craft show items

I'd say the best thing would be to try a few of each and see if they move..

I do both, and for me they DON'T sell.. Should depend on market and area, but you never know, some folks do very well with both..

I'm living in the land of tequila and every home here has multiple ceiling fans, so it seemed like a no-brainer to sell those items.. NOPE..

For some reason, folks here seem to like the plastic POS pulls that come with the fans..

Another piece of bad marketing research on my part: Being mostly a beer & wine drinker, I didn't know that tequila bottles have plastic inserts in the neck to aid pouring..DUH..

mac

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My experience is the same as Mac's.

EVERY house here has at least one ceiling fan, many have one in every room. Most builders include 2 - 3 in every home they build now. Throw in a nice patio fan, and it isn't unusual to have 4 - 5 fans in a house.

At FIVE freakin' dollars each, I couldn't give away fan pulls. I had nifty little odds and ends of burls, curly wood, off cuts of laminations and all other kinds of cool little bits to make nice pulls from. I made about 40 to test out, sold about 5 in six months.

A mixed bag with the stoppers. I liked making them, but they didn't sell consistently. Priced from $10 - $20, I thought they would be great sellers, but not so. When I finished up my last group of parts to make them, I didn't buy anymore.

As always, YMMV.

Robert

Hello Ted,

I haven't done craft fairs since 1996, but I doubt that the customer interest has changed much. Bottle Stoppers were my best sellers, if the wood was dark. Light colored woods wouldn't sell at all. Cocobolo, redheart, and other dark exotic woods sold well, but not for $10.00 to $20.00. I sold a few at $12.00 each, more at $10.00 each, and lots at $8.00 each. I've only turned light pulls for personal use; however, in England with all lights in the bathrooms having pulls, light pulls sell quite well. If I remember right, Martin Pidgeon said that he had sold thousands of them and was a major supplier in England. I haven't seen Martin in a few years, so don't know if he is still selling light pulls.

Fred Holder

Just got back from one of the top ten craft show in the eastern US. At this show the turners were not selling much at all, I sold one bowl (had 3 in my stock box by accident and put them out to help fill a shelf, priced them high), The bottle stoppers and light pulls of wood were not selling the ones made of glass were selling but not well. Metal items were selling well, very well, Furniture was selling well, clothing was iffy and food was gangbusters. Gimmick items were a nogo. My results was typical for the majority. wholesale down by 70% and retail down by about 50%. Several people went to the Philly show and reported pertty much the same sort of action. All of the above information obtained from the gang hanging around the smoking area. Crowds at the show were down by 60% or so but the ones there were buying high end items not low end items. For me $45 is the high end and I sold out of everything $30 and up, still have pllenty of the cheaper items.The booth next to me sold out of $700 and up items and still had plenty of stock in the $300 and down range.

I don't know how much a turner can expect to sell at a craft show anymore. The market is pretty damn saturated with pens, mirrors, magnifying glasses, candlesticks, lamp pulls, weed pots, etc. Those are for the most part considered beginning projects, and they are out there by the millions.

One of our local high schools has even sold pens and pen desk sets they make in shop class as fund raisers. $15 for a slimline pen.

They were selling the old "Classic" or Parker style pens for $35 if the barrels were made from lucite matching the school colors. The word spread quickly here. The Cub Scouts got into the act as well. We have total market saturation.

Poor work has shown up at every church craft show, raffle, and fund raiser I can think of. Since most folks can't tell the difference between a machine made bowl from Walmart and a nice salad bowl from a good turner, they don't get much for their efforts.

I think at this time you might have to find a way to elevate yourself to "artist" status to make a go of any kind with turned objects. The simple little fun projects just don't bring enough money in to make it a worthwhile monetary effort anymore. The stuff I make now, I almost always give away. I still sell my oil lamps, but that is a tough market as well.

I figure if I am not going to make a but a pittance for something, I might as well not put myself in a position to get pissed off about it. My monetary goal was met with turning when I sold enough to pay off all my equipment. Besides, if it makes someone happy to give them a little Christmas ornament or something along those lines, mission accomplished.

Robert

I think one key here might be "Craft Shows".. I quit doing them about 3 years ago and started doing "Art Shows".. The difference? I sell a few less things but since they're "art", they sell for roughly twice as much as the "crafts" did.. Talk about marketing.. lol

When a pen is a "one-of-a-kind" "work of art" is sells for at least $50..

Forget to hollow out that bowl or form? It's art now and someone will probably buy it for at least $50.... Hollow out that bowl and someone will give you $10 for it because it's a bowl and bowls are to eat out of.. Go figure..

mac

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I agree and found that this to be true, also. Last year I stopped doing any show that has the word "craft" attached and profits went up. In fact the closer you can get to "fine art" the better.

Ted J.

For sure... I'm a "juried member" of the San Felipe Fine Arts Association.. Out of 12 or 15 members, I think that 9 are juried, but it sounds impressive to some folks..

mac

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. If I remember right, Martin Pidgeon said that he had

Fred:

Martin still does his Acorn pulls AND wedge door stops. He's quite a character.

Thanks for the upgrade. I always enjoyed Martin and glad he is still doing his Acorn Pulls and wedge door stops.

Fred Holder