One-Source Website?

[BSea]

The more I think about this, there might be a market for the casual turner that just wants to sell a few pens, or for those beginning to sell their pens. They can get their feet wet in a "Mall" type setting. For those who are more established, they would want more control.

This idea isn't for everyone, but there are hundreds of turners on this site. I'm sure that some would be willing to give it a try.

 

[OKLAHOMAN]

The poor horse, he's dead stop beating him. The ones that are for this and the ones that are not. I think we all know where this stands lets see if Josh thinks he can pull this off and just wish him success.

 

[Smitty37]

May I ask the question why?

If you go to a car dealer, does he recommend you go across the street and look at the competition?

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Of course not...he takes you outside and shows them to you. I bought my last vehicle from a dealer who carries 4 competing brands. Chevrolet/GMC, Dodge/Chrysler/Jeep, Mercedes-Benz and BMW. Auto dealers ain't a good example for what you're trying to say.:biggrin:

Not all dealers sell as yours do and you cannot compare a MB or BMW to a Mopar brand or GM.

True enough-Reedman Motors in Langhorne PA sell at least a dozen brands. And we have a dealer here in our area who sells both Toyota and Honda.

I know people here believe in comparing kits when they buy and often choose kits costing double what competitors sell for. Many reasons are cited and price is just one of them and some even buy from a particular vendor regardless of price. Yet the same people will shudder at the very thought of side-by-side comparisons of the pens they produce fearing someone will underprice them. I'm not able to quite understand that.

 

[Joshua_30]

I just noticed this thread and I will put my 2 cents in. In no way will I ever want to join a web site that sells the same kind of pens together. It has been mentioned about price wars. I would never want to lower my prices to be in competition with others of lesser quality. You are defeating the purpose of this hobby. You always want to improve not step backwards.

There is a pen store in a mall in my area and they sell 10000's of pens. You want to know the difference?? It is because they sell brand names. I know of no one on this site who is a brand name. I mention this because that is how the store can sell pens next to each other. People at times buy the brand and not the look. Most big name pen companies always try to distinguish themselves from each other and or have their brand on the pens they sell. Again no one here that I know of has a brand of pen unique to them. Huge difference when putting pens together to sell.

Competition is one thing but when you are competing against the same kit pen what is the sense. That is why I am a huge proponent of hand made blanks that you design and place on the kits. Lets face it we all can not make our own kitless pens and stay in the market. ( If you do I applaud you but you are in the minority) So to distiguish yourself from others you need to distance yourself from the mundane and that is with the dress you put on the jewlery. Now you put these pens in the same site the customer will not see the difference but just look at price and there is no way in H--- I am lowering my constructed blank for some ordinary everyday run of the mill acrylic or piece of wood blank. Huge obstacle.

You run into many stories of people doing craft shows and I have seen it and will continue to see it first hand. People competing for the customer dollar. At least at a show you have the opportunity to go one on one with the potential customer. In your setup a photo is what will make the sale??? Good luck with that.

I read here all the time people complaing about etsy and ebay and the prices people charge. You want to set up basically the same type scenerio.

To make it a worthwhile business you have to do it on your own and do it your way with your personal touch. You do not want someone elses work to promote yours.

Like I said these are some of my thoughts and some have already been mentioned. But you can count on me as never ever ever joining something like this.

I think you maybe better off selling your web designs or whatever you do to help others here. That maybe where your time maybe better spent. Good luck.

The poor horse, he's dead stop beating him. The ones that are for this and the ones that are not. I think we all know where this stands lets see if Josh thinks he can pull this off and just wish him success.

Roy,

Thanks for your words, and I might have just enough support to pull it off...still a lot of research and legwork - but I'm very confident this can become more than an idea.

I also took a glance at the Classic Nib website and have a question. How is what I'm doing any different than the blanks that are displayed on this page? Your objective is to sell to pen turners (similar to ExoticBlanks) website - I think they refer to them as partners.

My objective is to take the best of both worlds and create a middle ground. They (your customers) purchase a blank pre-made or physically cut their own then use further artistic skill to turn the material into perfection and assemble the kit. At this point all that is needed is the sale.

If someone doesn't have a website like yours or doesn't have the time to attend shows/fairs or start-up funds for a website + SSL certificates + shopping carts + blogs and marketing....etc.

Much like you have done bringing "blanks" artists together with known differences to sale their products to pen turners, I'm looking at this same model but bringing complete pen products to the final consumer.

 

[BSea]

Roy,

Thanks for your words, and I might have just enough support to pull it off...still a lot of research and legwork - but I'm very confident this can become more than an idea.

I also took a glance at the Classic Nib website and have a question. How is what I'm doing any different than the blanks that are displayed on this page? Your objective is to sell to pen turners (similar to ExoticBlanks) website - I think they refer to them as partners.

Much like you have done bringing "blanks" artists together with known differences to sale their products to pen turners, I'm looking at this same model but bringing complete pen products to the final consumer.

