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New Turner Pricing

Paul Rains

Paul Rains

Joined
Mar 27, 2009
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Location
Richmond KY
Not sold any bowls before, but I did donate a small walnut NE to charitable acution the other night and brought $60. How do you price bowls starting out, no doubt my bowls are not quite quality or worksmanship of some of the ones I see here, or see at craft venues. Where do you start? I have friendly aquaintenances from work etc. that wish to have one.

See picture for latest turnings, large cherry bowl is 12 inches across for scale, oak to back, red elm in front.

Give me price ranges, and your experiance starting out. Also I have farily affluent clientele that I have been in contact with thus far.


Thanks
 

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I've been given a couple of different formulas.
First, and most importantly, don't cut the throat of the guys who do this for a living.
Second, take your daily wage, multiply it by two, then add for consumables and wood. Tack on some profit and you have a price.
I've found it more profitable to not sell any work at all. No kidding. Between teaching and writing I'm probably further ahead. I figure the time it takes to market, setup and tear down at shows, plus costs.
I don't think there is a fortune to be made selling competing items, so I don't.
 
HI Paul, I would urge you NOT to be too anxious to begin selling your work, especially if you feel your work is not up to the level of other's work you have seen. You should be selective to WHO sells your work, and it requires a high level of skill to have your work represented by a quality gallery. There is a lot of competition out there! Too many turners will try to sell their work for less than the next guy, and I feel that is a mistake that hurts us all. There will always be someone out there willing to sell their work for less than the next guy; don't fall into that trap. I would recommend having a trusted turner evaluate your work, and give you honest suggestions based on their critique. You don't want to put pieces on the market that you may regret later.
 
One point that hasn't been made, at least not directly, with respect to not being in too great a hurry to sell your turnings is that you begin building a reputation as soon as you sell your first piece. Your customer base will either view your work as workman like, craft like, amateur or masterful artistry. Once you begin to build a reputation you'll find that, even if your work improves over time, the price of your work will have fairly well fixed and you may find you're not getting what you believe your work is worth.
Just a point of view from what I've seen over the past couple of years.
 
Limited

I am in similiar situation as David, I don't plan to give up my day job LOL😀 I have a few people who told me they would like to buy a bowl like previous ones I have turned, I am considering set up a tent at a few Bluegrass festivals I attend, if I could sell a bowl or two, it would pay for my festival and campsite. The rest of the year I will be turning for family and close friends, coaching football and the other things I do for the love of it.
 
Personal sized bowls in the 6 to 8 inch range from $15 to $30. 12 inch salad bowls from $60 to $100. 14 and bigger bowls from $100 to $500. Depends on the wood, as in how rare, how much figure, and how much I like the piece. Depends on where I am selling as locally cheaper, more expensive on the road. Natural edge bowls are more expensive because they are 'art'. Figuring hourly is difficult. An 8 inch bowl used to take me 45 to 60 minutes to turn. I can turn the same bowl in less than 5 minutes now, some 8,000 or so bowls later. Sanding time is usually about the same as turning time. See if you can find some one else locally who sells and compare prices and quality. I have seen ugly pieces with tear out and bad finished with prices higher than mine, and pieces as good as mine going cheaper. Do sign and date your pieces. You may eventually become famous.
robo hippy
 
It is interesting that most of the previous responses price their work with relation to size of piece. whilst I understand that there is a rationale behind this I think it creates a problem for people who make only small work. For example the Del Mano Treasures exhibition all pieces are less than 6x6 but are not priced in this way. I appreciate that the turners who are fortunate enough to be selling there are not the average turner but I still feel that continuing to relate size with price is perhaps not always the best way.

Richard
 
Ask the retail price when you sell direct. Remember you need to get "paid" for the time you spend in the booth..... Galleries take a commission from 40-60% when you sell direct the commission is yours. I use the "commission" as the discount amount I give when a friend purchases a piece....

Go to local shows. check out the prices other turners are asking. compare your work to theirs.

Often folks get their feet wet in the market place with a booth half full of of small gift items. pens, bottle stoppers, key chains, Christmas ornaments......

