Selling Boxes

Ed Moore asked: I have done a couple of small craft shows recently. To be honest, I have come away scratching my head a little&mdashand this is not hygiene-related. My bewilderment is due to what has and has not sold. In the show yesterday I sold ornaments (both bulb and birdhouse style) and tea or confetti lights, which does not really surprise me.

I have some nice boxes and some small bowls which are four or five inches in diameter. The boxes were priced at $32 and the bowls from $24 to $32. Some of the boxes were ambrosia maple or walnut. The bowls were walnut, zebrawood, and padauk. We got lots of nice comments on these items but I never even sensed a possible sale.

Have you had similar experiences with this type of item? I am near Smith Mountain Lake and some of the folks near here have the cash to spend, while others have limited resources.

Please share your thoughts on the puzzlement of the marketplace.

Jim Shaver, Oakville ON: It's a funny thing, selling what we think should sell and what doesn't…it's never the same. One year I had a run on bottle stoppers. In the five years since then I have not even come close in combined years to selling the same as that first year, yet others sell them like crazy.

I can tell you one thing, your prices are fair, and that you have nothing to worry about, you have stock for your next sale…you only need to find the right people…

I go through this with pens too, one year red is the hot seller, next year it's blue…try to keep a balance of colors, so that it does not look like the color of the season in my pen trays.

Your work will sell—just takes time, as you know

John Lucas: I agree with Jim. I had one show where I didn't sell a single hand mirror and that's my staple. In fact at that show I had a bunch of boxes which I don't normally make or sell very many of. In that show I sold almost all boxes and some platters that I brought at the last minute. I can't figure out shows.

Phil Joines Krum, Texas: Seems that the pieces we like don't sell and the ones we think are just okay move. Maybe if we made ugly stuff we'd get rich!

Dick Hines: Not only is it hard to figure out what sells at shows the people that come to your display are strange, also. I did a show in June and this woman came in my booth and was looking at this 14" spalted maple bowl. She rubbed it and held it. I said to my wife, “we have a sale.” The woman turned to me and said, “your prices are too low.” I had the bowl marked at $110. She said up north it would be priced at $150 or more. I looked at my wife and smiled, knowing we had a sale. The woman put down the bowl and walked out and down the street. “What the hell happened?” I said. My wife says, “we just lost that one.” Go figure.

Barry Turner: Just because they like something doesn't mean they can afford it. I don't do shows because I don't get to turn enough work yet. I have some items in a couple of galleries, one near Gatlinburg, TN, in the Arts & Craft Community. I have turned small lidded boxes, a few ornaments, a few pens, paperweights, and a few snowmen (which I hate to make). My prices seem similar to yours. Boxes have sold very slowly as have most other items. My cigar pens are in a nice wooden box and a black velvet drawstring pouch. There is a nice card that goes with each. I couldn't sell a pen if I included a $20 bill in every box. What sells the best? Those damned snowmen @ $20 per!

GeeSeaWhy: Look on the bright side, Barry. At least you don't have to make a living out of turning. If you did, you could end up making @#%&! snowmen most of the week just to get one day to make what you enjoy making.

Pat Mulligan: As a veteran of two craft shows, here are my observations. Burl wood items sold very quickly. So did curly maple. Some rough looking single turned oak bowls got lots of comments too. Tastes vary so much you never know what folks will like. I tried to have a big variety of wood types on display to get people interested and that seemed to work. Other sellers said this year was slow compared to past years, so I'm just hoping next year will be better.

Trant (Baltimore/DC corridor): I want to agree with everyone that there is no way to predict the buying public on any given day. However, you can play the odds. Christmas themed items and smaller (read, cheaper) items do well for Fall shows. Wands ($20), hollow ornaments ($40), and small bowls with lots of character (burls, spalting, curly) do well in general. My most special pieces (read, most expensive) are slower to sell but the collectors are willing to spend big bucks at all times of the year (and most readily at non-Christmas).

The best advice I can offer is to make your items special: thin-walled, practical, carved/painted/inlaid. Good design (shapes) and good craftsmanship will win out every time.