Jobless (like so many others)

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ngeb528

ngeb528

Member
Joined
Mar 4, 2009
Messages
808
Location
Deland, FL
Hi all,

Both my hubby & I are currently unemployed, which really sucks, and I was thinking about trying to sell some pens at some local (inexpensive) flea markets.

I have about 20-25 slimline kits and, I think, 1 euro kit.

Since I'm going to be selling at flea markets, what would you consider is a good price to sell these pens for? What kinds of prices have you sold slimlines for?

I know they are considered the lowest of the low end pen kits, but that's all I have right now and, maybe if I sell some pens, I can get some higher end kits eventually.

I'm going to try and market them for Mother's and Father's Days, to (hopefully) help boost sales a little.

I don't have a pen stand so we're going to go out a find a couple of small branches, with large enough diameter limbs, to drill holes into and use those to make a couple of pen trees.

I can take some digital pics of the pen making process and print them off, (I'm going based on some posts I've read lately), to dress up the table a little and hide the fact that I don't have a lot of pens.

I can only take cash or checks since I don't have a credit card machine or anything like that.

What other (inexpensive or free) suggestions do you have?

Any advice is appreciated.

Thanks,
Nancy
 
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I get 15-20 dollars for my slims. take them with you everywhere. I have not attended any shows or markets but I have sold them even at micky ds. Ask friends and family to advertise for you. Offer a few to your church and other groups as door prizes at their events so people see your work. Get some cards printed to give out at any shows you attend.
Hope this helps.
Mark
 
what mark said...just keep hawking them...unfortunately I can't add more, as I can't sell a slimline to save my soul..even antler ones..geez
 
You could customize the slims by eliminating the centerband and using a contrasting wood. Then turn it a little fatter or into a euro-style looking pen. Even some simple segmenting would work. The one below is a moded slim that I use at work every day (2 days a week because we are slow too!) and I can't leave it laying around as it grows legs! Good luck with your sales!:)

PS Bloodwood and maple!
 

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Nancy,
Try to build some inexpensive shelves that look like small stairs. It raises the pens for easier viewing and also fills the table. I'll build better ones with more tiers for my next show. In my first show, I had to spread the remaining pens out to fill the gaps. Fill the holes with some wood samples and photos of work in progress as you mentioned. For a closer look, click on the Red symbol in the lower right of the photo.
 
tomcatchevy said:
You could customize the slims by eliminating the centerband and using a contrasting wood. Then turn it a little fatter or into a euro-style looking pen. Even some simple segmenting would work. The one below is a moded slim that I use at work every day (2 days a week because we are slow too!) and I can't leave it laying around as it grows legs! Good luck with your sales!:)

PS Bloodwood and maple!
Click to expand...


We've been discussing doing some customizing.

Before we were both out of jobs, we purchased a used bandsaw, so we're going to try some of that. I've got some ideas on some customization that I haven't seen before, but I'll borrow other people's ideas too, if they don't mind.

Thanks,
Nancy
 
Check with the local gift shops and jewlery stores , they are the perfect place to sell your pens . You should SELL them to the shops though , consignment almost never works to your advantage , and sometimes it works against you .
 
I carry mine in a case in my car and show them to people all the time. I use a nice pen that I made and when people ask about it I tell them I made it. That's the lead in and then they ask and I show them. PM me your address and I will send you a couple of extra kits and bushings that I have just sitting around so you have some variety to sell. You can make key rings out of the ends and they sell for a few dollars and attract people. You can just get the key ring from Home Depot and then screw an eye hook with some glue on it into the piece you have turned and you have a key ring with a decorative piece.
Look at the other things we make thread and there is a simple designs for a pen stand. You could make it out of pine and either paint it or sand it. You could also just lay them on a nice cloth on the table. Make sure you have some paper for people to write on to try the pens out. Everybody likes to write with them. I sell slim lines with/without a custom CB and they sell well. Good luck.
 
I know you were asking for ideas that were of no cost, but one thought is if can find some used shell casings and make some cartridge pens. not hard to turn and sell for a bit more then a regular slim.
 
flyingmelon said:
I know you were asking for ideas that were of no cost, but one thought is if can find some used shell casings and make some cartridge pens. not hard to turn and sell for a bit more then a regular slim.
Click to expand...

I've never made any of those, but I'll check with my hubby and see if he has any. I'll have to check the library here to see how you make them.

Thanks for the idea.
 
I like having retailer taking my pens on consignment for several reasons. No one as ever refused to take the pens on consignment. My deal is 70/30 so I make more on my pens than if I sell then to a retailer. They want to by at 50% of my list. I don't have to pay any tax on the sales as the retailer does that. I can generally pick their pens and put in the ones that sell best. 10 retailer selling a couple of pens a week adds up nicely. I average over 50 pens a month and times like Mother's Day, Father's Day, Graduation and Christmas create hot times and sales will go to 75 pens/mo. or more.

