latest stick
1 - 20 of 25 Posts
Joined
·
75 Posts
i should try that way i think . seen some folk asking crazy amounts on places like etsy and then i see some amazing works been offered for next to nothing , and its always confused me , so if somebody asks me how much for a stick i will usually just tell them to get me a drink or i give them away . saves my head hurting thinking of how to price lol.
Joined
·
180 Posts
If it were mine I would be asking £25-£30 on the "psychic fair" scene and I reckon they would go a bomb at that price. I have seen some going at £80-£150 which is daft money, so if you would be happy with £25-30 then go for it. It will allow you to invest in more tools if nothing else.
Joined
·
3,146 Posts
I charge around £45- 70 per stick depending on what it is.
the cost of purchasing a seasoned straightened stick is around £10 plus postage then the eyes around £4 per pair heavy duty brass ferules over £1 rubber ferules £1 plus postage . this excludes the cost of the topper ,Danish oil or other .So your looking at material costs around £20 . this excludes time and tool replenishment and on to of that there is the cost of postage to the consumer which can be around £10,
so if your doing this for a living you would have to include time and you cant live on a minimum wage council tax, time, power researching making patterns and the workshop expenses .
So what is a realistic price
If your using rams horn they can be expensive buffalo horn is around £15 before you start
the cost of purchasing a seasoned straightened stick is around £10 plus postage then the eyes around £4 per pair heavy duty brass ferules over £1 rubber ferules £1 plus postage . this excludes the cost of the topper ,Danish oil or other .So your looking at material costs around £20 . this excludes time and tool replenishment and on to of that there is the cost of postage to the consumer which can be around £10,
so if your doing this for a living you would have to include time and you cant live on a minimum wage council tax, time, power researching making patterns and the workshop expenses .
So what is a realistic price
If your using rams horn they can be expensive buffalo horn is around £15 before you start
Joined
·
75 Posts
that was the sort of price range i was thinking cobalt , when i mentioned very expensive , it was in reference to some listings ive seen on etsy and ebay for £800 upwards . i would happily pay over 100 hundred for a stick that stood out to me .
Joined
·
3,081 Posts
When I started selling sticks a friend who is a water color painter told my to be proud of my work. Ask a fair price for the work,time and materials. What I do is one of a kind. I do not have a inexpensive cane or stick. I can always give a family or friendly discount But I always start with a price I want. If someone thinks my work is not worth the time and what I have into it then they do not need it.I do not try to compete with flea markets or products from places that people get 10 cents an hour. I do not sell a lot but I get a fair price for what I do sell. And it is a complement when some one feels it is worth their hard earned money to buy what I have done.
Joined
·
180 Posts
Which just goes to prove why my wife, who makes jewellery, always says "you'd give things away" when she asks me for a price for a piece she has made! Ironically in my old job I charged top whack because I knew I was worth it but anything else I'm useless at pricing 
Joined
·
3,146 Posts
For a good quality rams horn you should expect to pay around £500 .they say it takes up to 90 hours to make one from start to finish so is its less than £6.0 per hour then material cost
I usually say its around £50 depending on what you want then just leave it if they want one they will come back. after all would they work for less than the minimum wage
I usually say its around £50 depending on what you want then just leave it if they want one they will come back. after all would they work for less than the minimum wage
Joined
·
1,843 Posts
You're around 45 just for materials and postage. 70 would be better at that rate. (Sorry, no British pound key).
I've been looking at Etsy here to figure out what to charge for mine. From what I've seen so far I should be able to justify around $70 per stick, maybe a bit more, and that's without any carvings. That's based on the workmanship I see on the sticks being sold, I don't see much that's similar in style to what I want to make so that's a little harder to judge. My work should stand out compared to the other sticks being sold in that price range. I can probably go as low as $50 and still make a little money but it'll work out to less than minimum wage for my time at that price.
Rodney
Joined
·
3,146 Posts
The other issue with selling items is has it been done before ? what can be done has been done
The quality of sticks for sale on line varies so much, most of the American market seems to be wood spirits and limited to the size of the shank it may be the favourite over there but unless you can offer something different it will be a difficult sell.
