Shopsmith Forums

wa2crk wrote:Dusty
He would be better off putting an ISIS flag on it. After all it was good enough for Wall Mart so why not him ?
Bill

I'm sorry I started this. Expect no further comment from me. My point, BTW, was to evaluate the market.

No further comment from this woman. She is a "fart in the wind"

That is fine, but now I know about the idea of maybe building civil war knock-offs!

For a flag, I would select a POW-MIA flag.


"yielding"????? Table?? Flag???

dusty wrote:How much will your end table cost to manufacture with a rendering of the "confederate flag" built into it? Will there be a "real calling" when you declare a profit making price tag to that table?

You might be better off doing a rendering of the "Rainbow Flag".

LMAO

I was somewhat curious as to how many here actually did marketing of their goodies.

As for comparing to mass produced asian "stuff", while the comparison has merit, I think some are willing to purchase or want different and unique items. If that were not the case there wouldn't be all the unique stores in the US. What percentage are "some" is the large question.

I do have a website and also market on ebay. But they are not "crafty" type of products. Some product the shopsmith helps to produce, some the shopsmith helps to produce patterns and mold boxes used to produce the item. Nothing really crafty though. No one accuses me of being cheap.... But I look at my cost and the time to produce and make a price that I am comfortable with. The potential buyer can decide if it is for them or not. I also have a full time job so this doesn't pay the bills but it does keep me pretty busy after hours.

I do have a couple of "crafty" items in the works though. One is the LED light that I posted here. Price is going to be higher than what some will pay, but they are not cheap to produce. There are some similar cheap plastic units out there, but I am hoping that the feel of real wood still means something to some people. If not, I will have produced some very cool presents and learned some new skills! Ya don't know if ya don't try!

If I did all crafty things, I would first do my own website. Then I would expand to etsy/pinterest and? Website would be first. It is always a good feeling to see a email telling me that I have more money!

Websites are cheap, but don't fall for the free ones that advertise someones else's product. Pay a bit and have it be yours. I think I pay about $50.00 a year for both the site and the domain name registration. If a website isn't worth that to you, then it isn't worth spending the time to produce. That is my take on it anyway.

Good luck

My opinion many craft people are over enamored with their products. Many are great ideas but IMHO overpriced, poorly finished, roughly done, done out of common wood or nonsense.

If it is something useful it can be done out of oak or pine but if it is a novelty it should be out of exotic wood. If it is going to be seen by others it must be carefully finished and precisely done.

If the product is duplicate of a mass produced product then it can't cost more than the mass produced product. If it is high dollar item don't even try to sell it at a craft type show. Look for an art show and try to get it exhibited there.

If it is a good idea every body and his brother will have the same thing at the next craft show. So if you have something unique make a ton, price them to sell quick and don't expect to have the corner on the market long.

I would think the same thing would go with a website. Your not going to find many customers looking on craft site that contains clothespin note holders and quickly finished walnut pens looking for a $300 cherry baby cradle or an ebony with 20 coats of lacquer table.

Ed, you have some good points.

I will say though that a website can be marketed in many ways and have a wide content,(look at mcmastercarr.com) but might be easier to market to a more direct customer?

I wonder how a antique mall with high traffic rates would do? Have a few upscale things to draw the customer in, and then some smaller widgets that hopefully customers that want a smaller item can purchase?

ddub wrote:Ed, you have some good points.

I will say though that a website can be marketed in many ways and have a wide content,(look at mcmastercarr.com) but might be easier to market to a more direct customer?

I wonder how a antique mall with high traffic rates would do? Have a few upscale things to draw the customer in, and then some smaller widgets that hopefully customers that want a smaller item can purchase?

Somehow, I "just" revisited this thread. Maybe it was all of the negativity or maybe it was me "being a busy bee" trying to make a name for myself.

"Failure, is not an option"

Anyways ddub, can you point me in the right direction as to which website providers, I could use for my very own paid site?

EM,
I have 4 sites on https://www.101sitehosting.com/. Not saying it's the best deal today, but they are pretty good. No banner ads on my sites, very little down time and when there has been a issue or question they have been good about helping.

Here is a review of sorts.

http://www.top10bestwebsitehosting.com/ ... oCpvTw_wcB

I use my own software, but if you don't have that, make sure you get a package with software included to create the website. Probably would be best if you have no previous experience. Websites can be somewhat frustrating when things don't go well...... LOL

I have been researching going into a antique/craft mall also. We will see. That would be the "better halves" responsibility but I would probably assist with some of her creations and provide some smalls for it.

I guess if you have some more in depth questions, pm me your email and we can communicate that way. No since boring these guys!

I am now in contact with a web designer and also he is a professional logo designer. This will happen!