Been A Good Year For Sellers It Seems

[kmmcrafts]

My sales are finally winding down and I'm ready for a vacation .. I made a lot of money this year and going to go somewhere with the $30 worth of profit I made.. Anyone know a good spot to go in Michigan since I've got $30 to spend.. I have a family of 5 so thinking maybe McDonalds could be affordable.. I heard that sometimes you actually get change back when going there... I've never been there.. anyone verify that? be nice to feed all of us and get a little change back.

I'm thinking.. if my profit keeps growing year over year... I bet in about 5-8 more years I'll be able to go to the McDonald's down in Indiana because I'll be able to put gas in the van too..   Whew Whoo.. Hoping everyone has done as good or better than I have this year..

[JTTHECLOCKMAN]

Glad to read you had a good year Kevin. From the reports coming through here it looks like the shows have done better than the last year and maybe last 2 years. I know I did better. Not sure it was because the new items I changed over to or that the economy had some life to it this year. Never know from year to year. So hope things get even better next year. This is what we do to keep our sanity.  

[ike]

My year has not been up to par, every show this year has had bad weather except for the one on Dec.8, it's been rain also which slowed Downy the attendance. but I did come out $500 profit. I use ally have a profit of about $1000. no complaisance because this is a hobby. and nest year wil be better.

IKE

[NC Scroller]

I only do two shows a year and have been doing them both for 8+ years.  I do VERY well in each.  Income was up.  Rough guess is my income was up at least 10% from 2017.  It is only a hobby for me.  

[orangeman]

It was a good year because the economy is rockin and rolling and folks have $$ to spend!

My show sales were on a par with last year BUT the website sales in Oct - Dec were triple what they were last year.

98% of the website sales were from folks who saw me at craft shows.

I've had offers from web designers to fine tune my website but the prices they charge are outrageous. Anywhere from $300-500 per month!

bb

[kmmcrafts]

I'm glad to hear everyone has done decent with sales.. 

I figured I'd not make as much as last year because I shut down a lot of sites that I was selling on.. But not big profit sites but enough profit to add a decent amount of income between them all.. But my plan to drop all of those sites and start up a Amazon store put me ahead of last years profits by a large amount..  I could have probably done about 25% better had I been more prepared with inventory.. My hottest sellers had been sold out before my busiest time even hit.. and I had message after message of if/when there might be more stock added to the site...

Sales are still flowing in but have slowed up.. I have orders that aren't scheduled to ship until mid Jan.. and I have some custom / personalized orders to make that are booked out to the end of Jan.. So.. I guess it's a good start to the new year..? LOL  I say that with a ? because I was ready for a break, LOL.. even though after being so busy this slow down is nice because it's not completely dead and I'm not bored all of a sudden.. I spaced out the orders for the new year with extra " rest " times.. so I'm not pressured to get them out before Christmas or anything like that, LOL Most likely take the next couple weeks real slow as the kids will be on Christmas break etc.. and we have to take that vacation to try McDonalds LOL..

Edited December 21, 2018 by kmmcrafts

[JAC1961]

I only did my first craft show this year.  I did well enough to try more next year.  I make mixed wood crafts, maybe only 15-20% being scroll sawed.

What really made the day was the last sale of the day for $85... to my former work supervisor... trust me, I deserved it. 

Edited December 22, 2018 by JAC1961
typo

[ScollSaw Slasher]

Hey Kevin, isn't there a restaurant in Saginaw where you can get a BLT with a pound or two of bacon in it. Add some greasy fries and you can feed all five and be a real hero for probably 30 bucks.

[kmmcrafts]

12 minutes ago, ScollSaw Slasher said:

Hey Kevin, isn't there a restaurant in Saginaw where you can get a BLT with a pound or two of bacon in it. Add some greasy fries and you can feed all five and be a real hero for probably 30 bucks.

You must of seen that on the show Dinners Drive Ins and Dives, LOL... They featured one of the restaurants not too far from me in Pottersville.. I'm not sure about the one in Saginaw.. but Saginaw is a good 2 hours from me I think.. 

   

[Toothpick]

At what point did you (anyone in general) decide you wanted to start selling? 

I’ve toyed with the idea. And might consider it seriously when I get better. But also, I keep thinking about how much of a pain it is. I did retail management for 10 years and got burnt out. I just got away from the selling, managing, business running side of my life. Have a new career I enjoy. 

But also also.....the thought of making this hobby pay for itself is appealing. Selling what i make to save up for a better scroll saw, or to buy supplies, etc. Not necessarily make a living, or profit. But just break even and still enjoy the hobby. 

Anyone just settle for that? 

[edward]

I've done ten shows this year and they were better then the previous years, I started Square last year, and  it yeally helped, although more people seem to have cash this year. Hope everyone did well.

[JTTHECLOCKMAN]

4 hours ago, Toothpick said:

At what point did you (anyone in general) decide you wanted to start selling? 

I’ve toyed with the idea. And might consider it seriously when I get better. But also, I keep thinking about how much of a pain it is. I did retail management for 10 years and got burnt out. I just got away from the selling, managing, business running side of my life. Have a new career I enjoy. 

