hey guys, uncle crow here..
it's been a while, and it seems that i've spent the last year getting kicked. i still have not stabilized yet financially, and i'm considering a scary solution:
full time flea market sales.
has anyone tried selling thier instruments full time at flea markets and events? my job is dissolving, and i'm tired of getting shuffled from one crappy job to the next. my girlfriend says maybe it's time i took the uncle crow thing to the next level, and start my own store.
i have my own web site, and have spent a decent amount of time in sales, so i'm sure i CAN do it.. but i was wondering if anyone else has tried, and had any decent amount of success.
if anyone has EVER ran a small flea market business and has any advice, i'd be happy to listen! thanks for everything guys!
Tags:
Flea Markets: Fuggeddaboutit. Waste of time. Been there. Done it. Lost $$$. Move on.
Festivals are ok. You're not gonna get rich I guarantee that. Only a select handful of builders do. John McNair for one, but he sells his for $500+. John Lowe but he again is a name. There are a few. I sell... er more like build to order but then again it would never support me.
Festivals are good but you have to have an inventory, good pricing (which is hard to do based on the festival and the income level of attendees), and timing. Summer fests are good if the crowd is willing to spend. Fall festivals I would assume are better as the holidays are approaching. Most of my festival visitors have said they want to talk to me towards Christmas. You have to balance out inventory with time spent waiting for something to sell and that takes time to know the market. Nothing over $100 has sold for me. $85 is usually my sweet spot but I have to scrimp on the build to justify that. I would say my build to orders are much better constructed. More time put in and more attention to detail. Then again, I would be the one to take a month to build.
Rotsa Ruck
-WY
One more tidbit -- find something else to sell at the same time. Broaden your offering.
-WY
how about guitar lessons, either regular gtr and or CBG....that way you get to sell your cbg while getting lesson fees as well. Post a few ads in your local paper, craigh list, junior high, elementary school, wherever its free and see. You got nada to loose but to gain. just my 0.2......good luck dude
Larry
Hey Crow, Hope all is well... I have sold most of my stuff from the net. Posting videos (or getting someone else to do it has been the best way for me to sell my builds) I have attended festivals. In most cases sales from those events have come after the fact. As you know I take a lot of time on my builds and they are on the upper end of the price range. But I have played around with prices from $225.00 to 550.00 at the shows. I have sold both but even at $225.00 I don't feel like the lower price sold the instrument. Have you thought about going to Mount Dora? They have a Musicians Swap meet. every month.
Flea markets and trade days are strange beasts. I used to make and sell pioneer/hillbilly/primitive toys. Many hundreds of people would peek in or file through the booths, ooh and ahh....... and not buy anything. But I could give a toy to a child for free and people would seek my booth out because they saw a kid having a good time with my little toys.
I guess what I'm suggesting is that if you decide to "get on the circuit", you'll probably do best to have a cohort to wander around with one of your axes. People seem more likely to buy if they believe someone else has already done so. AND DO IT AS A HOBBY first if you can. Jumping in fully committed is great if you are oping a bistro, but it's a good way to lose your ass and start to hate a once beloved hobby working weekend shows.
Good luck, no matter which way you go.
thanks for all the insight, guys! to clarify a few things:
my guitars are lower price range, $50-75 and super low investment in materials and time, which i know means i have to sell MORE of them to make a decent profit, which may be self-defeating, i mean, how many can i sell before interest burns out?
JEFF TINSLEY: so glad you spoke up! i was considering the same thing - a small array of primitive/"redneck"/simplistic homemade toys to attract the interest/fun/cheap buyers.
my product line would be cheap and cheerful, one string duclimer scale instruments for kids, simple cheap three string slide guitars for adults
i plan on including instructional materials for the instruments as well, with "walk-away" literature, as someone put it, so it's cool to see i'm thinking on the right track...
thanks for all the information guys!
I think selling at a flea market may work well, but you might want to produce in a lower price range. Additionally, I think you might need to go every week to give people a chance to see you and come back prepared to buy. So, think about investing in the full season. Having walk away literature may increase return interest too. Here in the flea markets, most venders sell low ticket items and customers are simply looking for cheap purchases. Good Luck, Keni Lee
my product line would be cheap and cheerful, one string duclimer scale instruments for kids, simple cheap three string slide guitars for adults
thanks for all the information guys!
Hey Crow,
Lots of great advice out there and there is a good amount of intrest in what we do. I started building and selling last year (selling only as a means to keep building) ebay has been good to me in the past but sales have slowed way down as there are so many more builders out there. Name quality and $ all play into it. I have put cash in my pocket by building these truley unique instraments. In have recently had some success selling at my local cigar shop where I place my instraments on display for a comission. As far as the flea markets I would avoid any place that charges a large fee to set up a booth. christmas sales are a great way to generate a good cashflow but the demand can take the joy out of building. well i check in again good luck to ya whatever you do.
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