Others are just a shank that's been cleaned up and vanished or treated with oil but there as cheap as chips and you wouldn't find much satisfaction in doing them maybe some will have a wrap of some kind
The quality of sticksmakers here is very high and offer a very wide range of wildlife and material usage .
Also stick makers shows have a huge following here and its mostly for enthusiasts but people will pay for quality . also if you want a rams horn crook you would have to order it very few are advertised as makers don't need to do so..
I don't bother with any of it takes up to much time , people ask for a stick and unless I fancy carving it I don't do it .I have sold sticks I have made for my self whilst walking with them . people will stop you and ask for them but wouldn't go out of my way to sell one
As for on line you get so many queries and you end up wasting your time as people just want a guide to sell there own stuff
My guess is if you had a rams horn crook and walk around with it with ramblers you would get a steady orders in America but I certainly cant see the wood spirit selling here
The quality of sticks for sale on line varies so much, most of the American market seems to be wood spirits and limited to the size of the shank it may be the favourite over there but unless you can offer something different it will be a difficult sell.
Others are just a shank that's been cleaned up and vanished or treated with oil but there as cheap as chips and you wouldn't find much satisfaction in doing them maybe some will have a wrap of some kind
The quality of sticksmakers here is very high and offer a very wide range of wildlife and material usage .
Also stick makers shows have a huge following here and its mostly for enthusiasts but people will pay for quality . also if you want a rams horn crook you would have to order it very few are advertised as makers don't need to do so..
I don't bother with any of it takes up to much time , people ask for a stick and unless I fancy carving it I don't do it .I have sold sticks I have made for my self whilst walking with them . people will stop you and ask for them but wouldn't go out of my way to sell one
As for on line you get so many queries and you end up wasting your time as people just want a guide to sell there own stuff
My guess is if you had a rams horn crook and walk around with it with ramblers you would get a steady orders in America but I certainly cant see the wood spirit selling here
Joined
·
2,048 Posts
Very nice looking piece Ratty.
As far as selling sticks IMHO it's all about what the market will bear so to speak and what you are willing to take for a piece. What I think my pieces are worth and what they will sell for is at best a crap shoot. I make sticks for the enjoyment of creating them and I don't consider the time invested as anything more than a pleasurable hobby. If I tried to equate the time invested in each piece with an hourly rate than my sticks would never sell. The "market" here is craft fairs, word of mouth and posting some pics on Facebook. I do not want my hobby to have me become tied to a device to monitor a website so that is not in the cards for me. I sell a few sticks here and there for $50-$100 depending on the work involved. Folks around here that want a carved hiking stick will normally shell out $60- $75 without a lot of haggling. Start pushing $100 in the Midwest and your work will sit. Out west around the National Parks and Forests folks are looking for that unique souvenir to take home from vacation and a handcrafted hiking stick sells well. If my sticks/carvings sell I buy more tools, if they don't I make do with what I have. The Halloween Pumpkin Heads I made went over quite well so I'm ordering a new mini rotary tool. Keep whittling!
Mark
As far as selling sticks IMHO it's all about what the market will bear so to speak and what you are willing to take for a piece. What I think my pieces are worth and what they will sell for is at best a crap shoot. I make sticks for the enjoyment of creating them and I don't consider the time invested as anything more than a pleasurable hobby. If I tried to equate the time invested in each piece with an hourly rate than my sticks would never sell. The "market" here is craft fairs, word of mouth and posting some pics on Facebook. I do not want my hobby to have me become tied to a device to monitor a website so that is not in the cards for me. I sell a few sticks here and there for $50-$100 depending on the work involved. Folks around here that want a carved hiking stick will normally shell out $60- $75 without a lot of haggling. Start pushing $100 in the Midwest and your work will sit. Out west around the National Parks and Forests folks are looking for that unique souvenir to take home from vacation and a handcrafted hiking stick sells well. If my sticks/carvings sell I buy more tools, if they don't I make do with what I have. The Halloween Pumpkin Heads I made went over quite well so I'm ordering a new mini rotary tool. Keep whittling!
Mark
1 - 20 of 25 Posts
