Thanks! really just getting back into it after a 25 year hiatus. We have a raku firing coming up next month. I really enjoy that process.
Those gemstones are wonderful.
Your Personal Build/Crafting Website / Etsy, etc? Sell at Public Markets?
- Thread starter Sytes
- Start date
Thanks! really just getting back into it after a 25 year hiatus. We have a raku firing coming up next month. I really enjoy that process.
Those gemstones are wonderful.
ID_deerslayer
Active member
I started a hobby business making cutting boards, charcuterie boards and epoxy river serving boards with random furniture build requests here and there. My website is www.ingrainedwoodworksmt.com and I have a FB page along with Instagram. I don't do Etsy for the same reasons as Ben lamb, they are taking too much in my opinion and there are too many other makers selling in my specific category. It seems that many who are selling via Etsy are also trying to do it as a serious business endeavor, while I enjoy funding my tool purchases and keeping my hobby casual in a business sense. I have only done one market and it was great for exposure. Summer time for my family limits time in the shop as we focus on being outdoors and getting quality time together on weekends and throughout the week, add in full time jobs for my wife and I and two kids, and the time I have is from after bedtime for the kids until I am summoned to bed so I can wake up for work the next day. Makes me glad it is a hobby and we don't depend on the few sales I do get. most important is that i enjoy my time I do get to spend doing some wood work
This is good feedback. As I set this up, my main goal is to offset the increasing costs of setting up the studio I really want without losing the joy of making. It's a tough balance between monetizing & simply creating and growing as a craftsman.
Event sales seem like they could be fun, but I've got such a pandemic hangover that I'm finding re-integrating with humanity a significant challenge. Haha.
Sytes
Well-known member
I've enjoyed visiting my wife's booth at the different events. I really value the creativity wandering the different areas.
She's a banker by trade though the whole, "banker hours" is a bunch of hoopla! Hah! She's an extremely hard worker. A guru of operational cents and has her inventory dialed in.
One portion involved with the public "farmers" market venues, they are dependent on presence. There is a type of underlying code, least in our local counties. No shows hinder the objective of the markets, presentation holds value, etc... it's a developed internal resume to join other public markets. As our counties grow, that "resume" becomes more and more valuable. Now, she receives invites to the more lucrative markets whereas the early stage she had to wait in line, etc.
The unwritten rules are pretty interesting and enjoyable to see. It's not a serious setting though a person's methods are followed.
She's a banker by trade though the whole, "banker hours" is a bunch of hoopla! Hah! She's an extremely hard worker. A guru of operational cents and has her inventory dialed in.
One portion involved with the public "farmers" market venues, they are dependent on presence. There is a type of underlying code, least in our local counties. No shows hinder the objective of the markets, presentation holds value, etc... it's a developed internal resume to join other public markets. As our counties grow, that "resume" becomes more and more valuable. Now, she receives invites to the more lucrative markets whereas the early stage she had to wait in line, etc.
The unwritten rules are pretty interesting and enjoyable to see. It's not a serious setting though a person's methods are followed.
Hammsolo
Well-known member
- Joined
- May 16, 2020
- Messages
- 2,926
You should make something for the back of a camp trailer! I have a pile of ideas, but don’t have the skills/tools. I added a hitch rack for our mountain bikes, but also have my kayak to haul. I like the idea of carrying it vertically. I think there’s a market. I’ve looked for options and there’s very few. I don’t want to put a rack on my truck.
2rocky
Well-known member
For those of you who sell Online, what online payment setup do you use? is is through your website design software?
Sytes
Well-known member
We l
One aspect about etsy and its competitor(s), the hacking attempts are blocked by their service and their $$$ to minimize the risk. Their business depends on the integrity of their platform. Far from our $$$ to protect ourselves and our clients by hosting our own platform.
We do use a web hosting location that secures the business name website though do not share any sales. A direct link to her etsy site is on her page.
We looked into our own website however, it places the liability square on you or your LLC (or Corp).
One aspect about etsy and its competitor(s), the hacking attempts are blocked by their service and their $$$ to minimize the risk. Their business depends on the integrity of their platform. Far from our $$$ to protect ourselves and our clients by hosting our own platform.
We do use a web hosting location that secures the business name website though do not share any sales. A direct link to her etsy site is on her page.
flyingvmt
Active member
This is a cool thread! Sytes, I wonder if I have seen your wife's booth before at some of the markets I have participated in...?
I have been building reclaimed wood art and some smaller furniture pieces for a few years now mostly in the winter months when the sun goes down so early. It started as a hobby to keep me from losing my mind the first winters we lived here and now its a fairly steady side gig with custom orders and pieces in local shops throughout the state.
I did Etsy for a bit, but fees and shipping was a buzz kill for me. I probably would have a website with ordering capability, but I really like my free time and too much side hustle really cuts into family time and me time....the balance has to always favor the fun side or what's the point?
I live by the mantra from Randy..."gonna run out of health before I run out of money or the ability to make money".
www.instagram.com/flyingvmontana
I have been building reclaimed wood art and some smaller furniture pieces for a few years now mostly in the winter months when the sun goes down so early. It started as a hobby to keep me from losing my mind the first winters we lived here and now its a fairly steady side gig with custom orders and pieces in local shops throughout the state.
I did Etsy for a bit, but fees and shipping was a buzz kill for me. I probably would have a website with ordering capability, but I really like my free time and too much side hustle really cuts into family time and me time....the balance has to always favor the fun side or what's the point?
I live by the mantra from Randy..."gonna run out of health before I run out of money or the ability to make money".
www.instagram.com/flyingvmontana
flyingvmt
Active member
if and when you start selling your pieces, I keep an eye on your posts hoping to catch you selling them just so you know!
Ok, now I need one
Sytes
Well-known member
They're pretty simple to craft. I can play around with one that breaks down for shipping purpose. Weld some aluminum thread points so a few screws/locknuts and ship in one length tube shipping deal.Ok, now I need one
Once I make one, set to follow the idea by @Hammsolo and one for a person's truck bedatching my display. If the $ makes cents ill pass along the option for people to buy. Might even add a gusset to appease the Ontarioman.
glass eye
Well-known member
When I lived in NorCal I raised exotic pheasants for taxidermy and my wife would make feather earrings from loose feathers or unmountable skins. We travel a lot and she sold them throughout CA and on Maui.
Potsie
Well-known member
My wife and I do a decent trade canning and selling stuff - jams, pickles, etc. I seemed to have stumbled into a whopper of a dilly bean recipe, or as one friend calls them "crack beans." Once word goes out that I've got a batch in the works, most pints/quarts are sold before they're fully pickled. There's also a fair amount held back and given out as stocking stuffers at Christmas time.
I also do some side butcher work, not to brag but my bacon and brats game is on point. If I get enough demand I can turn $200 worth of pork belly into $500 worth of bacon in a couple weeks.
We've never done any advertising other than an instagram post or picture up on facebook, and not sure I'd want to invest enough time into the gig to start doing farmer's markets - I really like my weekends. It's a side hustle for some extra $ into the kid's 529.
I also do some side butcher work, not to brag but my bacon and brats game is on point. If I get enough demand I can turn $200 worth of pork belly into $500 worth of bacon in a couple weeks.
We've never done any advertising other than an instagram post or picture up on facebook, and not sure I'd want to invest enough time into the gig to start doing farmer's markets - I really like my weekends. It's a side hustle for some extra $ into the kid's 529.
ID_deerslayer
Active member
I set up my website through Wix and they have a secure payment system setup through paypal I think and something else. my wife does marketing for her day job and handles the tech stuff, I just make things!
