then 2 minutes setup and break down. He sold nick-nacks, coins, old tools, what not. Only one I have seen over the years and kept it in mind. Have see folks take hours carting and setting up to reverse the whole thing in the rain. Thought it was a novel idea to the hassle of the setup and break down of craft fairs. Wondered if he pushed the trailer into indoor mall fairs. RJF

https://www.harborfreight.com/600-lbs-heavy-duty-trailer-dolly-60533.html

I've used one of these to maneuver a pickup bed trailer with a cabover camper and 1000 + lbs of pumpkins in the camper and pull it uphill to boot (very slight grade, still ).

I've wanted to do this for years, glad to hear I'm not the only one with the idea. After watching my stepdad take 2-3 hrs setting up and the same to take down at the craft fairs we went to, I knew there had to be a better way.

Edited March 18, 2019 by Wichman
clarity