Do you keep track???

[jttheclockman]

Do you pen turners that sell your pens keep records of what sells the best for you?? Do you pay attention to the type of blanks that sell most such as colors, wood vs acrylics, twist--- capped -----click, fountain ---rollerball----ballpoint, color inks (black vs blue), Dark woods vs light woods??? Do you keep records of the type kits that sell most??? How about cast blanks???

Do you find certain woods or certain acrylics look best on certain kits and does this influence your choice of product made???

And if you do keep track of all these things how do you use this information???

If you answer here give us a little insight to your selling thoughts. Thanks.

 

[SerenityWoodWorks]

I keep track (photo and numbering) each and every pen I make. Every pen that is sold/given/used personally is kept in an excel spreadsheet data base. If someone comes to me at a show and says I bought a pen last year at a show and I lost it I can look it up and reproduce it if needed. I also look back at the end of the year and see what all was sold, color/style/ect and at what kinda venue and decide on what to make more of, what to give away as Christmas gifts, what to never make again

 

[OOPS]

Many times I have come across an acrylic blank or a piece of wood that caught my eye. But then I often get stuck on a decision as to what type of pen to make, and what color hardware would look best. I have often found that seeking the advice of more experienced pen turners, such as those in our local club has been invaluable at making the best pen possible from the materials presented. There is an art to matching everything up. Some people have an eye for it, while others have to learn it through experience.

You will soon learn what sells in your area. If all the blues and purple pens go first, that's an indication. But really its in the variety of pens that you display that leads to more sales. A friend of mine who did shows had a bright orange pen that would never sell. While it never sold (it was not very pretty) it did catch the eye of people walking by. "OH, you have them in orange too?" Then the people would stop and a sales opportunity began. After awhile, it was worth more to them on the table than if it HAD sold.

So I can understand what you're talking about in your post..... honing in on the best sellers, the most popular colors, platings, etc. But in reality its more about having a wide variety of items so that no one can walk away saying, "There's nothing for me there."

 

[Ulises Victoria]

I just finished making a small program in Visual Fox Pro to track my purchases, inventory and sales. I will have all this info at my fingertips anytime. My only regret is that I did it after a year of making/selling my pens. An easier way to do this is on an Excel spreadsheet, which is a lot easier to use.

 

[fitzman163]

I take pictures and write down what type of pen, material, price, and buyer. What I find is my best sellers are the pens, or material I don't have. I always try to have a bunch on hand and all I hear is could I have this pen in that material. I do win sometimes and they like and buy what I have. Even a blind squirrel gets a nut once in a while.

 

[zig613]

I use MS Access and track all the pens, stoppers, razors that I have made since I started turning. I track material, plating, pen style, date made, date sold, buyer, finish type, and price. To date I have over 1,000 entries and can do searches on any of the data collected.

Wade

 

[dabbler]

I'm currently using an excel workbook with a number of worksheets representing different stages (sold, ordered, completed etc.). I try to record kit, blank, their respective sources, plating and any extras (case type, refills etc). I number my pen images uniquely and they have a reference in the excel file. It's not as unwieldy as it might sound because I don't sell at markets and I need to spend a few mins recording image info and uploading to various photstreams anyway. I've only been selling pens for a few months and want to convince myself I can control costs if I need to!

Thinking about shifting to a PHP/SQL solution though.

 

[Wright]

I use wood turners database v.2.0

 

[SoloWorx]

I photo each pen and send invoices through PayPal or if outside of PayPal I have manual invoices. It just helps me remember what to charge. I don't really track what sells because I mostly make to order and have a nicely stocked display box to highlight the lever of variation. I let customers choose from the box at price X or choose exactly what they want from the PSI catalog at material cost +10% + my fee to fabricate. Keeps my stock down and made to order.