And I enjoy servicing my retailers. They have gotten to be friends. I switch out some of the slow sellers, replace the sold ones with more of the same and add new stuff. I give them felt bags for their customers and we work on a handshake. I have no contracts or any paper work except for what I keep. And my best 2 retailers are a Western Wear & Tack shop and a little Art Gallery. My pens are the cheapest thing in the gallery and sit right in front of a $28,400 bronze sculpture (that has been there for 8 years)...good contrast.

Something might work better for someone else but I have found my niche. I may not get fat and rich but hell, I'm already fat so one outta 2 ain't bad.

BTW, here are a couple of our family who could use some help. If you got a couple extra pen kits, bushings, mandrels, glue, sandpaper, wood, acrylic or anything they can use that is just taking up space in your shop and you'll never use them. Put them in a box and send them to Nancy and her hubby. It'll make you feel good doing it and it will help one of our own. My box goes in the mail tomorrow. You can PM me for Nancy's shipping address.
 
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George, you're a gem! I'm going to ditch my hubby and steal you from Kathy.

Uh oh, he heard that and is threatening to beat you up.

If I can't steal you from Kathy, I'll just adopt you. How's that? :wink:

Thanks for all your support.
 
If you want to post your address, no telling what you might get. These are a generous bunch of folks. Or you can PM me with it so I can at least get my box in the mail.

Good luck, George
 
OldWrangler said:
If you want to post your address, no telling what you might get. These are a generous bunch of folks. Or you can PM me with it so I can at least get my box in the mail.

Good luck, George
Click to expand...

Thanks so much, George.

Good idea about posting my address, thanks for suggesting it.

Nancy Fleming
2041 Anchor Ave
Deland, FL 32720
 
nava1uni said:
I carry mine in a case in my car and show them to people all the time. I use a nice pen that I made and when people ask about it I tell them I made it. That's the lead in and then they ask and I show them. PM me your address and I will send you a couple of extra kits and bushings that I have just sitting around so you have some variety to sell. You can make key rings out of the ends and they sell for a few dollars and attract people. You can just get the key ring from Home Depot and then screw an eye hook with some glue on it into the piece you have turned and you have a key ring with a decorative piece.
Look at the other things we make thread and there is a simple designs for a pen stand. You could make it out of pine and either paint it or sand it. You could also just lay them on a nice cloth on the table. Make sure you have some paper for people to write on to try the pens out. Everybody likes to write with them. I sell slim lines with/without a custom CB and they sell well. Good luck.
Click to expand...

I do the same, Plus word of mouth, gets more sales, I also agree on the dumping the stock center band, drill out a piece of contrasting wood, put a tube in it and use that as the center bushing, you can cur it close with your band saw, and square it up on a flat piece of what ever with a piece of sand paper,. There is a MAJOR flea market right where you live, get a spot in the building if at all possible.
I've done that market many times with Jewelry and done well, also check out Cowboys flea market, I'd even try the market in Webster, it's at the butt crack of dawn every Monday, but it's a pretty good market or was 5 years ago.
I know there are a lot of hobby turners in FL. but if your pens look good and you can draw attention, you should do OK, I doubt if you'll retire from it but you might make egg and bean money, I think $15 to 20 would be a reasonable price in the area your in, Make some Signs, Don't over do it, just use some poster board, letter them nicely and keep your table so it looks full. DON'T waste your time on Daytona, that market sucks.
If you can make some stair step risers, and lay the pens in Monty's black boxes spaced out, it will look like you have more than you do, that will help.
 
bitshird said:
There is a MAJOR flea market right where you live, get a spot in the building if at all possible.
Are you talking about Rettingers? I don't think I can afford them. I've emailed them with a request for info on getting a booth there.

I figured I'd try Daytona with Slimlines but we're going to check it out, this coming weekend, first. What was bad about it?
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
OldWrangler said:
I like having retailer taking my pens on consignment for several reasons. No one as ever refused to take the pens on consignment. My deal is 70/30 so I make more on my pens than if I sell then to a retailer. They want to by at 50% of my list. I don't have to pay any tax on the sales as the retailer does that. I can generally pick their pens and put in the ones that sell best. 10 retailer selling a couple of pens a week adds up nicely. I average over 50 pens a month and times like Mother's Day, Father's Day, Graduation and Christmas create hot times and sales will go to 75 pens/mo. or more.

And I enjoy servicing my retailers. They have gotten to be friends. I switch out some of the slow sellers, replace the sold ones with more of the same and add new stuff. I give them felt bags for their customers and we work on a handshake. I have no contracts or any paper work except for what I keep. And my best 2 retailers are a Western Wear & Tack shop and a little Art Gallery. My pens are the cheapest thing in the gallery and sit right in front of a $28,400 bronze sculpture (that has been there for 8 years)...good contrast.

