Selling Turned Objects

[davegw]

I'm curious. I've just read a new member mention that he sells his work to the public, and has items in Private Collections (So do I, or at least that's what SWMBO calls the cupboard under the stairs thats slowly filling up with Bowls).

I thought that most Turners who made their living from the skill, did so either by large scale copy turning or by teaching and demonstrations?

I'm making the assumption that the member above is making his living from turning of course, but I wonder in this time of crunching credit is it possible to augment your income from Turning? Of course the other assumption is that the work is good enough to sell (so please avoid any of the threads where I have put up pics of my work )

 

[Bodrighy]

There are a few on the forum who make a living through their turning but not many. However, there are a lot of us who sell to friends, at charity & school sales, craft sales etc to cover costs of materials and tools etc. A lot of turners who do it full time make a lot of their money through demonstrations and tuition as far as I can see. Perhaps some of the pros on here will come on with some advice. Remember that there are basically two different types of market. The art side (see some of the things that have been coming up recently with Cornucopia, Philip, etc) and the craft side (what most of us do). Art often involves galleries and commission work. Craft includes 200 stair balustrades, a full dinner service etc. As you may guess I have been looking into it a bit.

When you can buy a wooden bowl in Asda for a fiver it is hard to persuade someone that yours is worth £50 or whatever unless they are really into the craft / art scene. If you really want to make money I suspect you will need to emigrate to the States where it is much stronger with dedicated galleries and shows.

Hope this helps
Pete

 

[big soft moose]

I do a fair bit of craft fairs selling bowls , vases, pendants etc (plus non turned work like love spoons and clocks) if you pick the right craft fair you can do okay - but i wouldnt want to be totally reliant on it for income.

I'm also a photographer so i double up my craft fair opportunities by also selling prints.

taken together the two hobbies pay for themselves and provide a trickle of income but i wouldnt be able to make a living from them alone

fortunately I also have a day job.

Incidentally ive never had a problem vis a vis the competition from the £5 bowl in asda as the sort of clientelle you get at craft fairs want something a bit special and are not looking for a bog standard mass produced item.

 

[NickWelford]

Pete - £50? you're much too cheap. I'd need £100 profit a day to pay my bills - it's difficult to buy a decent sized pippy blank for under £30 ......

 

[gary foxton]

hi dunno whether u refering to me? but no i do not make living from turning , but i have had some exhibitions in london, and sold work to a private collector and sold through a few shops. see my work more as art , i sold 25 pieces out of 50 at 1 exhibition and the gallery owner told me if i sold for more money i would have sold more. think u would be hard pushed to make a living at it and if u could it would be like working in a factory

 

[Bodrighy]

Pete - £50? you're much too cheap. I'd need £100 profit a day to pay my bills - it's difficult to buy a decent sized pippy blank for under £30 ......

I rarely buy wood, sell only at charity and school sales (so far) and have found that anything over about £25 people look at and admire and then move on. If I try to make any real money I would have to change my market. :lol:

Pete

 

[cornucopia]

The art side (see some of the things that have been coming up recently with Cornucopia, Philip, etc) and the craft side (what most of us do).


Pete

you say the sweetist things

p.s if anyone wants to buy any of my work.......

 

[pete honeyman]

I've done a few craft fairs, but by the time you've paid the entry, car parking, petrol and lunch, there isn't usually a great deal of profit. I have work in a few shops locally, bangles and pens in one, a few bowls bangles and keyrings in another, and some 'art' bowls in two galleries. Galleries take anything from 30 - 75%, but attract higher prices.
Most of us build up a network of friends etc. who need presents for people, but of course this means 'mates rates'.

I think it would be a hard way to make a living, but at least it pays for itself to some extent, for me it's best to do it for it's own sake and take any payback as a bonus.

Pete

 

[PowerTool]

I sell work through friends,work colleagues,and displays in a couple of local pubs (where I've done woodworking jobs in the pub,so don't get charged for the space) - as a hobby,it pays for itself (tools/timber,and some pocket money left over);can't imagine ever being able to make a living from it though

Andrew

 

[big soft moose]

Pete - £50? you're much too cheap. I'd need £100 profit a day to pay my bills - it's difficult to buy a decent sized pippy blank for under £30 ......

50 notes for a fruit/salad bowl sized item sounds about right to me - but then i rarely buy my blanks ( my day job gives me access to lots of fallen trees).

of course the carved and sculpted work like that put out by mark hancock , phillip, cornucopia etc probably goes for a lot more but thats what you get when you cross the line from craft to art.

on the issue of profit, working with a kel mcnaughton centre saver for roughing down i reckon i can probably make 5 fruitbowls in a day so that would go 250/day about half of which is profit ( the margin is higher on smaller items like xmas baubles which are a lot quicker to make, require much less wood, and go for about a fiver each)

however that said to make a solid living from doing this would be precarious as the market is variable and would also involve a lot of production line work which take away much of the fun (I did turn for a living during the FMD epidemic in 01 and while i scraped by its not an experience i would aim to repeat.)