Pricing Bowls and Things

[W.Y.]

Sat at the kitchen table for a while this afternoon making price labels to stick to the bottom of my most recent bowls and other things that were all cut out on the Ringmaster. They range anywhere from $15.00 to $49.00 .

I also have a large plastic tote box with approximately 30 bowls left in it from the well over 100 bowls I sold at last years pre-Christmas craft sales.
Have three consecutive Saturday craft sales to go to with the first one this coming Saturday.

Now I better get busy and make a bunch more business cards that read "Bowl From A Board Guy" Nice to have a product where there is no competition .

 

[walshjp17]

Wow. Hope you do well. At those prices, I could almost afford a plane ticket to Vancouver just to buy some of them :wink::wink:

 

[Falcon1220]

Love those. Your prices seem very reasonable

Wow. Hope you do well. At those prices, I could almost afford a plane ticket to Vancouver just to buy some of them :wink::wink:

You will be better off flying to Spokane, WA, (150 miles) and driving than from Vancouver where you will have a long drive (740km) :befuddled:

 

[flyitfast]

I sure hope you have the $15 ones put away somewhere because I sure don't see them on that table. I would be a lot prouder of that great work you do than what your prices reflect!!
gordon

 

[Dan Masshardt]

Maybe we could buy them to resell at a nice profit. Do you ship?

Seriously, nice collection.

 

[W.Y.]

Maybe we could buy them to resell at a nice profit. Do you ship?

Seriously, nice collection.

I do ship . Sent three to one person in southern USA just last week and the were for re-sale . But I only ship from Canada even though I live only six miles from the USA border. If I ship from USA they want to charge me ridiculous "business" rate at US customs every time and won't listen to the fact it is just a "hobby" .
Shipping from Canada can also get a little costly . It was around $18.00 for three medium bowls inside each other in one box.

It is a very depressed area where I live and it is a simple case of selling at a price the traffic will bear or keep wasting time showing at higher prices and keep bringing it back home. It is always better to make a little bit of something rather than a whole lot of nothing .
I make a hell of a lot more selling these items than I did with three hundred plus pens that I don't make anymore . I was lucky to get the price of the kits from those and with these bowls and boxes and hollow forms etc. there is no hardware kits to buy and most of my wood is free .

 

[Dan Masshardt]

It is a different game working with free materials than $15 kits!

Markets can vary widely of course. Some people get money for a pen that seems unfathomable to me getting from somebody.

 

[W.Y.]

It is a different game working with free materials than $15 kits!

Markets can vary widely of course. Some people get money for a pen that seems unfathomable to me getting from somebody.

You are not alone . Some quotes are totally unfathomable for most people .
We sometimes see quotes of what some have supposedly got for a pen (or anything else) that is so highly exaggerated that it is laughable and that is what has made so many people buy mini lathes and a bunch of tools to get on the pen making bandwagon thinking it is going to be a second income when all it turns out to be is an enjoyable hobby that does exceptionally well if sales cover all tools , accessories , kits , shipping expenses , supplies and shop overhead and sometimes a few bucks of mad money on the side.

I never say I get a price for anything I make that is not true . Never have and never will but for some , such grossly exaggerated and unrealistic figures roll out of them with ease. Not only are they kidding themselves but they are doing an injustice to others that think they would be able to do the same thing .
Don't take me wrong . I am not pinpointing this site at all . It happens on any and all of the woodworking sites on the internet including my own . I read last week where one guy gets $2000.00 (that's two thousand . . not a typo) for a single Ringmaster bowl that is not as nice as some of my $49.00 ones . BS is cheap and cash in the hand is real .

 

[Ed McDonnell]

$2,000 for a ringmaster bowl seems a little difficult for me to believe, unless it had embedded gold or diamonds in it. That said, really good turners who catch the attention of collectors can get thousands for their turnings. But those are relatively rare situations, and the work is generally spectacular (and easily seen as such).

New turners may not fully appreciate what makes a turned item worth a lot and why one turner can easily get $500 for a "simple" bowl while someone else couldn't sell theirs for $50. That's one of the benefits of belonging to a turning club and participating in the instant galleries at each meeting. Seeing your work next to the best can be very illuminating.

Ed

 

[SDB777]

I believe internet prices are generally exaggerated....unless I happen to actually know the individual.

William, your pricing seems reasonable....if the timber was a 'deal'. Seems the pricing would be about the same here(Arkansas ranks 13th in highest taxes, but only 48th in average income, that is a pretty big difference for people looking for disposable income{stats were from the last time I looked the info up...it could be even worse now})!


I just hope you have a really good few weeks doing your shows! That way you can make some more bowls to show off to us!!!




Scott (strike it rich for all of us) B

 

[W.Y.]

I believe internet prices are generally exaggerated....unless I happen to actually know the individual.

William, your pricing seems reasonable....if the timber was a 'deal'. Seems the pricing would be about the same here(Arkansas ranks 13th in highest taxes, but only 48th in average income, that is a pretty big difference for people looking for disposable income{stats were from the last time I looked the info up...it could be even worse now})!


I just hope you have a really good few weeks doing your shows! That way you can make some more bowls to show off to us!!!




Scott (strike it rich for all of us) B

Right on.
Disposable income is the name of the game for any particular area . Where I live in the Rocky mountains looking over a beautiful valley in a more moderate climate than in other parts of BC there is a large percentage of retired seniors . Some are poor like me and others are rich but are so tight they squeak so we have to price according to the area.
Just like a $2000.00 price that is posted for a RM bowl that nobody in their right mind would ever believe , the same thing applies to all other forms of woodworking . Of course there are areas where an occasional bowl like mine could be sold for upwards to double what I get , in a city setting where there are high wage earners but there is a limit to what most will spend on everyday items like bowls and pens and everything else we make in our workshops . Hand crafted pens do better than a store bought pen because they are unique and hand crafted . Same with my RM bowls . They are unique in the fact they are laminated or segmented just like some pens are and cannot be found elsewhere .
My little pet peeve sometimes is when I see ridiculous high prices that some claim to get which are so unbelievable that it becomes a form of entertainment and a person's chuckle for the day when reading them . They say that laughter is like good medicine for a person so I just have a good laugh and move on when I see postings like that . :biggrin: :laugh: