Popular Post Iguanadon Posted April 7, 2019 Popular Post Report Share Posted April 7, 2019 ... for 2 weeks... Taking a 2 week break after cutting the 21 currently on my drying rack. I have 125 unique puzzles for display and 575 duplicates ready for a total of 700 puzzles to start the season off in two weeks. I have 3 big events back to back and I feel good about my stockpile. Goal is to not have to cut much in between events. If the weather cooperates this year my goal is to sell 1,400. Last year was crazy with double our normal annual rainfall and hurricane Florence hitting us head on. Time to relax before hitting approximately 30 events thru the end of the year. Iggy meflick, John B, barb.j.enders and 12 others 15 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim McDonald Posted April 7, 2019 Report Share Posted April 7, 2019 Lots of sawdust removed and puzzled discovered in all that wood. Storage looks full. Put your feet in the water and enjoy being at the beach. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iguanadon Posted April 7, 2019 Author Report Share Posted April 7, 2019 3 minutes ago, Jim McDonald said: Lots of sawdust removed and puzzled discovered in all that wood. Storage looks full. Put your feet in the water and enjoy being at the beach. I totally forgot, a local store owner messaged me saying she has 3 more of the storage bins I use that she said I can have... I need to pick those up... then I'll have to fill them up. LOL lawson56 and meflick 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scrolling Steve Posted April 7, 2019 Report Share Posted April 7, 2019 Scott, That new saw must be humming along ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iguanadon Posted April 7, 2019 Author Report Share Posted April 7, 2019 45 minutes ago, Scrolling Steve said: Scott, That new saw must be humming along ! Yep, the new saw is doing well. It definitely cuts just a little bit slower than the DW, but I'm adapting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rjweb Posted April 8, 2019 Report Share Posted April 8, 2019 Iggy that looks like Walmart’s warehouse, lots of luck with your season, and keep us posted how you are doing, RJ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flarud Posted April 8, 2019 Report Share Posted April 8, 2019 That 3rd rack over looks kinda low,, you better get to cutting! LOL Iguanadon 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JTTHECLOCKMAN Posted April 8, 2019 Report Share Posted April 8, 2019 Good luck with the shows. Looks like the economy is holding true and should be prosperous. If you had to guess or maybe you already know what is your top seller and does it change from year to year?? Would you happen to know how many you have sold of your top seller?? if you have a photo that would be nice too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wombatie Posted April 8, 2019 Report Share Posted April 8, 2019 Are you sure you have enough, we don't want you running out of the best sellers do we? Good luck with the up coming events. Marg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lawson56 Posted April 8, 2019 Report Share Posted April 8, 2019 Iggy once you get those baskets full,Just prop your feet up, relax,enjoy some down time, because vending season will be here quick. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iguanadon Posted April 8, 2019 Author Report Share Posted April 8, 2019 8 hours ago, JTTHECLOCKMAN said: Good luck with the shows. Looks like the economy is holding true and should be prosperous. If you had to guess or maybe you already know what is your top seller and does it change from year to year?? Would you happen to know how many you have sold of your top seller?? if you have a photo that would be nice too. HI JT, you're speaking with a numbers geek and an Excel spreadsheet crazy person I know precisely how many I sell of each item and rank them at the end of each year. On the photo above of my inventory, the items in green are my top 25 sellers. Here is the list of my top 10 and how many I sold of each one last year. The top 10 items sold made up 25% of total sales. I sold 171 different unique puzzles last year. Unicorn 40 Dachshund 38 Mermaid 36 Shark 35 Dragon 31 Rescue 28 Elephant 26 Golden 22 Giraffe 21 T-Rex 21 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodmaster1 Posted April 8, 2019 Report Share Posted April 8, 2019 Awesome supply of puzzles. Just think before your season is over you only have to cut 800 more. That's only a couple days work.( lol) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heppnerguy Posted April 8, 2019 Report Share Posted April 8, 2019 wow. You are one busy guy. That is one heck of a lot of puzzles. Dick heppnerguy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JTTHECLOCKMAN Posted April 8, 2019 Report Share Posted April 8, 2019 Thanks Iggy. I would not have guessed Unicorn. My guess would have been dogs because many people can relate with pets. Do you find those numbers to hold true year to year or does it vary?? Maybe a certain kids movie comes out and drives sales differently?? Do you keep things generic or can you get specific say like Batman or Disney character?? I bet you get stories from the customers so what is your best story?? Has a grown up said the puzzle was for them, maybe as a fidget thing at work.??? What is your least sellable puzzle?? Do you have one puzzle that is either time consuming or you just hate making but need to because it is requested?? I know lots of questions but thought this would be a good time to get some insight into the Puzzle Master here. You mention many times here you shows and the making and selling of these. I know I find it fascinating that one has taken a simple scrolling idea and ran with it and has become a great success. I think at one time you mentioned a local paper did a story on you and your artform, is that true?? Do you display this at your shows proudly to let people know you are a celebrity?? You are our celebrity and wish you continued success. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iguanadon Posted April 8, 2019 Author Report Share Posted April 8, 2019 (edited) 53 minutes ago, JTTHECLOCKMAN said: Thanks Iggy. I would not have guessed Unicorn. My guess would have been dogs because many people can relate with pets. Do you find those numbers to hold true year to year or does it vary?? Maybe a certain kids movie comes out and drives sales differently?? Do you keep things generic or can you get specific say like Batman or Disney character?? I bet you get stories from the customers so what is your best story?? Has a grown up said the puzzle was for them, maybe as a fidget thing at work.??? What is your least sellable puzzle?? Do you have one puzzle that is either time consuming or you just hate making but need to because it is requested?? I know lots of questions but thought this would be a good time to get some insight into the Puzzle Master here. You mention many times here you shows and the making and selling of these. I know I find it fascinating that one has taken a simple scrolling idea and ran with it and has become a great success. I think at one time you mentioned a local paper did a story on you and your artform, is that true?? Do you display this at your shows proudly to let people know you are a celebrity?? You are our celebrity and wish you continued success. Good questions and I'm happy to answer... let me know if I miss anything you asked: 1) Unicorn is absolutely the favorite. Females of all ages go nuts over it, along with the Mermaid. 2) Overall, dogs are my top seller. I keep stats on sales by "category". Dogs account for almost 40% of overall sales and the rest are spread out between SEA/BEACH, ZOO/FARM, MYTHICAL/DINOSAURS and CATS/HORSES. I take 66 different breeds of dog with me just so that when someone walks up and says "I bet you don't have a Shar-Pei." I can say "I bet I do." and show it to them and more times than not, they'll buy it. If I don't have a specific breed with me, I rarely am able to get them to place an order for it after letting them know I can make it. My silly little puzzles are purely an impulse buy. 3) I don't ask Harvey to do anything that would be trademarked or copyrighted like Batman, Disney, sports teams, etc. 4) I'd say that at least half, if not more of my sales are for adults. I state that they're mostly for display purposes, put on a bookshelf and admire versus being played with by kids due to them being somewhat fragile. Dog lovers in particular simply adore their breed of dog and simply must have it. I sell a number of "manly" ones as well such as the Dragon and the Yeti that grown men get a chuckle out of and buy to put on their desk at work. 5) Least sellable... so, of the 172 different animals I sold last year, 61 of them I only sold one of. 19 of them I only sold two of. If I make something and it doesn't sell for a few months, when it finally does sell I simply don't make it again. No reason to waste space on my tables. I like displaying 125 different dog breeds and animals in order to give folks lots of options and it makes them linger at the booth longer and I'm able to convince them they must have one to take home. 6) The one I dislike making... Havanese dog is #1 in that category... hairiest damn dog I've seen. LOL The GOLDENDOODLE was another one I disliked making until I had Harvey change it to just say DOODLE. I have a couple of others that I'll groan when I see it's next to be cut, but nothing horribly annoying. And a couple of things you didn't ask, but I'd like to share that I feel good about... 1) I truly fell in love with Harvey's work in 2015 when I came across his patterns and am glad I was able to track him down, get to know him and then start selling his patterns for him. I make almost nothing selling them, but I wanted his work to have a 2nd life and be seen more widely and I think I've accomplished that. By sharing my work and my success making and selling them I have customers (puzzle zombies as I like to call them) literally across the globe buying his patterns now and I outsell Wooden Teddy Bear every single month as Harvey likes to let me know. And I give Harvey more per pattern sale than WTB does. Not knocking WTB, they have a full blown business to run. I'm doing it purely as a friendship thing for Harvey. 2) Last week I got a message from one of my new puzzle zombies letting me know how much he appreciates me sharing my work as well as suggestions, ideas and learning lessons I've learned over the past 3 years. He is a disabled veteran with PTSD and he said that cutting the puzzles is one of the most relaxing things he has come across. His wife loves the puzzles and is showing them to everyone they know and he's cutting them for friends and family and looking to start selling them at craft events soon. I always knew that I found it relaxing to make them and I'm glad to hear others do as well. A lot of folks find me on YouTube as I've done several videos showing me cutting them as well as my booth setup at events. If you're bored sometime check 'em out, just search on my name Scott Seifer And lastly, I'm as surprised as anyone how "successful" this whole thing has been... I started making basic puzzle items for my grand-daughter, next thing I know, I'm selling 1,100 puzzles at 25-30 events a year... all while maintaining a full time job AND starting up another business for tourist maps and guides for my home town. I love every minute of it. Everyone in town knows me as either "Scott the puzzle guy" or "Scott the map guy". I keep getting asked to run for mayor... that will wait for a little while. Iggy Edited April 8, 2019 by Iguanadon barb.j.enders 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JTTHECLOCKMAN Posted April 8, 2019 Report Share Posted April 8, 2019 I can see why that type pattern would be a little bit of a hassle. The one question you did not mention is the notoriety. Did you get a write up one time before by a paper and if not there should be. Would make a fascinating story. The inside story of the Puzzleman. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iguanadon Posted April 8, 2019 Author Report Share Posted April 8, 2019 18 minutes ago, JTTHECLOCKMAN said: I can see why that type pattern would be a little bit of a hassle. The one question you did not mention is the notoriety. Did you get a write up one time before by a paper and if not there should be. Would make a fascinating story. The inside story of the Puzzleman. I had actually forgotten about it, but you reminded me... I did receive a bit of notoriety just before Chistmas 2017 when a local newspaper had come across me at an event and asked if I'd mind if they included me in a story they were doing. https://portcitydaily.com/local-news/2017/12/12/unique-places-to-get-holiday-gifts-in-the-wilmington-area-biz/ I guess I'll need to start working on my memoires. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iguanadon Posted April 8, 2019 Author Report Share Posted April 8, 2019 Oh, and even bigger, Steve Good stumbled across me at some point and he did a couple of write-ups on me. (scroll down a little to find it) http://scrollsawworkshop.blogspot.com/2017_08_24_archive.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JTTHECLOCKMAN Posted April 9, 2019 Report Share Posted April 9, 2019 I thought I remembered you getting some print. Great job and keep up the good work. May you keep making the saw dust and making people happy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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