I do see a difference between what Roy does with Classic Nib. His partners have blanks that are unique to the other partner's blanks. So there is a big difference between the products, and there really no competition inside of his site between the partners.

But your situation could have 10 different pen makers offering a maple burl cigar pen from $10 to $100. While I think that's taking it to the extreme, I think you can see the difference.

But again, I don't see you idea as being a bad idea. I do think it fills a nitch, and I hope it works for you. If for nothing else than to keep people interested in this hobby.

 

[Smitty37]

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I do see a difference between what Roy does with Classic Nib. His partners have blanks that are unique to the other partner's blanks.

And those blanks are often used on identical pen kits to make unique pens --- so I'm not sure why showing all those unique pens at many different prices would be much different.

 

[jttheclockman]

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I do see a difference between what Roy does with Classic Nib. His partners have blanks that are unique to the other partner's blanks.

And those blanks are often used on identical pen kits to make unique pens --- so I'm not sure why showing all those unique pens at many different prices would be much different.

Boy sometimes I think the older you get Smitty the more difficult it is to reason with you. If you take the same pens and put them on a web site where the customer can see them what is he or she going to do??? Think man think. Of course they will purchase the lesser of the prices. The same thing applies when we buy kits or blanks from the various vendors. Now if a maker of such blanks sells his blanks to various vendors and charges them differently than shame on them. Now if the vendor is adding something to cover their expense then we have no recourse. The final decision then comes down to the person who makes the blanks and offers them for sale on the various sites. He will want the best return and that may translate into number of sales as opposed to price.

Now your example of car dealers, again think man think. A person will go into a dealer with a brand in mind. He or she is buying the brand. Now if they have many brands then the salesman will try to sell the person an equivalent or a higher priced car. The thing with this web site there is no salesman to convince the customer to buy an alternative. Again they will see price and price alone.

Once again I will state to combat this you need to bring your own style and have things that no one else has so that they can not be compared. Have those unique blanks. You will not get seasoned pen turners to do this. Yes you may get the newbies who just want to sell something. It is ebay and etsy all over again. Not worth the effort. But I just voice my opinion.

Hey give it a try. Boy it will take alot of work and you have this ambition now but what happens 6 months from now when you get a new craving. You have sales outlets in place already so why not just take advantage of them. I just do not see the need for something like this. Maybe I am looking through blinders because I have no problem going out there and peddling my own wares because I have been doing it for so long. Good luck.

 

[BSea]

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I do see a difference between what Roy does with Classic Nib. His partners have blanks that are unique to the other partner's blanks.

And those blanks are often used on identical pen kits to make unique pens --- so I'm not sure why showing all those unique pens at many different prices would be much different.

But Roy isn't selling pens on his site, he's selling pen making materials. The markets are totally different. If I go to his site as a pen turner, I don't have the option of buying feather blanks that look identical, but are different prices from different partners. There is only 1 partner that features feather blanks, so there is no price discrepancy from different makers. Also, I believe Roy chooses his partners. In Joshua's senario, he wouldn't care if 10 people sold identical products with blanks from EB or CN at varied prices. And he wouldn't/couldn't care what pens were offered, or at what price.

Again, I think his idea has some potential, I just don't see it being anywhere close to what classic nib or exotics does.

 

[Waluy]

Sounds very much like an ETSY scenario to me, with everyone setting their own prices and choices on inventory. Again I think your largest draw back would be Person A makes a slimline and asks $35 because that is what they feel its worth, Person B makes an identical slimline (well as identical as possible) and asks $25 because they know they can "mass" produce them. Which in turn upsets Person A because their work, by virtue of being on the same board/website, could now be seen as overpriced by many potential customers.

In your statement are you viewing this from a pen turner perspective or a customer?

Feelings can get in the way for a lot of people, but my actions depend on the need of my customer base. If person A (above) is a reputable artist and smart in the sense of marketing they might consider lowering their price to stay competitive. If not, they might consider why they are making pens at such as high quality?

I am looking at it from both perspectives I guess. As a customer I can say if I saw two identical products both of the same quality I will almost always choose the cheaper (wouldn't everybody if everything else was equal?). From a turners perspective I know that some people can work in their shops 8-10 hours a day making a living off of pens and as such sell at a cheaper rate. I also know there are others who can do the same quality work but can afford to take less for a product if it means they can edge out competition (Think Wal-mart logic all you have to do is sell cheap enough for long enough to drive competitors out of business then you can make your price whatever you want). Also just because someone else can afford to spend $$$ on kits they get more for less cost and can lower their prices, my sales are not close enough together to make bulk orders (thus taking advantage of discounts) possible.

Just for the sake of numbers lets look at this scenario. If I want to make a Bolt action pen my cost is $14.95 a kit (because I can't afford to buy multiples without finished pens being purchased), someone who sells more could order 50+ and only pay $11.95 a kit. It may not seem like much but when you start adding it up that is a $150 difference over just those 50 pens. The gap gets even larger if you start factoring in things like shipping. Assuming I buy mine one at a time that adds roughly another $7 to each pen kit. So once shipping is factored in over 50 pens (assuming free shipping for an order of 50+ kits) that becomes a 500 dollar difference.

