Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Clock The Wolf on September 16, 2011 at 11:21am

Sorry to hear about poor sales. I've got one of your builds, and cherish it. Do you have any videos that you could link to Ebay/Etsy? That might well spice things up, once people hear how they sound.

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Permalink Reply by Lonman on September 16, 2011 at 12:34pm

This seems to be a fine time to ask a question. From the reading of previous posts through the searches I don't recall seeing much written about this one topic. but, after the cost of supplies to make the cbg, how much is typically the labor and time fee when selling a cbg. I ask because recently a guy asked me to build him a cbg and he would pay me. He has been looking at them on here and auction sights. As you all know, I will build this for under $40.00 but how much is a resonable fee for labor and time- I was told by someone who made and sold quilts and such that they used to add 3x to get the final cost. fo instance, $30 in materials, x 3 would be a $90.00 cbg. What are your folks opinions? Thanks.

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Permalink Reply by Braxton Nagle on September 16, 2011 at 2:30pm

Here's something I didn't mention- In July I sold out at the Oregon Country Fair~  25 cgb's @ $225 a pop (last July x25@$150 & $200). In general sales have been pretty steady 2 to 3 a month, up until June.

Is it possible that it's also a venue thing? I mean I'm pretty sure it's a probably a combination of factors, obviously economy being a big one.

Man I hope it hasn't come full circle already, I'm just warming up!

I think I will lower my prices though, at least for the time being.

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Permalink Reply by Braxton Nagle on September 16, 2011 at 2:34pm

Hey Clockwork, I'm so glad your still enjoying your cbg!  And yes I will be adding video in the very near future.

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Permalink Reply by Dan Sleep on September 17, 2011 at 1:22am

I don't remember the last one I sold. It has been quite a while too.

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Permalink Reply by Diane in Chicago on September 17, 2011 at 2:13am

How were sales at the PA Fest?  Anyone?

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Permalink Reply by Delvero on September 17, 2011 at 3:28am

Rain pretty much kept people from attending the festival. I sold five from ten dollars, fifty dollars, ninety dollars, and three hundred dollars.

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Permalink Reply by Ron "Oily" Sprague on September 17, 2011 at 7:21am

Braxton,

Like everyone else, it's probably a combo of the recession, and waaayyy more builders than there used to be. You already know what your fixed costs per CBG are. If you're building essentially the same type of instrument over and over (or a few variations) then you probably have a pretty good idea of how much time each one takes. The hard part is figuring out what your time Is worth. If each CBG takes you 10 hours to build, and you really are considering trying to make a living at it, then you might want to compare your time against the minimum wage, then against a handyman or carpenter, then against any number of other "practical" or "mechanical" occupations. If you are doing this full time, then you probably feel like your time is worth at least $15 per hour. So $150 + $30 = $180. You won't get this, BTW, for a crappy build (not that yours are; on the contrary). Higher prices come from 1) lots of builds = technique + experience, 2) good marketing, and 3) customization or rarity. Compare your prices against those of well known builders. Review your marketing. Realize that the market for CBGs might be saturated in your area, or due to eBay and the growth of the Revolution, the market overall may be saturated. Yes, you can price your wares at what the market will bear, but right now, it seems pretty obvious the market won't bear $180 - $200. That's unfortunate.

Most people that are handy will try to build their own if the entry price is $30 and a few hours or couple of weekends of their time. This will be more true when folks have ( or equally important, FEEL like they have) less disposable income.

So several obvious solutions suggest themselves (sorry for the economics lesson - you can tell me to stick it):

1) Reduce your prices.
2) Reduce the costs of production, either through economies of scale (difficult to do for a single craftsman), speeding up the means of production, or getting volume discounts on boxes, parts and shipping.
3) Reduce your labor rate.
4) Increase your prices ( and your costs) by offering custom jobs that are unlike anything else on the market.
5) Provide add-ons as loss leaders: strings, video lessons, slides, picks, straps, etc.

I know, this all kinda sucks. Maybe it should be a self-funding hobby?

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Permalink Reply by 3 String Blues on September 17, 2011 at 8:19am

There has always been ups and downs, I judge by the amont of emails and people joining site like this one, not sales...and lastly the more builders and people selling there is, the more interest in the hobby in generl and in fact your odds of selling will go up even more!....just keep building them and if so stack them in your closet, they will sell...everything has its day....just keep building.

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Permalink Reply by Lonman on September 17, 2011 at 7:12pm

Lots of good thoughts. Thanks. I am glad that I build for the fun, I was just curious about how much to sell one seeing that a guy I work with wants to pay me for it. Lots of good points made. Thanks for the input.

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Permalink Reply by Brian Reagor on September 18, 2011 at 5:26am

I don't know about where you live but in my town there are no real music venues per say and hardly anyone, musician or non-musician knows what a Cigar Box Guitar is. I just showed my "Hobo" that I bought from Shane to my neighbors who own a car restoration business called "Toyland Auto" in Kelso, Washington, which is on Facebook btw, and they had never seen or heard of one before but thought it was cool. And just went to our guitar store yesterday to visit my guitar tech friend and though they heard of one, no one seemed to have much or any interest in them.

For myself, I deduct that most people now, especially teens thru 20's, have no interest in the sounds of old or the concept of learning to play and create some instrument.

No more days of sitting on the porch with the family and friends enjoying each others company, eating, drinking, singing, etc.

So, for those of you who build, play, entertain, my hats off to you, and for those of you who want to to just make money off these, learn all you can, be willing to work 18 hours a day, think smart, and always have a smile and a song ready for those you meet~

 

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Permalink Reply by Brian Reagor on September 18, 2011 at 5:40am

Another point, in my lowly opinion, can anyone hardly blame a average or low income person for not wanting to play an instrument, with the schools cutting their music programs so they can keep a $50,000-$100,000 administrator employed and the musical instrument shops selling crap like the Fender Squier or fake tele's, (I don't think our store even has a Gibson, Gretsch, Taylor, Martin, or anything of decent quality on it's premises), or these Indonesion made acoustics which some are marginal, at prices that are inflated or the massive selection of plastic chinese ukuleles for $30.00 it's no wonder the parents don't want to invest in that stuff when you can buy groceries and gas instead.

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