Daggrim

Hey CD, Great post, good questions and observations. I also pay a lot of attention to customer movements in my tent space. Some items, which may never even get a glance, will sell briskly if they are moved. I watch their eyes, and try to perceive how they scan my space, then how they walk thru it. Some of my big selling items drop off to zero sales if they are not placed correctly. I like your idea of the neutral space out front, and of providing an escape route. I always keep two open doorways in the front of my tent, and I like to spread some of my brighter things outside, with a couple of mirrors. They love those mirrors! They may not even consciously know they're there, but they use them automatically. Critical to sales. I use the walk-in layout. i've though much about how to do a countertop layout, but I just have too much stuff. People like the nonconfrontational walk-in style, I think. I stand outside, or off to the side, keeping out of the way, and try not to make too much eye contact altho I greet everyone who walks in. They prefer to shop and chat more privately. I rarely sit down, at least until about 3 in the afternoon. Whew. I set a really nice, extra tough helmet outside the tent, and people love to come over and try it on. They take pictures of their kids, n' stuff. I just let 'em do it, but it does kinda aggravate me if they spend 5 minutes snapping pics, then just walk away. The horned helmets are the best attention getters I have. I always take time to talk to people who are interested. I mostly listen and ask questions. Everbody avoids a monologuer. yak yak me me yak mine yak I I I yak yak. Demos...I've tried numerous times, but somebody tapping away at rivets just doesn't attract attention. Dull. They want fire, or shiny armor, or thundering hooves, or, my personal fovorite...dancing girls! I do use the dancing girls to attract attention sometimes. I offer them solid gold armbands if they'll come over and put on a show in front of my tent. They DO get armbands, "Gee, I THOUGHT they were gold!". Doug

What is RTC?

Weldwood Contact Cement, found at any hardware store is excellent. It works as well as Barge Cement did, before they changed the formula. Doug

Gunter, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to reply to your post. It was meant for the person just above your post. And it was an unnecessarily harsh post, anyway. If I'm wrong to be skeptical of 99centtaco's post, I can eat crow...I know how to do that. Doug Doug

Hi Marcel, congratulations on getting a website up and runnung! However, I thought it was difficult to figure out. I thought I was on another Forum, or blogsite , at first. It took me a minute to find your Product pictures. I'd suggest some pictures on your homepage. I've heard that a website has only about 5 seconds to grab somebodies attention. I like your historical reenactment stuff. Thanks for sharing. Daggrim

So, Mr. 99 cent taco, You make $30,000 a year doing this, after only 3 years? Got a website someone can look at? Hmm, pardon me while I roll up my pants cuff. Doug

Pete, I have to say that is exactly how I've been running my small business making reenactment stuff. Now, THAT'S a niche market. It's very important to keep your eyes and ears open for opportunities, and to always, always yak it up with people. Shmoozing is an honorable, and smart way to conduct business. I'd like to give an example that led to my alltime best day for sales. I was a merchant at a small show...tiny show...organized by a local college drama dept. I did it just for the fun of supporting the efforts of some college students, without much hope of turning a profit. While there, I saw a flier for another event commemorating Hermann the German's victory over the Roman legions in the year 9. It was a very long shot, as there would be few reenactors there, but a lot of middle aged Germans. Well, I sold SEVEN helmets at the one day event, and even more sales later! My previous best was 3 in a weekend. Many of my sales have come from taking the time to just talk with people. Y'gotta listen and ask questions more than you talk. There are a lotta talkers at these shows...my wife and I call 'em "monologuers". Don't be one. I've added some cool items to my list of products over the last 5 years, mostly in the $25 to $65 range, and some of them are very popular. They're in a good niche that was vacant. One item, though, I spent untold nimbers of hours perfecting, and I've only sold a half dozen of them in 2 years. Well, I'm saving the other dozen, just waiting for the right event to come along. I'm rambling. Doug I'm way too much of a beginner myself to have any really useful insights, but part of what I'm doing is looking within a niche market for gaps that are not being adequately filled. If I can step into the gaps, I've got a chance to pull some money without having to compete as hard as if I step up with products that are already being commonly produced. From that base, I hope to bootstrap into somewhat larger markets, while continuing to build my skills and watching for product opportunities.

Dude...thanks for the links. Jake Von Slatt's videos, and his generous sharing of how he built his projects is very...well, I almost said inspirational, but I think maybe it'd be more steampunkish to say that he primes my envy generator. I feel like I'm ten years behind this steampunk movement, and eager to catch up. Where do these guys sell their stuff? Dag

...and it takes about 500 pounds to rivet one of my helmets.

