Iron Pounder Report post Posted June 9, 2012 Thought I would check in and see how things are going for everyone. I have been busy this year, mostly small sculptures but really enjoy working with leather, it is just hard for me to come out as good. Maybe it is I'm more in my comfort zone working with metal due to more exp. Having said that we are going down to the cabins this weekend and we will see tons of money being spent on leather goods for horses. I don't know a thing about horses but I wish I did as that customer seems to spend an endless amount of money . I've been doing small art shows, a few flea markets and working with a few wedding planers with overflow work coming from word of mouth. Does anyone have a system for taking cc on the fly that is reasonable? I have left some sales on the table by not taking credit cards. For me the simple front pocket (sleeve type) wallets move the best of my leather products. Had a guy come over to our booth and tell me I stole his design of the wallet, I just laughed and my two boys escorted him back to his booth. I had never ever been to that town before and or seen him or his stuff. It is a simple fold over and stitch the sides up sleeve. I sell them in three colors with zero tooling on them for 15.00 which he said was giving them away. We make 10 or so of them per hour, granted that isn't going to keep the lights on but it helps. Anyway I don't get on here much anymore but did want to say hey to everyone and see how things are going. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Spinner Report post Posted June 9, 2012 Thought I would check in and see how things are going for everyone. I have been busy this year, mostly small sculptures but really enjoy working with leather, it is just hard for me to come out as good. Maybe it is I'm more in my comfort zone working with metal due to more exp. Having said that we are going down to the cabins this weekend and we will see tons of money being spent on leather goods for horses. I don't know a thing about horses but I wish I did as that customer seems to spend an endless amount of money . I've been doing small art shows, a few flea markets and working with a few wedding planers with overflow work coming from word of mouth. Does anyone have a system for taking cc on the fly that is reasonable? I have left some sales on the table by not taking credit cards. For me the simple front pocket (sleeve type) wallets move the best of my leather products. Had a guy come over to our booth and tell me I stole his design of the wallet, I just laughed and my two boys escorted him back to his booth. I had never ever been to that town before and or seen him or his stuff. It is a simple fold over and stitch the sides up sleeve. I sell them in three colors with zero tooling on them for 15.00 which he said was giving them away. We make 10 or so of them per hour, granted that isn't going to keep the lights on but it helps. Anyway I don't get on here much anymore but did want to say hey to everyone and see how things are going. I've been booked solid 3 months out since last November so I'd say pretty well. As for CCs, check out http://www.squareup.com I've been using it for 6 months now without a hitch, rates are comparable and better than some and their customer service has been helpful when I needed it. It's great because you get a swiper for free to use with a iphone or android smartphone, no monthly charges, no minimums and if need be you can key in the numbers as well, which is what I do most of the time for phone orders. I'd say my business increased a good 20% just by adding that as an option along with paypal. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BurnTheBarrels Report post Posted June 9, 2012 Having said that we are going down to the cabins this weekend and we will see tons of money being spent on leather goods for horses. I don't know a thing about horses but I wish I did as that customer seems to spend an endless amount of money . We tend to spend a few bucks on tack. Good saddles run about $400 - $500 (at least the barrel saddle I want) and it's not unheard of for top barrel racers, ropers, jumpers, eventers, essentially the top of the industry to buy saddles $2,000+. I've seen some English saddles at $5,000+. Breast collars (for Western riders, they help hold the saddle in place) can go from about $23 for synthetic up into the hundreds for leather, depending on things such as designs, if it's tooled or not, hide inlay, conchos/bling (gamers love bling), ect. I've seen custom leather sets with simple designs and minimum work for $200 (set being a sliding ear headstall and breast collar, simple being what is called the straight design,I'll see if I can't find pictures if you're interested). So moral of the story, we're much more willing to spend hundreds and thousands of dollars to get quality leather tack and not spend $5 on a shirt for ourselves. A lot of show people do spend hundreds on nice show outfits, but it all depends on what you're showing in... I can't help yah about sales though. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
wareagle Report post Posted June 9, 2012 our sales are up about 30% with some repeat customers, we use PayAnywhere for our CC processor rates are costing us more as sales increase we are going to be moving to a different processor that is integrated with our e-commerce site. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
UKRay Report post Posted June 9, 2012 My sales are up around 30-35% on last year and I'm as busy as I want to be. I'm thinking about raising my prices to limit business to the orders I really want instead of grabbing every order with both hands and working myself to death. Best thing I did last year was invest in a credit card payment machine which has added a huge amount to show takings and increased telephone business. Ray Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BIGGUNDOCTOR Report post Posted June 9, 2012 Ironpounder, are you on iforgeiron.com? They have some good info on selling the blacksmithing items. There are some metal horse items that you could make like hoof picks, horse headed items like BBQ sets etc, and others. Some of my srtist friends have gone with the Square on their smart phone for CC's and love it. Rates lower than banks, and the unit is free. I don't do PayPal due to their anti-firearm policies. Friends have also had accounts frozen for no reason, or what was thought to be suspicios activity-which wasn't. Don't overlook the internet for sales. I have friends who do well with Facebook, blogs, and websites. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Iron Pounder Report post Posted June 12, 2012 Thanks guys for the info on credit cards. Glad everyone is doing well. Big Gun Doctor, I haven't been on Iforge in a long time but used to hang out there some. I really want to do more jewelry and leather as it is easier on me but it is a slow process for me. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
