Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by otis on March 26, 2010 at 4:59am

depends on the area for me. im not in it to get rich lol! i usually guage off of what ive seen on ebay. unless of course somebody has a special need situation and ive been known to get real cheap just to spread the joy!

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Permalink Reply by Phil Hall on March 26, 2010 at 11:18pm

http://www.cigarboxnation.com/group/thebritsarecoming/forum/topics/...

I was in a similar situation mate.Heres a discussion i tried to join in on.If you can call it that i especially like the reference to "johnny come lately"and "If built properly"

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Permalink Reply by Bill Ludeman on March 27, 2010 at 10:04am

How to price them ?? Near as I can tell figure your time at fifty cents an hour plus parts and supplies, that gives you your asking price. Then be prepared to come down to half that. I am considering putting a class together to teach folks how to lose money - if I can get the feds to back me up I could be wildly successful by only charging myself ten dollars per student.
There are two extremes - one is to build a fine instrument carefully laid out -intonated, correct scale - fancy tuners etc. and add a couple of knobs for volume and tone, some expensive pickups and go for the big bucks. I have seen them priced up over four hundred bucks.
The other extreme is one string cigar box tuner and fun. Cheap is possible and a great place to start. I personally like two and three strings and middle of the road builds. I am awfully picky about my work and so not as fast as some. I average close to forty hours of fussing from start to finish. Pay close attention to ALL the time involved and it will scare you. I am including some time for shopping and acquiring my boxes and material and all the time associated with soldering up pickups and fussing with bridge and nut heights It takes an amazing amount of time. I have had guys tell me they could bang one out in a hour or two ???? Hmmm. I have built and priced them from 45$ up to two hundred - my nicer ones are very nice and the cheaper ones play well or don't leave my house. I have fifteen or so I would love to sell. I put them all on Ebay and sold one. Cost me way to much in time and money to post on Ebay -after three months of fooling around sold ONE on there. The one I sold on ebay was for 180$ I also sold one to a sixteen year old boys mom for Christmas and got sixty bucks out of that one. It had frets and a pickup and jack. I figure I had twenty five or thirty invested in it. I have been to two musicians swap meets now and it cost me about a hundred dollars for each one - I sold nothing and came away with a glorious headache from listening to guitar amps turned up to 11. Hard to compete with these guys - plus they gave me alot of crap about only having one two or three strings. I have a real amp now and I am going back for more this next month. Duh!!
I am convinced that there is a market point where they will sell and that I can build them to. Roger Martin on this website seems to have the formula for his market. He is a great guy too.
If you really need to make money I would suggest burger king or Mcdonalds as more reliable than building instruments. Not as much fun though.
If anybody is interested in one of my builds they are all for sale at about .25cents per hour. Just ask. Bill Ludeman

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Permalink Reply by Roger Martin on March 28, 2010 at 1:22am

Dang, this is gonna get expensive,,,,,,,,,,,OK Bill,,,,,,, your check is in the mail,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,lol
But next time I expect more compliments then that for my money,,,,,,lol

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Permalink Reply by Rob on March 28, 2010 at 2:30am

Make sure you don't undervalue your product! I have been selling other crafts at craft fairs and farmers markets for years including handmade soap, natural incense, woodcraft, stained glass pieces etc and it's all about presentation. If you undervalue your stuff then other people will as well. They are as much folk art as instruments and I see people selling pottery and tons of other arts and crafts at shows for well over what I charge for an instrument and people do buy this stuff.

I guess I am lucky in that I was already going to craft fairs selling other handmade items when I started building. It didn't take much to add them to my other products and since I do not rely on instrument sales alone it makes it easier to price them what I think they are really worth. I do think I get more for them since I am NOT selling online and I fell better about a sale if someone can play the instrument before they buy so they know what they are getting. I make dulcimer guitars almost exclusively and get $120 - $150 each and sell on average 2 a show so far by sitting around and playing old time tunes and talking to people. Not a huge amount of sales for a day at the market but it sure adds to my bottom line.

That said, it really depends on the quality of work and the reception they get. People might not be willing to spend the money I ask on them but some are and so far I have only gotten very positive feedback on them and they always get tons of attention. I am currently selling as fast as I can build and have started shifting my labor from other projects to spend more time building.

The best part is not the money however, it is the smile on peoples faces when they pick it up and play it and I have seen smiles from kid to grandmothers.

