Projects that sell

[John T Barker]

I was lucky enough to stumble upon a barn sale yesterday which turned out to be rich women trying to occupy their time by using a barn to sell stuff. They are allowed to hold their sales 6 times per year. The stuff was an assortment of retail crafts from all over and priced for the affluent area I live in (no affluence here.) I was in business years ago and worked for local cabinet shops as well so I have my shop ready and waiting I just need to figure out what to make. Southeastern Pa, my area especially (near Valley Forge Park) is affluent and historic. Much of what these gals sell are old looking stuff of all kinds and I was trained in 18th century repros, though with the many wedding a birthday presents I've made there is much else I can make. This is a great find for me. These gals sell a high percentage of what they put in their barn and they only ask 20% of what the piece sells for. The location will draw a great crowd with ample cash. I simply need to decide what to sell.

Does anyone have a source of information on what sells well these days. I plan to do a small cupboard with a distressed paint finish as my first piece but would love some input on what might be a good investment of my time. Thanks.

[Cody Colston]

I plan to do a small cupboard with a distressed paint finish as my first piece but would love some input on what might be a good investment of my time. Thanks.

I think you are on the right track. Around here, anything that is made to look old is always a good seller. (I base that on what my wife and daughters tell me) I know that you set the bar pretty high regarding your woodworking but some of the stuff they drag home (and rave about) is pure junk IMHO. Also, that stuff can be built without an inordinate number of hours involved. A Goddard blockfront in Honduras Mahog is magnificent but those willing to pay what one is worth are few and far between.

[Judson Green]

Also, that stuff can be built without an inordinate number of hours involved.

Thats the crux of the matter, what sells well may cost too much time/money to produce, too low a profit margin. If there was a magic item I'd think the market would be saturated with the item/items resulting in too much supply, driving the end price down.

Just my 2¢

[johnny means]

That's like asking what the key to success is. No one really knows the answer. If they did, some large multinational would patent it and mothball it.

[Sam Murdoch]

Notwithstanding all of the above :) I would suggest something that you can make patterns to easily and repeatedly replicate your product and that the item(s) should be small enough to fit in anyone's trunk or back seat (not everyone is driving SUVs or station wagons) and can be priced low enough to be an easy impulse buy - Oh that will make a nice present for... but high enough not to insult the local self importance.

Otherwise I have no idea :rolleyes:.

[Jeff Folkert]

Google reclaimed wood or pallet wood furniture. It is all the rage right now and if you can make a piece look old and "reclaimed" it will sell fast and for good money in the right area which may be just the location you described. End tables, coffee tables, wine racks and wall hangings are what sells really well right now but the market is getting saturated so you may be able to ride the wave for a while if you act fast.

[Larry Fox]

I was lucky enough to stumble upon a barn sale yesterday which turned out to be rich women trying to occupy their time by using a barn to sell stuff. ... and they only ask 20% of what the piece sells for.

Sorry John but I think you might have a bad read on these "rich old ladys trying to occupy their time" as your statement implies that they are bored or just need to fill up their time until their next spa appt. I live in the same area (sorta) and am very familiar with the barn sales of which you speak and whenever I have been I have thought to myself - how THERE are some smart ladies. Think about it - they are making 20% profit on someone else's work AND they are getting to hang out in a nice barn in a very beautiful area on a Saturday.

I am thinking about my work and I don't know that I could produce something of sufficient quality to put my name on it, in quantity enough for there to be any real money in it AND take a 20% of retail haircut from the profit on it (assuming I am fortunate enough to have it sell). Nah - I think the "bored rich ladies" might just have the jump on you on this one.

[Howard Rosenberg]

John -

Sam Murdoch had part of the answer - something that can be reliably produced using templates and jigs.

Larry Fox also had some useful insight too - the ladies running the sale might be folksy and charming but they're much more savvy than they're letting on.

Having said that, you're in a great position to figure out what'll sell profitably and how to sell it!

First order of business is - don't ask us - most of us are HOBBYISTS! Ask the people selling this stuff. Or ask pros for their insight. We're woodworkers, we LIKE to share!