Sounds like a lotta bang for the buck...or the pound, or the shilling...or whatever wacky monetary system you use Dag

So, lemmee see if I get this. First, you create your own blog site(s) thru the Google Blogger. Then, you visit various other Forums, or Blog sites relating to what you want to market. You discuss some, then supply a link to your informational-only blogsite. They go there, and find the info, plus a link to your website. So, are they able to add comments on your blogsite? If so, do they do so? Do you ever get long "threads" going from losta different people? Also, does it appear to the potential customers that you're out laying bait, and how do they respond to that? I don't mean "laying bait" in a critical way, but that's actually what you're doing...right? You're also providing something of value for free...the info on your blogsite. but do they feel like they got tricked? Seems like a relatively easy, benign way to open the door up to more customers. Can you give some examples of where you post your initial discussions wherein you provide the link to your info blog? I'm not picturing where I could do that. Thanks for your typically excellent and helpful post. You're the pathfinder of the group. Doug

I was in your spot a year ago, a beginner, and bought a 29k. I spent many frustrating hours trying to get it to sew reliably, but finally gave up, and sold it for much less than I overpaid for it. I had help with it from a cobbler who owned one, but even he never really got it working reliably. This is just my experience, but it's an example of what can happen. The 29k's don't often have glowing reports, even from the people who may own one, and can make it work. My advice is to stick with a machine that gets unconditionally good reports from users. Doug

I've done quite a bit of leather hardening, and your results depend on what you start with. With 2 pieces of the same thickness, the stiffer one will always be stiffer after hardening. So you need to pick the hardest leather you can find for such thin armor. Also, once it's in the hot water, there's an increasingly thin margin for error between getting it hardened and getting it shriveled. I've hardened leather as thin as maybe 8 oz, but it's tricky. Don't boil it...shoot for 180 degrees, max, and 170 minimum. At 180, your time in the water would be around a minute. At 170, your time would be 2 or 3 minutes. Trial and error. Practice with waste material. I took notes, and labeled my samples for the first year I did it. On the other hand, I've gotten really stiff 8 oz leather from just getting it wet and shaping it. It was thin saddle skirting, and it was hard to begin with. From what I've read, the wax only adds a small amount of stiffness, and it softens in the hot sun. I've never used it, as it seems like a complex step for the questionable results. On the other hand, I'd expect it's the best form of waterproofing. Cuir bouilli'd , non-waxed leather will soften in the rain, but hardens again when dry. Keep us posted about your results. Doug

I'd have to say I've had a good experience with consignment. I consign a broad range of items to another leathercrafters booth at a large Renaissance Festival. It's too expensive for me to get into, so I'm happy to drop off some things in her booth. My sales are a much lower volume than when I do it all on my own, but it's a good way for me to make sales while I'm busy elsewhere. the 30% fee is very equivalent to what my overhead would be for a weekend show , so it's a win-win for us both. I've gotten custom orders from the exposure, too. I met the right person to deal with, I guess. Or maybe that type of show is very different from a store front. Doug

Couldn't find your website. Sorry. Daggrim

Welcome aboard. I do Viking reenactment, also, so we should have plenty to talk about. I haven't checked your website, yet, but will later today. Daggrim Hjalmer

Maybe I can rephrase the question. Would $300 be too much to ask if it runs okay?

I'm going to be moving to another state, and I want to sell my 29k patcher. I bought it last year, and received much help on this forum to get me started. But I have found that making turnshoes has eaten up too much of my time. So, what's it worth? I paid over $300 for it. Daggrim

OK, I'm going to start another dye topic, about Antique dyes. I just used some on a couple of helmets, and, altho I can see that I need some practice, I'm really digging the effect. I purposely used some leather with wrinkles to give it an...well...antique look. My question is, any ideas how well the colors would last when exposed to the sun for a few weekends a year? And, what are Hi-lite dyes used for? I dyed a sample of leather, and I like the evennness of the color, but it's hella messy. Could these be used for helmets? I'm trying to take the helms another step up in quality, so I'm experimanting with different effects. Doug

Thanks, Johan, for the offer of help. I'll be up in Mpls soon, and I'll stop in. Also, Kate, thanks for the info about colorfastness, and Johan , for your pictures. Good news, since my helmets are worn outdoors in the sun. But, I'm worried now about rainshowers, as I just sent a customer a really nice helm dyed with EF. I did treat it with Aussie Balm, and then with Resolene Acrylic, so I'm fairly confident it'll be ok. Also, I didn't know about casing before dyeing. That's bound to help. So, I'm encouraged about using the EF...just a matter of learning new techniques. But, I'm seeking people's opinions on whether to use water base or spirit base for the helms. I like the colorfastness, but I'm not sure now about the waterfastness, and if sealing the leather would be reliable. I'd like to pick one and stick with it, so my results will be similar, and down the line, I won't be confused as to which dye I used on which helmet. Here's a pic of the EF helm. I'm amazed at how far this thread has gone. Doug

Okay, nice to get a reality check about the dye. I can easily switch to Fiebings, but I just wanted to see if I was missing something about EF. I have heard good things about Angelus, too. I've relied on my local Tandy for years, and I've been pleased with everything else. I've gotten outstanding support and a great deal of help and encouragement from the staff. So, thanks again , forum members for the replies. Doug

Aargh! I'm having a wretched time using this new dye. It has a very weak coverage, and if I use a wool applicator, it foams up and leaves speckles. The strokes don't seem to blend as well as alcohol base dyes, but I made it work by giving about 3 extra rubdowns with dye on a cloth rag, but that's too many passes. I'm at the point of considering this stuff unuseable. I'd rate the difficulty of using it at a 7 on a ten scale. Any advice? Doug

So, how's that work? You pedal up some speed, then engage some kind of clutch to drive your piston down? Doug

I had the same problem, and just ran lengths of thread between my thumb and the edge of a dull knife. Took a couple of passes to scrape the gobs off. Ugh. I just bought some new stuff, and I'm saving the other spool for emergencies. Doug

Jeeperaz, my man! Thanks so much for the link. It's so cool to see photos of that guy doing the same things I see in my book about medieval shoes that were dug up in England. A great resource. Dag