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Permalink Reply by Roger Martin on March 28, 2010 at 3:14am

I ran into a lady the other nite in my shop that blew my mind.I was so stunned by her response that I closed my doors and walked away from the shop, went outside so I could get some fresh air before I blew a gasket.
I family walked up to my demo table where I was chatting with the public and having some fun with them.
A young member of the family started peppering me with questions about CBG's which I answered ,though she was a young lass she asked very good questions.Her MOM on the other hand ask the price of a DB, and then a CBG,,,,,,,
I replied that the price of a DB was $32.95 and that includes EVERYTHING you need to play acoustically and that the CBG is $77.95 with the same add on's PLUS BOTH have the link to this site for playing tips and general info AFTER the sale.
The "lady" let out one of those WEEEOOOOOOOOOOOO!" yells some folks make when they cant believe what they just heard or to make their disgust known,,,,,,,Everything got quiet, and the group that had gathered stepped back.
I think they thought I might throttle the "lady".in fact the thought DID cross my mind.But since I also work FOR the MALL where my shop is,that means any mess I made ,,I would have had to clean up you see, so,,,,,,I thought better of violence, LOL
I explained that my pieces are handmade to the lady , to justify the price.
Her response to THAT was "Well , I guess THATS why they're SO EXPENSIVE!!!!!!!!! " and she walked away,,,,
You get to meet a lot of folks when your selling in public,both the good,bad and ya, the UGLY, lol
Oh ya, she WAS UGLY too,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

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Permalink Reply by Cigar Box Nation on March 28, 2010 at 3:17am

The best easy-to-use storefront I've found: http://www.bigcartel.com

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Permalink Reply by The Phrygian Kid on March 29, 2010 at 4:31am

i have a busking permit and go out and play at the shops and railway stations etc..
when i've pulled out my weird modal cbg a lot of people ask about it..
and a lot want one..
i have told eight people $200 and none of them blink an eyelid.. i think when u talk to them and are friendly it a lot easier than auction site, esp if at auction site we all competing against each other.
learn to play it, go out to a busy place, and do just that..
u might get a pleasant surprise..
just print up a few cards on ur computer, people dont always have that much cash handy..
and they dont all call back.. but a lot do. Ive only been doing it a few weeks since this box finished, but i can see theres a little money in it, especially as i'll collect some jingle busking anyway..

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Permalink Reply by Roger Martin on April 8, 2010 at 10:05am

Jef raised a very good point that I had forgotten.
Not all folks can buy right that moment,I'm asked for cards every day.My stock answer is , and its true, that" I'm WAY too cheap to have cards printed,instead my poor wife sits down and writes out a ton at a time, one by one.That gets a laugh as I explain that printed cards cost money, that I'd have to turn around and tack on to the CBG,so to keep THEIR cost down, we write our cards.
My "be back" rate hits roughly about 75%, thats pretty dang good in my area, where everybodies "coming back later in the week"as they say.
Jef I'd suggest when you go out and busk, to take at least 1 extra CBG with you, or take one you dont mind selling on the spot if you can get a bite.Thats what I'd do if I was busking.

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Permalink Reply by Bob Harrison on April 10, 2010 at 2:02am

Randy,
Thanks for adding your insites and experance! You said you are taking a break for a while. Please don't worry about folks copying what you have done and they will, But there is only one C.F.Martin guitar co. and one Mojobone works all others are copies. You have established your name. When you come back the market will be there, maybe even greater than before. My bet is that you are going to use the time to think about even more cool designs... Enjoy your rest.

Your freind
Bob

Randy S. Bretz said:

I started making my bone slides [ mojobone works ] last winter. My sales have gone through the roof!! first because there`s no one else who makes bone slides like mine and second I have a web page on smoke house guitars, a store page on Etsy.com and just started my own web page at www.mojoboneworks.com. Plus I have sold slides to big name players here on the nation. Keni lee burgess, shane speal, bemusic, smojo, bluesbeaten redshaw, ted crocker, diamondback guitars, josh of smokehouesguitars, old lowe etc. so once you have a list of customers like that. New customers know there getting a real good slide for their money. Plus all my slides are handmade one at a time and can be customized for the customer. What started out as a hobby has turned into a great biz. I also started the new " half n half" slides that are now my biggest seller. I can`t make them fast enough, plus I started using the ironwood on them and that also has helped in sales. I have found one thing out that if you offer more of a selection and do custom work that will help draw customers to you. Those little details that set your product out from everyone else`s is what customers like. No one wants one like someone else`s!!!

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Permalink Reply by LittleBigOne on June 10, 2010 at 6:07am

:D by the way Bill, I could not find anywhere the links to your eBay shops, please can you place them at least on your blog page here at the Nation ? I sure am not the only one whom wants to see pictures !

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Permalink Reply by Crow on June 10, 2010 at 7:23am

pricing is all relative. that is, relative to your audience.

i routinely knock out 1 hour builds, with no finish, a stick-on-body design, and use eye bolts rather than tuners, and i usually sell one per show at $75-100

however, i just rocked thier socks off with a half an hour performance, and they likely just bought that guitar to show thier buddies, not to play.

we play around once a month live, and we don't even get paid to perform.

now, if i really invested time and effort in to the guitars and sold them for less than $100, i'd be heartbroken. honestly, if i thought they'd sell, i'd let them go for $30 a piece. but i don't think the lower price would help them sell any faster. and EVEN IF i got more orders, i doubt i could keep up with the requests anyhow. i just don't have that kind of time....

it's a hard balance between your time and effort, the money invested, and the asking price to make it worthwhile.

i say, build one as cheap and easy as you can, and try selling it for around $100 or less. then build one really nice and try selling it for $200.... see what price range is easiest to sell at, then gear your production costs and time to cater to the sales price range that seems the most positive.

good luck!

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