Second, my case studies have led me to craftspeople who produce heart-stoppingly beautiful Ruhlmann-inspired Art Deco cabinetry, custom kayaks, $2500 bird houses, rocking chairs, a furniture maker that is flown to Brazil for extensive one-on-one personalized training and yes the humble cutting board and recipe box.

What came through in these interviews loud-and-clear was that each of these people produces something no-one else makes. They did their research. They contacted store owners and gallery owners, they developed relationships and they asked lots of questions of the people facing the buying public.

They found the customers willing to pay for something special, not ordinary or cheap.

And don't worry, you will never compete for the same customers who'll only shop at IKEA or Wal-Mart. The reason is, you CAN'T!

So the short answer is think markets not products.

So go back to your barn ladies. Show them pics of your output. Then ask them what else they'd need that they could sell. Then produce a few of those pieces and start casting about for other places to sell more stuff. And then start creating a database of end users and start keeping in touch with THEM to see if there's more/other things they'd like to buy.

Definitely a pared-down version of first steps but this should get you started.

Good luck. Please keep us posted on your progress.

Howard Rosenberg

[Joe Hillmann]

I sell quite a few items at craft shows.

I find what works best for me to make the most $/time is to make items that don't require a nice finish. I find that the time spent putting on a nice clearcoat finish, and the time spent cleaning up after putting on the finish and the cost of buying the finish can very easy double or triple the price of the total product. I find going for an aged finish or no finish at all tends lead to the most money in my pocket per amount time spent making the item. When doing an aged finish or no finish you often end up by default with a "rustic" product.

On the few items that I did bother to put a nice-ish finish on I would often get asked if I could make another one but with a different stain or if I could stain it to match what they already have in there house.


I also found that I make much more money per time spent on an item if I plan to make dozens or hundreds or thousands of near identical pieces rather than one of's. That way after you build you first test piece you can redesign it to it makes the best, most efficient use of the boards/material you make it out of. If necessary you can also build jigs and storyboards to really speed up the process.

If you do decide to make them in batches you will still have customers who will want one with different dimensions. I used to always say yes and add about $10 to the total cost. I regretted it every time. Just changing one dimension by a half inch will mean you jigs don't work any more and my cause you to have much more scrap because your cut list has to change to make up for the lack of jigs the time it takes to make the item goes way up. If they want it a different color now you have to go out and buy a different color of paint which someone has to pay for, I figure it is better the customer than me. Now if someone wants to me to make changes, no matter what the change, I double the price.

I have found that customers expect consistency in the items I sell. I used to make crates out of pallet boards. A customer would buy some crates and be happy with them. Then they come back a few months or even a year latter and want matching crates. I can make them the same size but since I am using pallet boards the texture of the surface, the grain of the word the color of the wood and the staining on the wood of the ones I have now wont match the ones they bought originally. The customers understand why I can't match the ones they already have but they aren't overly happy about having them mismatched.

To solve that problem I now make the crates out of rough sawn pine that I then re-saw on a band saw. I then make the crates, dip them in a vinegar/steel wool solution and put them on my roof to age for a month or so. I make them in batches of 60-100 at at time and any given crate will be a pretty close match with any other. By ageing the crates after I build them rather than using aged lumber the fresh saw cuts become aged too. when making the crates out of pallet boards I had to try and hide the rip cuts but the end cuts were always visible as freshly cut wood.

If you are interested in seeing the crates I make send me a PM and I will give you a link to my web store.

[Joe Hillmann]

One other thing. Many people think that rustic means poorly built. If you build your items solidly with good strong joints you can use that as a selling point and your customers will notice the difference between yours and something that is rickety and about to fall apart.

[Keith Hankins]

20 percent while i understand might be common place, that puts a bind on you to begin with. That means a high profit margin to begin with. I live in Pottstown not to far from VF and know this area well. They love to throw amish word around and assume that means high quality and it don't. I remember Sam Maloof talking and he started by putting things in others and worked a deal they got 30% but he soon developed a name and did away with that because it was just to hard to live on. I think we all have dreams of making a living doing it. I'm a week-end warrior, but started selling a few pieces and by word of mouth now have a stead supply of work. My goal is to keep building on that till retirement at 55 in 4 years and go full time. I use to do craft shows many years ago and the secret at that level was find something i could make a lot of cheaply but had Craftsmanship.

