[Woodcarver] sites

[Mike Bloomquist]

John,

I'm still at the arts and craft show stage that Mush talked about.  Yvonne
and I have slowly been moving up to the more expensive venues (like Artistry
in Wood in Dayton, Ohio) because they will sell the $100-$300+ items.  It's
amusing that, at a distance, the customers look the same, but what they
drove there in probably cost a bit more than my Hyundai <G>.  Arts and craft
shows work for us because we combine it with our travel a little bit and get
mileage credit for our tax's C schedule.  I've done a co-op gallery in Old
Forge, NY and that was fun for several years, but not that profitable.  When
I wanted to teach more, my buddy Harold took my spot at the co-op and does
much better there than I did because he keeps his inventory up.

 

Like Mush, Harold has also had really good results with galleries.  You have
to get over the 40% (or more) cut they take, but it's all about location,
location, location.  It's very easy to triple your prices for a gallery and
still make out better than the arts and craft shows because postage is
cheaper than fuel and lodging any day.  You miss the client interaction but
they have the clientele that more readily appreciate the art, and you'll
never hear "Well, I could make that myself" even though maybe they could
;-).

 

I hate to keep echoing Mush here, but I love the website for unusual
commissions that make you push out your comfort zone.   Thanks to the
website I have carved two Hanuman plaques for a Yoga studio in Manhattan, a
wood spirit in Iceland, and an Odin themed walking staff in California (that
received a "killer" rating).  

 

All in all the best outlet for wood carvings I see is the galleries, but it
doesn't hurt to combine them with the others as you can.

 

Keep on Carvin' 
-Mike B.-> 
Wooden Dreams Woodcarving 
http://www.woodendreamz.com 

-----Original Message-----
From: woodcarver-bounces at six.pairlist.net
[mailto:woodcarver-bounces at six.pairlist.net] On Behalf Of jjellies at aol.com
Sent: Monday, June 16, 2008 9:37 AM
To: Woodcarver at six.pairlist.net
Subject: [Woodcarver] sites

 

Greetings all wood-lovers. I was wondering, for those of you who sell your
carvings, what have you found most comfortable for your style and situation?
Shows, art fairs, your own websites, hosted sites, etc.? 

 

Some of you are sure pros, and seem to have it down, others of us mostly do
it for fun, but it does seem there is a large in between who also sell. In
looking at the carvings on etsy.com I see the range, with some absolutely
outstanding carvings but with about 1000-2000 items listed, is there a
market there? My metalwork gets lost with many 100,000's of listings of such
things so if I posted woodcarvings I can't help but wonder if time and
energy isn't better spent in other venues (or just not selling and
continuing my avocation just for the heck of it...LOL)

 

Best,

 

JohnJ 

  _____  

Get
<http://toolbar.aol.com/moviefone/download.html?ncid=aolcmp00050000000011>
the Moviefone Toolbar. Showtimes, theaters, movie news, & more! 

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://six.pairlist.net/pipermail/woodcarver/attachments/20080617/967c4266/attachment.html>