Selling Pens

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Teenpenturner

Member
Joined
Apr 1, 2013
Messages
15
Location
Harrisonville, MO
Hi Everyone,
I was just curious if anyone knows someone who wants to buy and resell pens. I have been making them for about a year. I am 14 and can't afford to keep this hobby without selling them or i wouldn't be selling them..Does anyone know someone who wants to buy and resell handmade pens.Thanks for your imput. Please let me know if you have someones email or phone or something.
Thanks,
Marcus
 
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Congrats on your initiative!! Find a local niche...I'm in medicine so docs and hospitals are a great source for me. Keep looking around and see if you can't tailor your pens to a particular market.
 
As a teenager, you are in contact daily with people that use and would enjoy a pen made "just for them" your teachers at school. Ask your principle to allow you to put a small display in the teachers lounge or office, state to him and the teachers you are making pens to help save money for college or trade school. If this doesnt fly, then make up a handout/flyer and pass them out to your teachers. Make it catchy, state your saving for school, make sure you state, "makes a great wedding, graduation, retirement ect gift. Teachers do not have alot of money but the one thing they do have is the desire and want to help a young person achive his goals.
 
Don't forget the firemen, policemen, city workers.......give them a discount.
City and County offices. Not only walk them through but have a handout ready to leave behind with an interested party. Pin some handouts up on the Senior Center billboards.
Any free newspapers? Can you get a free ad space? How about just printing up your own flyer and putting them up all over town?

Good luck.
 
I think wanting to sell your pens is great. You just need to be sure your pens are ready to be sold. If you sell a few cheap pens and they don't hold up you're done selling pens. I would not sell pens with gold plated finishes. Stick with black ti, chrome, and titanium nitride. Referrals are the best marketing and happy customers are your best salesmen. Sell someone a pen and the finish wears off and the wood cracks at best they don't say anything, at worst they tell everybody that your pens are cheap and don't last. Be sure you have a good product and set your prices a little higher. If I had to do it over again I would have waited another 6 months to a year before I sold any.
 
As SerentityWoodWorks posted earlier, schools are a great resource to tap into. I'm a teacher & my fellow coworkers are one of my sources that I sell to on a regular basis. I've noticed though that most teachers do not want to pay that much for a pen. So slimlines are a top seller for me at school.
 
Teen,
Carry a couple pens with you at all times. Make, carry and use one for yourself on daily basis. People will ask you about it, explain you make them yourself. Then a few simple questions will guide them to buy one or more.

Get some inexpensive cards made up. Check out vistaprint. Get something like 250 cards for $10. You'll make that back selling one pen.

Is there a bulletin board or similar where you can post a card? Donate a pen or two for school benefit or fund raiser. Key is getting the word out and have people see your work. I now only sell strictly by word of mouth. Don't do shows or web site. I'll still sell several hundred pens a year and make $5,000 or more. Plenty to cover my costs, keep it fun and give somethIng to charity.

Need help with questions to ask, just ask
 
Displaced Canadian said:
I think wanting to sell your pens is great. You just need to be sure your pens are ready to be sold. If you sell a few cheap pens and they don't hold up you're done selling pens. I would not sell pens with gold plated finishes. Stick with black ti, chrome, and titanium nitride. Referrals are the best marketing and happy customers are your best salesmen. Sell someone a pen and the finish wears off and the wood cracks at best they don't say anything, at worst they tell everybody that your pens are cheap and don't last. Be sure you have a good product and set your prices a little higher. If I had to do it over again I would have waited another 6 months to a year before I sold any.
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What's wrong with gold plate? Does it wear that badly.
 
I have found that after 2 or 3 months of use the gold wears off and the hardware is now silver. I still use my first pen on a fairly regular basis. People are surprised to know that at one time it was gold.
 
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