We found Christmas ornaments with toll painting was a hot seller and I made a killing selling them in the fall of the year at shows till I could not face the thought of making another one. Now I've been making higher-end furniture on comission. While I do not sell as many the joy and challenge is much better. The wife does stained glass and we collaborate on the pieces. I first thought that taking the time would put people off, but they know know I will take a few months to do a piece and they don't mind waiting. Seems wine cabinets are hot now, I'm on my fifth one in a couple years.

I'd also suggest Sketch-up. Like the others have said, make templates so you can easily get the time down to make your item but should not be your overriding goal(at least i refuse to make it mine). I print the parts from sketchup glue to hardboard and cut them out and when the project is done, I put them on a nail hanging in the shop with all the reference measurements on them. I use that as a general guideline but each one is a little different. I took one drawing for a pie-safe, and modified it in an afternoon to suite the needs of a guy that wanted a cross between piesafe and wardrobe. He ended up getting two pieces from me and just called back wanting something else. So while I like the small stuff in the beginning, I much prefer this way more. That' my 2c worth.

[Jeff Duncan]

My two quick thoughts for what they're worth….

First, if you want to know what's going to sell well in that barn ahhhh…..ask the ladies that sell there! They are going to give you the best idea of what their clientele buy!!! Otherwise you may as well tack up pictures of craft items on your wall and throw darts.

Second, 20% is pretty reasonable if you ask me. Normal retail is probably more like 100% and up. I just don't see how people can say that's too much? Let me see, I make a product and you find the clientele willing to spend more money than I'd normally charge, and you only want 20%…..yes thank you!!! I'd take that all day long!

good luck,
JeffD

[johnny means]

20% pretty much makes them a non profit, selling other people's work for fun. For what its worth I found my niche in ultra high end kids furniture. Not to many 25k bunkbeds out there for those who happen to be in the market. One of my mentors advised me years ago to not even bother with affordable. There is always some one bigger with lower labor costs that can outprice you. Another mentor of mine told me, the"If they ain't talkin Gs I don't move my knees." Saw

[Erik Loza]

I have a hobbyist customer who apparently does quite well, selling adirondack chairs made from Ipe. Sells them as a kit or assembled, at local farmers markets and crafts shows. I think the secret in his case is that his chairs are not difficult to produce and that everyone can visualize one in their yard, whereas a lot of the handmade furniture I see falls into a very specific aesthetic or style and maybe the crowd likes it, maybe they don't.

Erik Loza
Minimax USA

[Mel Fulks]

Any thing easy will be widely copied. Little sawed out ducks with ribbons tied around their necks were a staple of country
style decorating years ago. Went to a craft show once which was a huge room filled with tables deep in ducks with a miffed
and embarrassed woman standing behind every table. I think its time for the non human "dumb waiter" to come back. Little stands usually with several shelves open on all sides and having legs with rollers. They were used mainly to minimize
the use of gossiping servants during romantic dinners. They could be used now in a variety of ways including holding condiments or serving dishes. Or used instead of coffee tables,the basic concept has been interpreted in simple and high styles.

[Loren Woirhaye]

Proprietary fine touches can be a benefit in selling nicer work.

I like the comments about avoiding fine finishes above. I haven't seen that before, but it's sensible. Finishes are real important to creating desire to buy. You might look at shabby chic painting methods, crackle glazes and so forth. You can buy cabriole legs and whip out skirted tables with your own "shabby" paint finish.

One thing that can kill a sale is "oh, where shall I put this?", which is another way of saying the the piece is too big. Wall-hung, outdoor, and smaller decorative table top pieces may not suffer from this objection.

[Joe Hillmann]

If you plan to make and sell items throughout different seasons make sure you are using material you can get all year round and that your processes can be done all year round. With my laser engraving I use lots of spray paints for color filling. In the summer I would do the painting on a table outside, in the winter I had to do the painting inside and deal with the fumes. Doing one or two a month in the house was acceptable but I couldn't do large batches until I figured a way to get the fumes out of the house. The same thing goes for using rustic lumber. It is easy to find and use in the summer but after one heavy snow fall it can be nearly impossible to get until things dry up in the spring again.