Taking the Mystery Out Of Selling Your Work

If you are a hobby wood turner making things strictly for your own enjoyment and never intend to make gifts for loved ones, friends, or neighbors, and if you have all the money you need to buy all the Woodturning toys you could ever want, this message is not for you. If, on the other hand, you would love to have all of the wood turning gadgets you can imagine without taking up penny out of the family budget what follows is pretty good advice.

Back in the days when I was making simple furniture mostly in the plantation country style, I approached the proprietor of a retail store specializing in wooden furniture, shelving and more. He granted me a short appointment and I laid out samples of my goods before him hoping to establish a commercial relationship. He liked my quality he liked my prices but he didn’t like any of my designs. Just about when I thought all was lost he posed an interesting question which was “Would you be interested in supplying me with some of the pieces I used to carry that were good sellers, but that I can’t get anymore. Some of my suppliers have retired, one died, and the other fellow is too sick to work anymore.

This fellow had been smart enough to save the sample of each of the items he was looking for and I use them to reverse engineer my new product line.. I didn’t know it but he had been looking for suppliers for these items at the same time I was looking for customers for my handmade wooden furniture items. When he told me what he would be willing to pay per item it began an eight year relationship that was extremely lucrative for both of us. In fact my oldest son took over much of the manufacturing while he was still in high school.

The moral of this story is “make what the customer wants to buy regardless of what you have to sell.”

Over the years I have built a number of workshops. The first four were built with proceeds from items I sold without taking money out of the family budget. So if you’re looking for a way to buy those new jigs and fixtures, lathe chisels, sharpening systems, sphere jigs, Longworth chucks, etc. without taking money out of the family budget, just figure out what you can make that people in your local area want to buy and are willing to pay a reasonable price for. Then learn how to make them efficiently and effectively and in large quantities and who knows pretty soon you might be thinking about that brand–new Powermatic or Robust American beauty.

A simple formula

There are two parts to this formula: 1) things you already know how to make, things you would be willing to learn how to make if someone showed you, and things you don’t know how to make but could probably figure out. Plus, 2) items others want that are willing to pay and economically feasible price to obtain.

SUPPLY + DEMAND = SALES

In my case, that means making spinning tops, acorn lidded boxes, Christmas ornaments, and a dozen other things which have long since ceased to be fun and cool and exciting, but still sell like hotcakes everywhere I go. My friend Nick cook gave me some sage advice when I first learned to turn and was thinking that I might be able to sell some of my merchandise. Nick said, “Find something to make which is fast and inexpensive and sell a million of them. Nick said that was the advice given to him by his friend Rude Osolnik.” By the way, Nick has made over 250,000 bottle stoppers so it’s obvious he’s taking his own advice. Everyone has different tastes, that’s why there are so many different kinds of music. Don’t fall in love with pieces you have made when you are trying to sell something. If you love it that much keep it and make something else to sell, something folks want to buy. By the way the number one selling turned item in the world are utility bowls for the table.

Your friend,

Ron Brown

Luke 6:38 NIV

Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you." Good friends are hard to come by. When you are lucky enough to find one, be a good friend back to them.