My Largest Bowl

[Michael E. Thompson]

This is my largest bowl to date. A friendly member of my turning club let me do some turning on his PM and this is the result. I was fortunate enough to be given three, four foot sections of 16" diameter birds-eye maple. This is some beautiful wood with lots of figure in the wood. Its 13" in diameter and four inches tall. Finished with several coats of BLO and shellac then rubbed our with oil and steel-wool. Very silky smooth to the touch. I guess its time to get that bigger lathe I have been talking about for so long. C&C welcome please.

I plan on putting this bowl in an art show this weekend and trying to determine a price. In my head I am thinking $180, but my gut tells me more. Market area and such aside, what do you think? The other two pictures are an array of items that will be in the show. Once I get the booth set up I will take some more pics.

Sorry for the poor pics. I have been frantically getting ready for the weekend and didn't have time to set up for good pics.

Thanks
Mike

[Cathy Schaewe]

I can't speak to the price, but I will say that when I was on Martha's Vineyard recently, similar-sized NE bowls (cherry and maple) were selling for anywhere between $115 and $210.

Nice bowl!

[David E Keller]

It's a beautiful bowl, Michael, and I think the price seems about right to me. If you think you can get more, go for it.

[John Hart]

Nice lookin' spread you got there Michael. Congratulations on breaking the 13" barrier. Got me beat.;)

Good luck with your show. You have a lot of talent laid out there.:)

[Michael E. Thompson]

Thanks for the kind words. Its good to know my pricing is about right.

[Thomas Bennett]

I think you have the bowl priced right, although it's worth more! That is a baeutiful bowl and interesting blank. Good job and good luck this weekend at the show.

[Ken Glass]

Micheal,
The market and location seem to have a large influence on setting the price of turnings in my limited experience. I believe you should, however, never have to lower your price to sell an item. It sends a message, so your price seems very reasonable, so with that beautiful wood and a size that is not the norm, your should have no problem getting your price. The wood is striking and the shape is great too.

[Michael E. Thompson]

Micheal,
The market and location seem to have a large influence on setting the price of turnings in my limited experience. I believe you should, however, never have to lower your price to sell an item.

Ken, I agree 100%. I guess I was looking for peoples' opinions without the influence of market location. Its been talked about a lot here and didn't think it needed to be brought into this conversation.

That being said, the market here is funny, sometimes I can get a lot more out of an item than I think and just the opposite happens as well. I have several items in a local art gallery all priced reasonably, it took many months before something sold. But when one thing went, five went very quickly after that. That may have nothing to do with the market, just the right person at the right time. I don't pretend to understand all of that, I'm just a poor wood turner.

[gary Zimmel]

Nice work on the bowl Micheal, great figure in that one.
Good luck at the show this weekend.

[Robert McGowen]

Very nice bowl. I really like the figure.

Your argument should go something like "but if I just sell 20 bowls like this from my FREE wood, then the PM will really be FREE also!"

[Michael E. Thompson]

Very nice bowl. I really like the figure.

Your argument should go something like "but if I just sell 20 bowls like this from my FREE wood, then the PM will really be FREE also!"


I can't tell you how many times I have said that to myself. :D

[Reed Gray]

I would have a price of about $200 on a bowl that size without the figure. Getting a piece of wood that size is difficult enough. Now, since it is figured, I would up the price to $300 or more. It does depend on how affluent your area is, on you being able to get that price. A 16 inch bowl is more in the 'party' or large family size, and that is a more specialized market, but you never know what is going to sell. It doesn't hurt to leave some 'haggle' room on your prices.

I do lower the prices on pieces that have been around too long, just to move them. Mostly it seems to be a color thing. Some colors will move very well, and others will just sit, no matter the size or shape of the bowl.

Please tell me that you cored that bowl, and didn't just turn out the inside of it.

robo hippy

[Steve Schlumpf]

That's a good looking bowl! Price is always a problem - if it sells right away, you know you had it set to low. If you end up bringing it back home - did you lose anything? Tend to agree with Reed - price it higher and don't be afraid to bargain a little.

Have fun at the show and best of luck with your sales!

[John Hart]

I was just thinkin'....How about you set the price at 300 bucks. And if that's too high, then look at what the interested buyer is totin' around with them.

You know...like if they have a really cool antique toy firetruck that they just bought...you could say, "Well...I'll tell ya what...that's a really cool firetruck you have there....:rolleyes:....Hmmmm....I'll let this go for $295 if you give me that there firetruck."

It'll work. I can just feel it. ;)

[Michael E. Thompson]

I would have a price of about $200 on a bowl that size without the figure. Getting a piece of wood that size is difficult enough. Now, since it is figured, I would up the price to $300 or more. It does depend on how affluent your area is, on you being able to get that price. A 16 inch bowl is more in the 'party' or large family size, and that is a more specialized market, but you never know what is going to sell. It doesn't hurt to leave some 'haggle' room on your prices.

I do lower the prices on pieces that have been around too long, just to move them. Mostly it seems to be a color thing. Some colors will move very well, and others will just sit, no matter the size or shape of the bowl.

Please tell me that you cored that bowl, and didn't just turn out the inside of it.

robo hippy

Thanks Reed, good advise. Sadly, no I did not core the bowl. I don't have access to any coring tools. But with that in mind, I purposely made the bowl shallower to conserve wood. It doesn't make it feel any better though.


That's a good looking bowl! Price is always a problem - if it sells right away, you know you had it set to low. If you end up bringing it back home - did you lose anything? Tend to agree with Reed - price it higher and don't be afraid to bargain a little.

Have fun at the show and best of luck with your sales!

Thanks Steve. I do really like the bowl and wouldn't mind keeping it, but if the right offer/price.... you never know.

[Doug Reesor]

I agree with the comments on the wood piece. If you look up the price of a bowl blank that size for Bird's Eye maple, it ain't cheap. Even if the wood was given to you, it still has a lot of value because of the rarity of the wood. Between $200 & $300 would be my starting range.

Doug

[Bernie Weishapl]

Michael that is a great looking bowl. Out here I get about $100 to $135 for that size. Great looking turnings you have there.