Happy Turning,
Al
 
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Selling bowls

"It's easier to make a bowl, than it is to sell it." I've been turning bowls to sell for 4 years now.
I was fortunate to have Ray Leier of the delMano gallery find my work very interesting and wanted to sell it.
The market for my artwork in Los Angles is so much better than it is here in Niagara Falls, of course the commissions are much higher also.

Creating a unique pattern of designs is the key to success in selling your bowls. Look at all the successful artists out there and you'll find something in common about their work; Uniqueness and very high quality.

I have given to more bowls charity than I've sold, this was the main reason started turning in the first place. I was very lucky people wanted my work enough to pay for it.

Pricing your work takes some research; look at other bowls about the same size and shape and you'll get some idea how much you can ask for your work. Being an emerging artist it's much harder to sell on the internet.
I hope all the posts here answered your question.
 
Hey Mark, I checked out your website...very cool stuff. I think there are two ways of looking at one's work. When we price what we make by the inch, we are looking at the things we produce as little more than commodities. What separates one turner's work from anothers? Price alone? Size alone? There is a different, riskier approach; creating pieces from the heart that reflect something of the maker. Unique, signature work. It's not an easy thing to accomplish, but we all have a unique perspective if we dare apply it to our work. In that case, size is irrelevant.
 
Successfully pricing your work really depends on several things totally separate from your turning abilities.

First is who your customers are. High-end art galleries have different clientele than low-end, just as county fairs have different ones than wine festivals, or music festivals. Art shows vary considerably as well. Also, specific venues will draw people looking for different styles (contemporary, traditional, museum, functional, etc.).

Second is will these customers have spendable money. A small church 'country fair' in the right location will probably have more real buyers than a large 'art festival' located in metropolitan inner city, especially today. Galleries can be a little harder to judge, as you've got to look at tourist potential as well.

Another issue is you've got to decide on what you want to accomplish. If you're looking to make a considerable percentage of your income from turning, you should develop a business plan that has strategic goals (making a 'name' for yourself, developing skills, developing an 'image', etc.) and tactical ones (sales goals, numbers and kinds of venues yearly, etc.). If you're looking to keep your home from overflowing with pieces, you can sell at next to nothing.

Then there's the old business axiom that the right price is the one that a both sides will accept. It's not what I might want to sell something at, it's the one that someone will actually buy the piece at. My wife and I do a considerable amount of art, craft, wine, music and whatever shows (even did an antique auto show). If I've the time and an upcoming show is very different from the last one, I may tweak my prices a bit, but not by much. While she only sells at shows, I've a few other venues that have worked well over the years.

Last comment is that I've had two of my galleries close in the past year and sales have really slowed at shows as well. It's very hard to set a selling price when you've no buyers at all, and I won't set one below cost or have 'sale pricing'. The economy will get better though, just have to be patient.
 
I get my best advice on pricing and marketing from non-woodturners. About once a year myself, and bronze artist and a fabric artist get together for a few beers and pizza then discuss each others work. They have been a great help with my pricing. They have also been right on as to what will sell and what won't regradless of price. Color, carving, and inlay sells for me as they said it would, 'brown and round' regardless of figure just doesn't move.

The craft items such pens & bottle stoppers can be a great seller or a great distraction depending on the audience. I enjoy alot of stoppers (and enjoy it) they sell well most of the time but I wonder if my other work would be taken more seriously if the Stoppers were not displayed.

Frank
 
First: Mark, I love your work, it's all wonderfully done! For those of you who missed the link: http://placek.info/Squarebowls.html.

To add my opinion (experience) with selling your finished work, sell at competitive prices and be aware of what and who your market/customers are before have high expectations.

It's a big world and don't go by what a bowl turner is selling his work for in San Francisco if you live in the middle of Kansas. It doesn't sound like you're going to be competing with the professional turners (just yet!) so you won't be uncutting them at your local Bluegrass Festival.

As one person said, the best price is the one where the person giving you his hard-earned money is as happy as you are with selling your creative work to him for that amount.

Also, as you get better, your customer base will change so don't worry about raising your prices and losing one or two customers. You'll only lose the ones that just want a bowl and don't care about creativity vs time vs price.

Good luck and I hope you make a fortune! 😉
 
Wow Mark!