So for me to be able to continue I have to charge $10 more per pen just to net the same amount over 50 sales as the other person. That's not my fault nor the other persons fault.

Not saying its a bad idea it just wouldn't be a workable platform for someone like me (who has to buy one kit at a time) as soon as someone who can place bulk orders steps in unless they sell at my price.

 

[JohnGreco]

If I want to make a Bolt action pen my cost is $14.95 a kit (because I can't afford to buy multiples without finished pens being purchased), someone who sells more could order 50+ and only pay $11.95 a kit.

Actually, the pen cost is more than that after you factor in wear and tear on your cutting tools/time it will take to resharpen (or cost to replace the carbide), glue, sandpaper, buffing polish, electricity to run the machines, electricity to light your shop, heating/cooling, etc... Then there are listing fees or monthly website fees, Paypal fees, credit card fees, etc...

Sorry, I'm not trying to hi-jack! Just felt compelled to point out "what it costs to make a pen" isn't simply the cost of the kit + shipping. Please carry on

 

[Waluy]

If I want to make a Bolt action pen my cost is $14.95 a kit (because I can't afford to buy multiples without finished pens being purchased), someone who sells more could order 50+ and only pay $11.95 a kit.

Actually, the pen cost is more than that after you factor in wear and tear on your cutting tools/time it will take to resharpen (or cost to replace the carbide), glue, sandpaper, buffing polish, electricity to run the machines, electricity to light your shop, heating/cooling, etc... Then there are listing fees or monthly website fees, Paypal fees, credit card fees, etc...

Sorry, I'm not trying to hi-jack! Just felt compelled to point out "what it costs to make a pen" isn't simply the cost of the kit + shipping. Please carry on

Oh I know I was simply going with cost per kit assuming the other cost would be fairly universal across the board. I.e. if I got one order for a bolt action everyday for 50 days (I wish), and someone else (with more start up capital) got the same orders they could make pens for at least $10 cheaper a pen. This assumes my overhead cost is the same as theirs. Although even this is probably off because they would likely order blanks in bulk as well (but I left that out because I do manage to get quite a few really good deals on blanks).

 

[Jim Burr]

Ok...Joshua 30...you have posted one pen. You want to create something for people that make more than one pen. The Biblical reference is great, but so far, you are all talk and no nothing. Make 50, 100 pens then talk to us...in fact, prove that you sell 40 of those and we'll se where you stand...God bless!!

 

[Scruffy]

Well ...Joshua 30

How successful have you been selling pens?

How successful have you been in creating pens?

How successful have you been in turning pens?

I'm not sure why some one would would want to give you a pen to sell or pen order when you have done none of these things. An d I don't see you putting any skin in the game.

If it sounds like such a good idea why don't you order 100 pens from every member at a 25% discount and market them.

 

[Joshua_30]

Ok...Joshua 30...you have posted one pen. You want to create something for people that make more than one pen. The Biblical reference is great, but so far, you are all talk and no nothing. Make 50, 100 pens then talk to us...in fact, prove that you sell 40 of those and we'll se where you stand...God bless!!

Hi Jim,

If you have been keeping up with the thread you might have seen my previous post - https://www.facebook.com/TiptonTurnings for some of my work. I'm by no means an expert, in fact; I'm still considered wet behind the ears compared to hundreds of people in this forum....but I do favor the military side so I'm always looking for a way to enhance my pen turning abilities in that area. As for sales (LOL) are you wanting to audit my financial statements? LOL. You might find just enough to keep this hobby going :biggrin:

I believe we are on this forum because we have a hobby/small business of pen turning...I didn't realize I had to prove to you my skills before being allowed to speak

 

[Joshua_30]

How successful have you been selling pens?

How successful have you been in creating pens?

How successful have you been in turning pens?

I'm not sure why some one would would want to give you a pen to sell or pen order when you have done none of these things. An d I don't see you putting any skin in the game.

If it sounds like such a good idea why don't you order 100 pens from every member at a 25% discount and market them.

Scruffy,

You're batting O for 2 for incoherent responses to the poll :biggrin:

Please reference my last post to Jim please. Thanks!

 

[Smitty37]

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I do see a difference between what Roy does with Classic Nib. His partners have blanks that are unique to the other partner's blanks.

And those blanks are often used on identical pen kits to make unique pens --- so I'm not sure why showing all those unique pens at many different prices would be much different.

Boy sometimes I think the older you get Smitty the more difficult it is to reason with you.

John , if I didn't buy so much stuff on line I might agree with you. But, I buy damn near everything other than groceries on line and I know I do not always buy (even identical items) at the lowest price. I often pay a couple of dollars more for one reason or another.