just staring out.....Pens how much do they sell for???

I don't think I'm typical, but I sell quite a few pens at what to me are absurdly high prices.. My pens range from $20 to $80... These are not "high end" kits... Mostly 10k gold stuff and bought in volume, so my average kit price is about $3... Add a buck for wood, and the rest is profit..

A lot of that is marketing... If I wanted to, I could sell a "classic" or "cigar" pen for as little as $12 - $15 and make a profit, but it seems like if I price them at $50 and $65, then there is an "implied" value and they sell well.. Might also be the "art" aspect.. Must be art if it's 50 times more expensive than a Bic.. lol

I'm also in a very unique market... I'm in Mexico and am the only turner in my area... Also factor in that for full-time folks down here, they buy gifts to send to people in the States, and after the first year, all their friends have all the stuff that you buy in town with "San Felipe" written all over it.. Pens, especially in gift cases, are easy to mail to the States and pretty easy to market here as "something that nobody else will send your friends"...

Hope some of that ramble helps..

mac

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Many years ( 9-10?)ago there was a good market for good pens. I made some slimlines, but really liked to make the classic, heavy "American" or whatever they are calling it now.

I put them in a pen box, and for an extra $15 I would have them laser engraved. I sold the slimlines for $35 and the Americans for $65 plus engraving.

I fit the wood to the individual metal pieces that came with the kits using a graded calipers, and only used bushings as a general guide. I sold a bunch, enough to pay for another a second mini lathe, scroll chuck, more tools, etc., and have a little left.

I enjoyed my unique position as a custom pen maker and actually had orders for pens.

But then the Boy Scouts moved in the business as a fund raising project. Then the high schools took it up as a one day project for their shop classes. I was no competition for someone that wanted a handmade pen from their grandkid, or someone that was supporting the Boy Scouts.

A real kick in the ass was when the guys working at Woodcraft bought bulk orders of pen parts and made pens, and were allowed to sell them out of the store! Since it was no more than a lark for them, they sold their slimlines for as little as $12.

Worse... as a business guy, I get crap in the mail all the time for promotional items. Being in construction, I got a mailer one day announcing, you got it, wood pens. Some kind of light colored wood (the enclosed sample was pure crap) with my company name stenciled on it.

If I bought in increments of 250, they were $1.75 each.

I had a blast making pens. It was a lot of fun, and I still make one every once in a while. Just not for money.

Robert

I sell slimline pens for 20-25 dollars. The cigar pens go for 30 dollars....

I do several other upper line pens each sell for 60 to 100 each.

I use a good quality kit and make sure every fits good and works properly before selling.

I give a velet pen bag with each one, If they want a box, I buy those and mark up 25%

Profit depends on how you want to figure your profit. I have section in my web site about profit.

Randy

Glad that you brought that up, Randy... I do a couple of things that might bring repeat sales for folks getting into pens..

I order "Parker type" and "Cross type" gel refills in bulk for less than $1 each and replace the kit refill with one..

I have 2 or 3 types of hard plastic boxes that I get for a buck or two, and offer them and an extra refill as a $5 option.. Since a cold beer is about $2 here, that's a nice profit..lol

mac

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. Wood Pens are a specialty item, not everyone wants one. Some people are only interested in the one's sold in the dollar store. I make hand crafted wood pens, often made to custom order requests. I sell my pens from $20 and up. I just sold one for $145 and the guy was over joyed at the pen he bought. I have sold a few pens in this price range. I don't make any money, that pen took $40 in materials and 8 hours to make. After 4 years, I almost break even by the end of the year, but it is a good tax write-off. I sell my pens by word of mouth and thru my web site. Brad