But also also.....the thought of making this hobby pay for itself is appealing. Selling what i make to save up for a better scroll saw, or to buy supplies, etc. Not necessarily make a living, or profit. But just break even and still enjoy the hobby. 

Anyone just settle for that? 

Could you possibly start this question in a new thread. This way here it gets more attention and does not detract from this one. 

[Toothpick]

7 hours ago, JTTHECLOCKMAN said:

Could you possibly start this question in a new thread. This way here it gets more attention and does not detract from this one. 

You betcha

[jbrowning]

I had a pretty good year. I'm estimating I sold around $1200.00 worth of product including my wooden motorcycles at the race tracks and that was with a full time job. With my job going away in Jan. and having the CNC machine up and running the second weekend of Jan. I'm hoping to have a better year next year.

Jim

[JTTHECLOCKMAN]

54 minutes ago, jbrowning said:

I had a pretty good year. I'm estimating I sold around $1200.00 worth of product including my wooden motorcycles at the race tracks and that was with a full time job. With my job going away in Jan. and having the CNC machine up and running the second weekend of Jan. I'm hoping to have a better year next year.

Jim

Jim what are your plans with the CNC machine if you don't mind me asking??

[jbrowning]

Hi John, I'm hoping to use it to make my motorcycles and my race tracks for this coming race season. And then see where it goes from there. I'm still planning on doing my aminal jigsaw puzzles and other puzzles and portraits on my scroll saws while the CNC machine is cutting out the motorcycles and race tracks. Already have the second shop vac for the CNC, just need to pick up the second dust deputy then I should be ready to go forward from there...or at least that is what I'm hoping to do.

 

[JTTHECLOCKMAN]

1 minute ago, jbrowning said:

Hi John, I'm hoping to use it to make my motorcycles and my race tracks for this coming race season. And then see where it goes from there. I'm still planning on doing my aminal jigsaw puzzles and other puzzles and portraits on my scroll saws while the CNC machine is cutting out the motorcycles and race tracks. Already have the second shop vac for the CNC, just need to pick up the second dust deputy then I should be ready to go forward from there...or at least that is what I'm hoping to do.

 

Oh got you. Thanks for the reply. 

[jbrowning]

No problem at all John. I will try to keep everyone posted on how this goes.

[kmmcrafts]

I bought my CNC and laser more to just play and learn.. them... not really so much as a way to make production for selling products.. I love the true handmade process more than just setting up a machine to make stuff for me... will I change my mind after playing with it.. probably not but.. I may start another store for selling "machine " made stuff if I can learn how to operate the darn things, LOL   

Jim.. I'm not certain the CNC is going to cut those motorcycles like you think it will... I may be wrong as I don't know a lot about them myself.. but I didn't think you could really cut things with them.. well actually you can... but you'll need to leave tabs that'll need to be cut by hand... They are from my understanding.. not as easily done on some of the project like many people think.. My local workbench store has them running making things on display quite often.. I've sat and watched them run for several hours and talked with them about the things they can make and compared to the scroll work I do and much of what I do they say would be doable but with compromises.. I have no idea for sure though... also they don't cut nearly as fast as one really thinks too.. again... I'm really new to that side of woodworking but wanted to learn.. so I may be way off in my thinking of them..   

[jbrowning]

Yeah Kevin, I don't know if the CNC will do what I'm hoping it will do. I know I have the pattern the way I won't it in (whatever software I have for the CNC). But there is only one way to find out, and if it doesn't work out then I will use it to make folks signs like I have been asked many times to do. Either way I'm going to find something for that CNC to do so it doesn't become a $1200.00 boat anchor in my garage.

[kmmcrafts]

17 minutes ago, jbrowning said:

Yeah Kevin, I don't know if the CNC will do what I'm hoping it will do. I know I have the pattern the way I won't it in (whatever software I have for the CNC). But there is only one way to find out, and if it doesn't work out then I will use it to make folks signs like I have been asked many times to do. Either way I'm going to find something for that CNC to do so it doesn't become a $1200.00 boat anchor in my garage.

Looking forward to hearing and seeing some of your projects with the CNC..

What CNC did you get for $1200 if you don't mine my asking?  By the time I bought a couple accessories etc for my CNC I walked out of the store $5000 less than I had when I went in the store.. that almost always happens when I go to that store.. either buying tools or lumber, LOL 

[jbrowning]

Mine is a Shapeoko XL and it looks like it was actually around $1500.00.

[poupster2]

this is my third year doing craft shows and i’ve learned so much! I made my own portable display and am keeping track of the fairs that do good or not. I did 10 craft shows with an average of $500 sales. I’m very pleased with this! Here is my display!

Merry Christmas to all! 

[Rolf]

CNC routing speed , like scrolling, is determined a lot by the cutter size (dia) material and thickness. You obviously cant just plunge into the wood with a 1/8 cutter and let it rip. It has to be done in stages. So it takes time. Also you can't do very sharp corners and the details like you can with a scroll saw.

That said I would like one and I would make custom word signs, house numbers etc. I would also add a laser head to it for doing detailed engraving on certain projects.  But mostly I love playing with new tools and technology.