Something might work better for someone else but I have found my niche. I may not get fat and rich but hell, I'm already fat so one outta 2 ain't bad.

BTW, here are a couple of our family who could use some help. If you got a couple extra pen kits, bushings, mandrels, glue, sandpaper, wood, acrylic or anything they can use that is just taking up space in your shop and you'll never use them. Put them in a box and send them to Nancy and her hubby. It'll make you feel good doing it and it will help one of our own. My box goes in the mail tomorrow. You can PM me for Nancy's shipping address.
Click to expand...

Excellent post. Thank you for this information. I have approached shooting ranges to sell the antler pens with no luck yet. I have a series at a consignment shop that work well. I have two gun shows to experiment with. The Farmer's Market is good for net working and referrals but it is also where I pick up big orders (50 to 400). Looking forward to meeting you some day.
 
Thanks to everyone for your generous 'donations' and support.

It's nice to know that there is support out there for when things get tough. People around here are so great.

I look forward to the time when I can "pay it forward" (hopefully, it will be sooner rather than later) to someone in need.

I'm proud to be part of this group.
 
When I first started, I sold some pens to customers through work, then I hit the streets walking. I went door to door peddling pens. I sold a ton of pens just walking business to business. $10 corian slims..$15 wood slims, $20 segmented wood slims. I started with only a dozen slims in a plastic sandwich bag in my pocket. It did not take long and I was able to quadruple my pens and buy a nice case. The case quadruppled my sales because it looked pretty sad pulling pens out of a zip loc bag. Basically...I started making pens with $350 cash..the lathe, tools, pen accessories for the lathe and a few kits. In 2 yrs, I now have 150 pens, 2 cases, 2 displays, a tent and tables, and probably around $3000 in tooling/lathe accessories, pen blanks and casting stuff. All was paid for with money from selling pens I sold, or pen blanks I made and sold to others here. It's all a matter of drive. People envy the rich people that have all the money, without considering that the rich people worked the hardest to get there. They get kicked in the butt too, but they kick back twice as hard.
 
Sending a small package out tomorrow, Nancy.

Does anyone have an extra set of Atlas bushings they can pass along to Nancy? I have packed a couple Atlas kits but can't find the bushings.
Thanks,
 
Thank you to everyone who has donated supplies and advice in our time of need.

The generosity of this forum is amazing and heartwarming.

I will be posting pictures of the pens we've made - and hope to begin selling soon - from your donations as soon as my camera comes back from being fixed (at least the problem is a recall item so it isn't costing us anything).

Once we get back working, I hope to be able to "pay it forward" so someone else in need.

Thanks from both of us.

Nancy & Paul Fleming
 
Nancy I went to a local cabinet shop and gave them a pen I had made from corin, The material used on cabinets. They gave me all their cut off scraps and now order a pen to match the cabinet top to give as a gift to the customer, I not only am getting all the corian that I can ever use for free but selling a pen to them, This has resulted in several pen orders a week from the cabinet company. Maybe a helpful thought.
 
erbymcbrayer said:
Nancy I went to a local cabinet shop and gave them a pen I had made from corin, The material used on cabinets. They gave me all their cut off scraps and now order a pen to match the cabinet top to give as a gift to the customer, I not only am getting all the corian that I can ever use for free but selling a pen to them, This has resulted in several pen orders a week from the cabinet company. Maybe a helpful thought.
Click to expand...

Erby,

We stopped by a local place and they gave us a sink cutout. Thanks for the suggestion.

Does CA work for gluing it? It's 1/2" and I'd like to make a thicker blank to work with.
 
ngeb528 said:
Erby,

We stopped by a local place and they gave us a sink cutout. Thanks for the suggestion.

Does CA work for gluing it? It's 1/2" and I'd like to make a thicker blank to work with.
Click to expand...

Yep.. CA works great. Glue 'top' to 'top' and you will likely never be able to see the seam. Corian would also be a good material to build you own displays with.
 
Nancy

Since we live pretty close to each other send me a pm and we can arrange to meet somewhere and I can set you guys up with a few designer kits and some blanks. I do not have a set of designer bushings but I do have a set for the atlas pen that Becca is sending you. If anyone else has the designer bushings it woud be helpful.

Gregg
 
First - I want to thank everyone, again, for their generosity, advice and encouragement.

This weekend (5/2 & 5/3) Paul and I will be doing our first flea market. I'm mostly ready but still want to turn more pens.

I have a few pen displays (thanks George & Robert) plus LOML, Paul, built me a display to show some pens in their boxes.

Here's a picture of it with some of the nicer pens displayed (pardon the backdrop).
Picture 284.jpg

Also, Paul was able to find a job! Yeah:bananen_smilies051:

Wish us luck...
 
PM me your address - I just bought a bunch of nice wood and cut it into blanks just for pen turning. I would be happy to send you a box to keep you making sawdust.
 
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