Hi again,
I almost feel like I have to defend my choices of retail stores and I really dont think that I should have to do that as Gerry clearly seems to think that I should. My clientele includes all walks of people which means product placement in all different kinds of shops/boutiques. I do not think that I need to cater to the rich or to only place my pens in stores that are deemed somehow "proper". To be quite honest the shopkeeper of Unique Freaque is a transgendered individual who I found to be very energetic, open minded, and very outgoing especially where her customers are concerned. I went into each store that I chose to observe the "sales flow" on several occasions, spoke extensively with each shopkeeper, and did a lot of research on each location to be sure that it was a good area with a lot of exposure. I take placement of my pens seriously and understand that no two shops are alike, and as I want to reach a diverse group of people, I relish their differences. Wasnt really versed on the fact that I had to sell in a certain type of store to make money if the product is good. And I must add that without ever having walked into that particular store to walk around and explore I really dont see how you can judge it just from a few pictures on a website. Perhaps it would have been better to ask me for a formal list of the other 34 stores that I am in for surely you would have found a website to suit your taste?
Your profit $ was off a bit to the high side, or maybe that is accurate for the amount of profit that you make on your pen sales DCBLUESMAN, however my business philosophy has and will always be, making a beautifully crafted product/gift in several different styles that anyone can afford. I do not overinflate my prices where I do not have to do so. I have found my customer base and I know what my customers are purchasing. I do not have to invest in the higher end pens to make my profit. I am generating enough income from the sale of slimlines, euros, havana, sierra, atlas, and panache pens that I do not have to tie up my money in other pen kits. However if a customer wanted to custom order one I would gladly do that for them. Isnt one of the principals of being a successful business person knowing the needs/wants of your customer base?
Steve Roberts does fine work, and I will not comment further on him, however he deals with a different clientele, in a different region, and is finding great success with higher end pens. His net worth is his and his alone and I am sure that he is charging what he feels is appropriate for his parts/labor. I do not aspire to earn $150,000.00 or more a year as that is in excess of what I comfortably need to live, provide for my families future, and retire on. Never stated that I wanted to do that. However I do make enough to do all of that without working out of my home which allows me to be my own boss, set my own hours, spend precious family time with my daughters, and go to bed each and every night knowing that I worked hard and made an honest living doing it.
I have also spent the last 2 years working with my suppliers to get my costs down as low as I possibly can on my kits, blanks, tubes, etc. so that I could pass that savings down to my customers which is the right thing to do. I will not get my costs down only to jack up the prices and make a bigger profit that I truly dont deserve. For example, I buy 45 different colored dymondwood pen blanks for $.90 cents a piece from Hut Products, I purchase 170 different colors of acrylics from Woodcraft for $1.05 a piece, and I am buying $.75 a piece slimline pen kits in 8 different platings/colors and $1.25 a piece euro pen kits in 6 platings/colors directly from a trading company in China. Now that means that a slimline pen made out of dymondwood with a satin pearl slimline kit is costing me $1.65 to make plus the cost of sandpaper, polish, and a $.25 cent gold foil gift box from Uline so this pen would cost me $3.00 to make. I read in another string on here that someone is actually charging $30.00-$60.00 an hour for their labor on each pen. I find it ridiculous and absurd that someone would do this unless they were working with an extremely difficult type of wood/acrylic or it was segmented or highly detailed. Sorry, but I am not charging $35.00 for a slimline pen quite frankly that took me maybe 15 minutes to turn and less than a minute to assemble!! Being the one that is doing the actual turning of the pen, I know how much time I have to invest in each one, and I know how much my time is honestly worth. I am no bragger here, but if I have my blanks cut, drilled, tubed, and milled before I start I can turn between 4-6 dymondwood/wood slimline pens in an hour. Acrylics and specialty woods admittedly take longer for obvious reasons, but surely if slimlines are my speciality and my biggest seller, is it impossible to believe that I can make them at that rate? If I can turn 5 an hour on average, can I really charge $35.00 each pen for a total of $175.00 when my cost was $15.00?? That would mean that my "salary" was a whopping $160.00 an hour, which would mean that based on a 40 hour work week, my pay would be $6,400.00 a week, or $25,600.00 a month. Never did I say that I made that much money. My name is NOT Rockfeller or Trump, and I never began woodturning to get rich, I did it out of love for the craft.
I thought that this forum was a place that everyone could "boast" about their new "babies", show off their talents through wonderful pictures, and share any knowledge to others eager to learn. I quit coming to this forum a long time ago because there were those here that were outright braggers, didnt want to share their knowledge, and basically were using this site as a form of self appreciation. I figured that I wasnt ready to fit into the big leagues yet and that I still had a lot to learn. And learn I did. Quit my job, took my savings, and threw myself heart and soul into a business that I could cultivate, grow, and pass down to my daughters. Maybe even give them a honest, dedicated, hard working mom to be proud of. This has become a 7 day a week labor of love to me that only gets stronger every day. My 16 year old daughter is already an accomplished turner and my 8 year old daughter is always right there to lend a hand sanding tubes and helping out where she can.
I have received a number of emails from other turners here in the forum that have been supportive and kind because they were not comfortable with leaving their replies here for all to read. Most of them have said that they do not dare to discuss their business in length for fear of criticism regarding their pricing etc. I think that this is a shame for each business is individual and prices should reflect this. And I feel like a complete idiot for coming in here again, all excited about my accomplishements, being honest, hoping to get some positive feedback, only to have some people attack me for SHARING which is what this forum is supposed to be all about. Im really disappointed and I feel sad for those that did that. [
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Susan
I think that my pens speak for themselves.
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