Limiting What I Offer for Sale

[beck3906]

I just went through my inventory and pulled several items that showed something that just wasn't right.

Some had developed a wrinkle in the finish. By this, I mean that there was probably a segmented or laser item that had a part that was now proud of the surface and needed to be placed on the lathe and refinished. If you don't think small parts can expand, you better check some of your older laser or segmented pens.

Some showed signs of wear from hauling them to shows. I need to do better at doing something to sell them before they get too stale in my inventory.

I found a few gold titanium that showed signs of discoloration from time. I need to polish them more often to prevent this.

Some showed signs of being dropped that I had not seen before.

My thoughts went back to what I should be making.

I've tried many types of pen body materials...wood, acrylics, laser, painted, embedded objects, etc. I have several types of laser items that just aren't selling like I thought they would. Some of the store bought acrylics look bland compared to the custom pours many folks make. And wood. It better have really cool grain if you really hope to sell it.

Then I get to the component finishes.

I have many different finishes ranging from chrome, rhodium, and all types of gold mixes.

A recent thread suggested it was really hard to tell the difference between chrome and rhodium. Yes, I agree. Customers don't know the difference but question why the difference in cost when both appear to be the same. Also, gun metal looks like a good substitute for black titanium at a much more reasonable cost.

So why should I spend premium dollars on premium finishes? Many customers look for durability and chrome offers that. Also, chrome doesn't tarnish, looks good with most acrylics, and very cheap.

Gun metal is becoming more widely available in component finishes. Also, the antique brass and antique pewter look to be good for the market.

I am now wondering to what degree do I limit my inventory. Maybe to chrome and gun metal on mostly acrylics? Offer some of the upper end in gold titanium? Have a few gold Ti on some of the wood blanks just because folks look for that style?

Offer lasers but only with certain themes, such as the US flag?

I don't know the answers yet, but I'm thinking hard about how to maximize sales at the minimum inventory variety.

What are your thoughts?

 

[Smitty37]

Pretty muchj an individual decision based on the venue you sell in and your customers. Keep a good account of what sells.I've said right along that Chrome is about the same as Rhodium but the name does not have the pazazz.

 

[TonyL]

Pm Sent

 

[OKLAHOMAN]

While I agree that Chrome is durable and most cannot tell the difference, at the type of shows you want to do,do you think you have a good selling point when you tell the customer the finish is chrome vs Rhodium the brightest of the Platinum family and is a jewelry grade finish? With Rhodium you have a number of good talking points, with chrome your in competition with Staples, Office Depot and Wal Mart's $5 Paper Mate.
This is my opinion, others would disagree , but selling at the higher end venues that you want to sell at selling chrome, black chrome, and gun metal is not the way to go. Using words like titanium, platinum, and rhodium separate you from others and as to wood, in the years that I did shows I can count on my hands how many wood pens I sold.

 

[bjbear76]

Rick, I've been asking the same things this past year. I have pens in my inventory from maybe 3-4 years ago. Will they ever sell? Well maybe. Are they of the same quality that I'm making now? Nope. Unless I've recorded the finish in my inventory log, is it chrome or rhodium? I also have an entire box (roughly 50 pens) of just laser cut inlay pens of various designs. They get a lot of attention, but I'm lucky if I sell 2 a year. To me, it's not worth the time and $ for the return I'm getting.
The one thing that I'm wrestling with right now is the things that are selling, I "hate" turning. Basic slim line or slim line stylus pens move well. I make a decent margin on them, but I'm not enjoying it. I have some nice mid to upper range pens with fantastic looking blanks, but my market just doesn't support the prices.
Which leaves me scratching my head where to go from here. I see the demand changing from year to year: 3-4 years ago, I sold bottle stoppers like crazy, not the past couple of years. So now I have way too many stoppers in inventory. Same with wood pens versus acrylics. For a while, wood was the thing, then acrylic. Now it seems to be shifting back to wood. Keeping a variety can be an advantage; on the other hand, you can be caught with a huge inventory that may or may not move.
If only we could forecast what the next trend is going to be.

 

[Smitty37]

While I agree that Chrome is durable and most cannot tell the difference, at the type of shows you want to do,do you think you have a good selling point when you tell the customer the finish is chrome vs Rhodium the brightest of the Platinum family and is a jewelry grade finish? With Rhodium you have a number of good talking points, with chrome your in competition with Staples, Office Depot and Wal Mart's $5 Paper Mate.
This is my opinion, others would disagree , but selling at the higher end venues that you want to sell at selling chrome, black chrome, and gun metal is not the way to go. Using words like titanium, platinum, and rhodium separate you from others and as to wood, in the years that I did shows I can count on my hands how many wood pens I sold.

My personal take Roy is that you did not really want to sell wood pens. I say that because I often feel you could sell snow balls to Eskimos in the dead of Artic winter.
I also suspect that in your chosen venue there was a lot of nouveau wealthy, and the desire to appear 'modern' and show wealth, has a large influence on buying decisions.