Boxes

[Mike Allen1010]

After 40 years of hand tool woodworking, I've hit the limit and we have no more room for any furniture and both my boys are Also similarly fully stocked. As a consequence I'm reduced to building small items like boxes that I'm now woefully failing to sell on Etsy.The fun thing about small items like boxes is they don't require a lot of material, but they do allow you to incorporate new ideas/techniques without the risk of Ruining a significant amount work. Thought I would share some pics for those who might be looking for similar ideas:


DSC_0027.jpgDSC_0010.jpgDSC_0012.jpgDSC_0013.jpg2.1.jpg2.3.jpg2.4.jpg2.5.jpg



All the best, Mike

[Mike Allen1010]

3.4.jpg3.3.jpg3.2.jpg15.1.jpg14.2.jpg16.4.jpg20.1 (3).jpg20.2 (2).jpg

[Mike Allen1010]

13.4.jpg20.3.jpg20.4 (2).jpg25 (7).jpg1.1.jpg

[Todd Trebuna]

Amazing work. I hope you sell out.

[Barry McFadden]

Why do you think they are failing to sell on Etsy?

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Incredibly well executed and beautiful!

[Frederick Skelly]

Gorgeous work, as always Mike! I love that curved front - spectacular!

[Bill Carey]

Your usual, high quality work Mike. Very nice.

[Andrew Hughes]

Very nice work mike. I’m in the same boat way too many projects that need a home.
Ive resorted to making smaller and smaller boxes. That way I can stack more in the cubbies in laundry room.
Something I’ve just recently realized More then half of what i call accessories are sold to woodworkers.
Many people think wood only comes in one color their not capable of appreciating our craft.
Good Luck

[Stan Calow]

One place I have recently seen nice custom jewelry boxes for sale is ...a jewelry store. Of course it made sense when I thought about it.

[Phil Mueller]

All beautiful boxes, Mike. I don’t know anything about trying to sell work, but my kids once said I should sell my boxes on Etsy. I looked at it briefly and found dozens of pages of wood jewelry boxes with most around or below $100. A hand full at $300+, which in my mind is what a hand made box like yours should be.

As mentioned, a local, family owned jewelry store might love them on consignment. I have a relationship with one (to my wife’s delight), and they would take any that I build. Haven’t done it, but the opportunity is there. I’ve also seen folks have some success on facebook marketplace…

I have boxes all over the house and should probably find a way to move them on as well. Your work, especially the curved front/veneered boxes, are unique and beautiful…just need to get it in front of the right buyers.

[Mike Allen1010]

thanks guys for the kind comments. Lately I find myself looking for ideas for a new project and my intent in posting was to show some boxes that might inspire others looking for a new project.

Barry, I really don't know why these boxes aren't selling on Etsy but I have a couple guesses: I know almost nothing about online selling and even less about Etsy. My boys created the online "shop" for me. I can't even find it myself when I'm trying to add new items, so please take my uninformed thoughts for what they're worth – not much. I get very little traffic to my Etsy shop which probably means I'm doing a bad job of using all the drop down menus to categorize and describe the boxes. At least I'm not describing them online in a way that syncs with what people are looking for.

Another option is people just aren't interested in boxes and/or it's not clear what my boxes are "used for". To me there just boxes I enjoy building because of the various woodworking techniques I was able to incorporate, but maybe people are looking for "boxes" for specific purpose like a jewelry box, tackle box, toolbox etc. I don't really describe these boxes that way which may be his reason I'm missing.

Third option is there are just so many other similar offerings on Etsy that by the law of averages it's unlikely that very many people are going to find their way to my store.

Finally, maybe I'm asking too high a price. I see lots of other simpler/antique boxes on Etsy in the <$100 price range and maybe that's what people are looking for. Most of my boxes involve some carving, inlay, veneer, etc.and because of that I thought I should price a little higher, but maybe that's the problem. What do you guys think I should price these boxes at? I sincerely have no idea what is appropriate. This isn't business for me and I'm not doing it to make money – goodness knows the time/materials invested doesn't make that economically viable. I frankly just want to get rid of these boxes in a way that covers my material cost so I can move onto the next project. Ideally I'd like to get back to making furniture, but that seems much harder to get rid of by selling/shipping over the Internet.

Sorry for the digression from the fun stuff – building things. This really has become an existential problem for me– can't just build stuff and stack it in the spare room. I appreciate any and all advice and suggestions.

Best, Mike

[Mike Allen1010]

Very nice work mike. I’m in the same boat way too many projects that need a home.
Ive resorted to making smaller and smaller boxes. That way I can stack more in the cubbies in laundry room.
Something I’ve just recently realized More then half of what i call accessories are sold to woodworkers.
Many people think wood only comes in one color their not capable of appreciating our craft.
Good Luck

Andrew, what are the accessories you sell to woodworkers? I could be your target market

[Mark Rainey]

Mike, thanks for posting your beautiful boxes. I enjoy inlay and veneering and your demonstration of technique with hand tools is appreciated.

[Bill Carey]

Mike - I'm in the same boat - no where to put anything large, like the furniture I make just cuz I want to make it - new techniques, new wood species, etc. But I was fortunate to find a couple of silent auction fund raisers that each took a piece of my furniture. Not going to get rich this way but that wasn't the point in making it. And it went to a good cause. I also applied to Indiana Artisan and was juried in - they have a couple of stores I can sell at. Of course a month after getting the news that I was accepted, life threw left hook that landed solidly and we are now moving to Wisc. And so it goes. There are consignment places that would probably love to sell your stuff. Just gotta find them. I too have an esty store, and have sold 8 pieces but it's slow and I really don't know marketing or etsy so I just kinda put it up there and see what happens.

Whats the name of your etsy store?