I just took a look at the Zebra wood conference table that you built!

All I can say is that my heart skipped a beat.... I'm envious of the person that commissioned that piece! Outstanding!
 
Good information, I particularly liked what you said Reed. What do you have to say about selling at National parks such as the Grand Canyon, and Zion national park gift shops?
 
Pricing Pieces

I would agree with most of the previous turners pricing points. I do pay attention to hours spent, cost of wood and any and all other products used to produce the end results. In addition to that I factor tool wear and a shop fee for electrical ect. That will give me a nice ballpark figure, that will allow me to vary with the following:
1. The venue (gallery, art show or craft show)
2. Geographic location (The Hamptons, Boca Raton or Hooterville)
3. Wow factor (how much I want to keep the piece)
I consider each of these in order and adjust the ballpark figure accordingly.
Of the three, the most important to me is the wow factor. I define that as the price point at which I am happy to sell, because of the confidence that I can reproduce that exact wow factor in the next piece.
Once you have that price, you sell to your friends at a fixed percentage discount of that price.
Hope this is helpful,
Dwight
 
I pretty much follow what Robo said. I do sell at two galleries and it is a 70/30deal. They do all the paperwork and wrapping/packing so it works for me.
 
simple

How long does it take you? How much do you value your time?

A lot depends on your quality and ascetics.
 
Bowl Pricing

Dear Paul, I have been turning and selling my work for 1 year now. I am going to post a full report of my experience when time permits. The bowls you show would sell for between $75 and $125. depending on venue. Your bowls might only bring $40 at a farmer's market, but $125. at a high end craft show in the same town. Where you sell them is very important.
 
This is a subject that comes up from time to time, and it's interesting to see the many and varied opinions being expressed about pricing your work.

Books could be written about it, and every one of them will express an opinion. Anyone's theory or formula may be valid if the input data were all the same.....but, the variables are so numerous that rules will only exist to be broken.

I also have an opinion, and could write a book, but here are a couple of random points I'd like to offer:

A potential buyer will not think of, or care how much money you've spent on materials and shop supplies.....neither will he (she) have any conception of how much time is invested in the making of your object of art.

Unless your name has recognition, the only thing that really matters is whether a potential buyer likes your work enough to buy it. It's up to you to display your work in a location that will have browsers that are most likely to share your concept of artistic merit.

Don't pursue a gallery that isn't complementary to your style. (A classical violinest isn't going to get much appreciation at a rock concert!)

It's better to give someone a good deal, and recoup some of your costs, than to get top dollar for everything you make.....and not sell it. There are those other items that have that "wow factor" that Dwight Bullock speaks of. These are the ones to get top dollar for.......but, then again, we probably all have been surprised that certain pieces we've made sold so quick!......another rule, that just begs to be broken with the right set of one-time circumstances.......!

This post is already long enough to guarantee a lot of you won't read it......so, done for now.

ooc

(Pardon me for mis-spellings. New computer. Anyone know of a good free spell checker? I was using the Google spell checker, but I really don't want that big Google tool bar to go along with it.)
 
Paul,
First of all I like your work, so keep it up😉
Now I'm in the same position you are. I want to market my work and have tried several venues with some success and failures.
The wife does custom jewelry and we combined at a few festivals. My work was admired but didn't sell very well, but when she was invited to a special showing at a gallery show she took along some of my work and it sold.
So this just goes to show you that you have to feel out your markets and pricing to be successful, at least that is what I'm thinking.

Good luck and keep turning!!🙂
 
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Having not sold any of my work, I really have no dog in this fight. But I do have some similar experiences as others. I recently priced some natural edge bowls, based on "what I wanted to get". They went into a fairly new gallery and sat there during several open houses and shows.

After a couple months, I got a call from the gallery owner. We had a long chat about my work and the pricing, what visitors to the gallery thought, and some of their comments. Things like "I like it, but it's way more than I am willing to spend". Bottom line, at least for this gallery, was that to actually sell, prices need to match buyer's willingness to pay. Paul identified the range that I eventually settled on...$75-125 retail. Yeah, it means that I wind up with 60% of that for my profit, but maybe something will actually sell.
 
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