blanks for women

[SCR0LL3R]

Tonight I found myself having trouble picking blanks for Ti Gold Sedonas.

Part of my trouble is because I have a lot of blanks that I like, but I don't know if they belong on a Sedona or if many women would go for them. The blanks that I feel could appeal to any gender tend to be colors that I would put on a streamline or a sierra but seem like they would be tacky on a higher priced pen.

I have made some simple blue pearl or red pearl acrylic Sedona's as well as some "burl and swirls" which have attracted some attention but I am wondering what else I can offer. Do I make an amboyna burl or a maple burl one?... Is that likely to interest a lady?

I know it's hard to predict since tastes vary so much but if anybody has any advice I'd like to hear it.

 

[Displaced Canadian]

Let me get this straight. You are asking if any of us knows what and how women think?
There are a lot of opinions on the subject. Some say that women like thin, light ,acrylic pens but my wife who has small hands likes fat, heavy, wood pens. I think the Sedona is a nice kit, my wife hates it. The whole what kit goes with what blank thing a big part of the design thing. I think nice wood blanks would go well with a TI gold Sedona.

 

[StephenM]

My wife says that the lighter colors appeal to females. She and several of the women she works with particularly like the light figured maple - crotches (go figure) then birdseye. The more "movement" the better.

She has a pen that she says is the perfect size and weight. One of her vendors took a very high end pen, reverse engineered it (size, weight, diameters, etc.) and had it mass produced with cheaper materials to put in his product line. She got one as a sample and loves it. If it's here, I'll weigh it on the gram scale and get back to you. If not, I'll have her bring it home from work on Monday.

 

[KnB Polymers]

My opinion as a female ... I would take wood over PR any day. My two faves are Honduran Rosewood Burl and Buckeye Burl. I hate the fatter pens, the slimmer the better. For high end, my fave is the novre scepter (sp). For lower, I actually love the slim line.
In our shows, women buy woods over pr.

 

[SDB777]

I let the wife pick out the blanks.....turn, finish, assemble and then never see them again.






Scott (she picks something different everytime) B

 

[JimB]

I think the minute you try to figure out what any particular customer or group will like you are making a big mistake. The trick is to have a variety and let the customer choose. Big companies spend millions of dollars trying to figure this out and most of the time they don't do a very good job.

 

[bitshird]

I Thought I would stock 7 or 8 pens in a couple of styles done in Pink, 2 out of the batch sold at the show, one on a Creekline from Smitty and one click Sierra ,then yesterday a fellow that had seen them at our last show bought one for his wife, so 3 out of 7 wasn't too bad, the ones that sold the best were the Uni Pink from Exotics.

 

[Chasper]

You have to know your own market. I make primarily resin pens and sell primarily to women, most of my shows are in major cities from the mid-west to east coast. Purple, pink, blue, red, green and combinations of all of them are my top sellers. However, there are a few shows, mostly in less metropolitian areas, where I put out a good selection of wood pens.

I sell a fair number of fat cigar pens in pink, yellow, purple and other bright colors, usually they go to professional women in cities. My experience is that in the shows that I attend there are a handful of femail fountain pen users and they want color and bling. Other than these rabid fountain pen heads, there are very few women in my markets who are interested in capped pens.

The question you are asking is tough for anyone who isn't selling into your market to answer is a manner that will be helpful to you.

 

[76winger]

In my relatively short experience selling pens, most ladies are drawn to the brigher colors i.e. the bright pinks, light greens, blues and reds in the acrylic lines. Once in a while they'll key in on wood ones and like mentioned above it's usually lighter woods and/or with lots of activity in the grain.

But since there's no definite pattern, the best we can do is to have a variety of materials and colors available for each model of pen we make, always keeping some that appear to sell well in the mix, and then let the customer decide which they like the best. If you don't have a lot of inventory, then to provide examples it might work out best to have one range of materials/colors for one pen model, then a different range of materials/colors for another line, then you discuss the possibilities of making a custom pen for someone who likes material "X" while preferring pen "B".

 

[SCR0LL3R]

I appreciate all the feedback from you guys in answering a difficult question and that you for sharing your experience.

Chasper, I really thought that the cigars would only ever be looked at by men but I see your experience has shown otherwise. Something for me to keep in mind.

I haven't sold a lot of anything yet but so far there has been much more interest in the fountain pens than I had originally thought I would get. I think the price point of the mid to high end rollerballs and fountain pens tends to scare away the people that aren't interested in a good fountain. I am certainly cutting back on rollerballs in the future.

 

[thewishman]

What kind of blanks appeal to women? Well, what kind of blanks appeal to men? It is kind of a too-big question.

My experience: BOW; circuit boards; turquoise; custom acrylics; buckeye burl; curly poplar; bowling ball chuncks in resin; money - shredded and Benjamin blanks; acrylics in orange, purple, green, yellow, red, gray, blue, pink, white, black, metallic, jewel tones, mixes of multiple colors; leopard jasper; segmented woods; polymer clay; steampunk; box elder burl...

 

[Bree]

My sorority sisters overwhelmingly want purple and pink but not together. Blue and green is also popular but purple and pink were the most asked for when I made pens for all of them and asked them what colors they wanted.

If I had to choose between them I would pick purple. I am talking more like lavender than deep purple. You will seldom go wrong with a pastel purple or pink.

 

[Toni]

Cant go wrong with Pink or Purple as my daughter is telling me !