Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by JL on April 11, 2016 at 3:29am

I've never been in that situation, exactly, but I would offer the following advice:

You time is worth $$.  Suppose you were doing it as your day job trying to support yourself, what would you need to bring home to keep the roof over your head, the lights on, and food on the table?

$20, $30 per hour?

Set your take ( the 40%) at materials + time.  You can probably figure out a way to assembly line (batch build) a bunch at once to get an 'acceptable' price for the museum gift store.

And an idea for your booth, Kit up a few ready to assemble instruments so you can finish building in front of the kids.

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Permalink Reply by mudbelly on April 11, 2016 at 6:07am

Thanks for the replies. I generally look around online and find sellers with instruments like mine and set the price accordingly. I sometimes price a little less because it seems like CBG is something unknown in this area and with the online communities like this that seems surprising. 

I seem to sell more to people that want a unique gift for a musician friend than I do to musicians. 

After some calculating I might make 10-20 bucks an hour doing this. I do remind people that I have a day job that keeps me fed and clothed not to mention the time and responsibility. 

I'll ask the museum gift shop if they have an idea what a parent will spend on a kid and start designing a simple acoustic coffee can or cookie tin diddly bow from there.    

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Permalink Reply by john mackay on April 11, 2016 at 8:24am

I'm with JL on this one but.......

if its a hobby and you enjoy what you do then its different kettle of fish.

just work out as a guess cost of making it. scrap wood? or bought wood.tuners strings  paint etc. if these amount to $30 then you'll need to make an extra 50% to 100%.

try and do it so that it pays for your next build so you'll finish up costing you zero..

that is how I would do it.

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Permalink Reply by mudbelly on April 11, 2016 at 11:17am

Ok here is what I did. The museum says parents will spend $8 on a kid and they do not have much kids stuff. My high dollar arty items catch the kids eye and they think I can sell some type of can for $10. I made these in slightly more that two hours from stuff I had laying around. I spen 97 cents on the board for necks. Figures out I made $10 an hour. 

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Permalink Reply by Murdoc_420 on April 11, 2016 at 11:28am

Man you drink a lot of coffee :D

 Looks good, seems like you could still make a few bucks and make some kids happy too.

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Permalink Reply by mudbelly on April 11, 2016 at 1:21pm

Yeah, bunch of kids always hang in my booth at the fairs. They ask me where I learned to play and I tell them the high school band. 

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Permalink Reply by mudbelly on April 11, 2016 at 1:16pm

Well I was getting some good input. Just not one to sit around. I will probably make some good cookie tin diddly bows at a higher price point so the customer has some choices.   

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Permalink Reply by John Sawyer on April 11, 2016 at 12:58pm

Why not print up simple instructions, sell them as a kit? Raise your price to $10... Pre drill the holes, let them do final assembly... That will save you 20 minutes per.

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Permalink Reply by mudbelly on April 11, 2016 at 1:17pm

That's good, Thanks. 

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Permalink Reply by mudbelly on April 12, 2016 at 4:03am

When I sell at fairs things seem to have settled into a pattern. I usually sell one nice top of the line instrument. If I have a CBG that while it's still a nice instrument has been hanging around for a while and not sold it will sell at a reduced price. Then one stringers and percussion sells for kids. I think I'll follow this pattern for museum selling, a nice one, a nice one string cookie tin that I could make some money on and then some stuff for kids that I might not make anything on.. 

Thanks for the input guys. 

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Permalink Reply by Ron "Oily" Sprague on April 14, 2016 at 5:18pm

Also, vary your can selection. No beer cans, but things that appear
"old." That coffee can is a good start. Look for things like foot powder cans, mint tins, etc.

You could even rough them up a bit, twist em around in a bucket full of sand, or get some old rusty ones. You know: "Museum Pieces."

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