Chippygeoff
Established Member
I know that some of the members here attend craft fairs while others are thinking about the idea. Also many of the members sell various things they have made on a smaller scale. What I would like to get across to these members is don’t get ripped off.
One of the things I hate the most is being taken advantage of. I would never wish to boast but I am well known to a lot of people and this is mostly through the craft fairs I attend. A lot of the people I have been in contact with are in business and most are always looking for a way to make a quick buck and one thing is for sure, they are not going to make it through me.
Many times I have been asked by retailers if I will supply them and I always say no. There are several reasons for this. They always want goods at knock down prices and then they will double the price or even treble it. They have no idea of the work involved and seem to think I mass produce everything at the touch of a button similar to manufacturers in China. These retailers obviously have a business to run and need to make a profit.
I was at one event recently when I was approached by a lady who had a chain of gift shops, she wanted to buy everything I had with me, the items on display and my spare stock in boxes under the tables. I refused. She said she would pay the prices I had everything marked up at but I still said no, now most people would have jumped at this opportunity but I knew straight away that if I took up her offer it would take me three months to build up the same stock as I had with me. This would have meant not attending craft fairs for three months and I would have lost my pitch.
Besides the craft fairs I also supply craft centres and like retailers they to have to make a profit. They add 30% to everything they sell and by normal retail profits this is quite a low figure and I presume this is because the craft centres are run by the local council and are subsidised. I sell to the craft centres at the same price I sell at the craft fairs and they then add their 30% and the stuff flies out of the door.
On the other side of the coin we can be ripped off when buying in the things we need, especially wood. I have seen ridiculous prices on e-bay. A local builders merchant had some nice oak that was sold for making up door liners. It was 150mm wide and 25mm thick and in random lengths at £6 a metre I thought this was quite reasonable and bought quite a bit. When I was paying the owner asked me if I needed other wood as he could get it in for me. I gave him my e-mail address and he said he would e-mail me when he had some prices. A few days later he sent me an e-mail saying he could get beech the same dimensions as the oak at £15 a metre. He must have thought I came down with yesterdays rain.
I always try to support local businesses whenever I can and quite recently there were two things that I wanted, one was a new office chair for when I am on the computer at my desk and the other was a three piece leather suite. We have an out of town superstore near where I live and a friend said they had a sale on so I went to see if I could grab a bargain. The suites were basically reduced to half price but even at half price the cheapest suite I could find was just shy of £2000, when I say suite I wanted a 2 seater settee and a recliner armchair. With the office chair they had the one I wanted but it was £630. Spending some time on the internet I found the suite I wanted in brown leather for £649 and I found exactly the same chair at Amazon for £67. With regard to so called sales I suppose a lot of people seeing the huge discounts feel they are getting a bargain and go for it little realising that they are still paying over the odds.
I really feel sorry for the small local shops that are still struggling to run their businesses. I buy as much as I can from a tool shop that is reasonably close to where I live. The wax polish is a pound dearer than what I can get it for on line and the abrasives are dearer to. This shop does not sell at the recommended retail prices, if they did they would not sell much, they shave the prices and make a small profit on each item they sell. A little while ago I wanted the big Dewalt compound mitre saw, the local tool shop had one on display at £669. I told the owner that I could get it online at £645 including delivery. He explained to me that there were more and more online line outlets appearing all the time. Most operate from their homes so have no overheads to speak of and that will think nothing of spending £100,000 to take advantage of huge discounts from the wholesaler, the tool shop cannot spend that sort of money on one order. I felt really sorry for the guy and bought the saw from him and he told me the profit he made from this sale was just £5. He shared with me that by the same time next year he would probably have to close shop. It’s so sad as he has been there for many years and well known to all wood workers in the area.
One of the things I hate the most is being taken advantage of. I would never wish to boast but I am well known to a lot of people and this is mostly through the craft fairs I attend. A lot of the people I have been in contact with are in business and most are always looking for a way to make a quick buck and one thing is for sure, they are not going to make it through me.
Many times I have been asked by retailers if I will supply them and I always say no. There are several reasons for this. They always want goods at knock down prices and then they will double the price or even treble it. They have no idea of the work involved and seem to think I mass produce everything at the touch of a button similar to manufacturers in China. These retailers obviously have a business to run and need to make a profit.
I was at one event recently when I was approached by a lady who had a chain of gift shops, she wanted to buy everything I had with me, the items on display and my spare stock in boxes under the tables. I refused. She said she would pay the prices I had everything marked up at but I still said no, now most people would have jumped at this opportunity but I knew straight away that if I took up her offer it would take me three months to build up the same stock as I had with me. This would have meant not attending craft fairs for three months and I would have lost my pitch.
Besides the craft fairs I also supply craft centres and like retailers they to have to make a profit. They add 30% to everything they sell and by normal retail profits this is quite a low figure and I presume this is because the craft centres are run by the local council and are subsidised. I sell to the craft centres at the same price I sell at the craft fairs and they then add their 30% and the stuff flies out of the door.
On the other side of the coin we can be ripped off when buying in the things we need, especially wood. I have seen ridiculous prices on e-bay. A local builders merchant had some nice oak that was sold for making up door liners. It was 150mm wide and 25mm thick and in random lengths at £6 a metre I thought this was quite reasonable and bought quite a bit. When I was paying the owner asked me if I needed other wood as he could get it in for me. I gave him my e-mail address and he said he would e-mail me when he had some prices. A few days later he sent me an e-mail saying he could get beech the same dimensions as the oak at £15 a metre. He must have thought I came down with yesterdays rain.
I always try to support local businesses whenever I can and quite recently there were two things that I wanted, one was a new office chair for when I am on the computer at my desk and the other was a three piece leather suite. We have an out of town superstore near where I live and a friend said they had a sale on so I went to see if I could grab a bargain. The suites were basically reduced to half price but even at half price the cheapest suite I could find was just shy of £2000, when I say suite I wanted a 2 seater settee and a recliner armchair. With the office chair they had the one I wanted but it was £630. Spending some time on the internet I found the suite I wanted in brown leather for £649 and I found exactly the same chair at Amazon for £67. With regard to so called sales I suppose a lot of people seeing the huge discounts feel they are getting a bargain and go for it little realising that they are still paying over the odds.
I really feel sorry for the small local shops that are still struggling to run their businesses. I buy as much as I can from a tool shop that is reasonably close to where I live. The wax polish is a pound dearer than what I can get it for on line and the abrasives are dearer to. This shop does not sell at the recommended retail prices, if they did they would not sell much, they shave the prices and make a small profit on each item they sell. A little while ago I wanted the big Dewalt compound mitre saw, the local tool shop had one on display at £669. I told the owner that I could get it online at £645 including delivery. He explained to me that there were more and more online line outlets appearing all the time. Most operate from their homes so have no overheads to speak of and that will think nothing of spending £100,000 to take advantage of huge discounts from the wholesaler, the tool shop cannot spend that sort of money on one order. I felt really sorry for the guy and bought the saw from him and he told me the profit he made from this sale was just £5. He shared with me that by the same time next year he would probably have to close shop. It’s so sad as he has been there for many years and well known to all wood workers in the area.
