Creating your own products to sell online is definitely a
unique way to be your own supplier. A lot of people really love
to buy unique items that cater to craftsmanship. If you have
good skills you can do well.
Traditionally when you think of wooden items that are for sale,
you think of the traditional items you see at crafts sales. It
used to be that spice racks, paper towel holders and picture
frames were the most common item. This has always bothered me
since they are such basic and mundane items that don’t really
cater to the skills of real craftsman. Even in my 11th grade
shop class when most guys were making sconces, I wanted to make
something practical. So I built a cabinet to house my stereo. To
me this made sense. I bought the wood for $11 and ended up with
something that we used in our home for years. This is how buyers
think as well, give them something they can use and that they
cannot regularly find in a typical department store.
Target Audience
Think of who your target audience is when thinking of a product
to make. Large target audiences give you a better chance of
selling your product on a regular basis. The typical woodworking
items discussed above are often purchased by an “older” target
audience. The problem is, they are not a large user of the
internet shopping portals. This group is changing and starting
to access shopping online, but start out with a better chance to
make consistent sales.
Another idea to keep in mind is to do your research. Take the
time to look through the completed items portion of EBay. You
can find out a lot about what items sell by looking at auctions
that already closed and sold their items. You can do this
several ways including accessing the “what’s hot” section of
EBay, (go to sitemap at top of page and then scroll down half
way down in the middle of the screen) I have found that unusual
items sell the best.
Think about this, table legs. Table legs that are handmade and
unique, sell very well. Don’t take my word for it, do your
research. A lot of woodworkers come online to buy a part of a
project they cannot make themselves. Most table legs require the
use of a lathe to make them. A lot of shops don’t have a lathe
in their arsenal. Woodworkers tend to stock their shops with a
limited budget with the die hard basic tools. You can also use a
legacy ornamental mill to make some excellent table legs that
will fetch high prices. Most people will wince at the thought of
spending the bigger dollars to get the mill. However you can
make some items on it that you cannot get or make anywhere else.
I call these short cut tools. They make killer projects but cost
premium dollars. The extra dollars can be justified quite easily
by making more sales and the tools area tax write off, if you
structure your business. I use woodworking shows to get great
ideas on what to market. The vendors are eager to help you
figure out a unique product that you can make with their tool.
Again the key is to think outside the box.
Woodworking articles
Labels: General
by: Router Table Depot
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]