Card wallet

[Brown64]

This is my new commission that I got a whapping $25.00 for. You got to love this craft because there sure isn't  money to be made. I got about 6 hours, and around $12.00 in the raw material.   

[bikermutt07]

Man alive!

It looks like an 80 dollar job to me.  Maybe more. The art is great.

[Lakejumper]

I would have paid much more! Good wallets that don't have custom hand tooling are much more expensive. I like your designs. The banjo has great detail!

[Brown64]

Thanks for the nice comments guys. I did this for a friend of my mothers if it would have been anyone else I would have insisted on more, but I doubt I could have got $80,00 for it though most people I deal with think they should get it for what a wallet cost in the store that has been mass produced. I try to explain that these are a one of a kind, hand made, and of a higher quality leather, but I must not be to convincing. What I need to do is find out how to get started on the web maybe there I can find someone willing to give a fair price.  

[NVLeatherWorx]

There is money in this craft as long as you actually charge what should be charged.  There are several of us doing this professionally and a number of us for quite some time.  Put a picture of this in your "Portfolio" of projects and include some specification information and pricing for this item, just as it is shown, based on the reality of how it should be priced.  You might be surprised about the responses you will get.  

Good quality work that uses the finest materials is deserving of a fair price.  There are several who don't understand the entirety of the pricing game so they are comfortable with just making a little over the cost of materials, and that is where they will stay with this and will actually have fewer sales than the leatherworker who is in it for the business of it and charges appropriately.  If the objective is to just do this as a hobby and work on stuff for close acquaintances then a bit over materials is pretty much the norm but if the objective is to do this as business then the pricing needs to reflect that seriousness and you must stand by it.  The choice is that of the individual maker and nobody else can make it for them.

The piece that you have shown here is well worth $75 to $85 at the minimum and anyone who thinks that it should be closer to the price of the garbage that they can get from BigMart then you just need to tell them to go shop there and that you will see them in 3 months when that "fine" $20 wallet has fallen apart because the recycled garbage that it was made from just didn't hold itself together.  I get these comments too so it isn't anything that I haven't experienced and I have also told many a person to go buy what they think is quality and when it fails they can come talk to me about what we are going to do to replace it.  I have about a 70% positive response from this method when the junk product fails and I use it to school them on the differences between junk and the real stuff.  This also leads to other items being ordered down the road from about 50% of them; can't complain about those numbers.

This piece that you have shown is beautiful and one can see, those who have eyes and knowledge at least, that the quality of the work is very clean.  There are some makers out there who are selling some pretty "dirty" carving work for much more, and they are selling consistently, so I am sure that you could get what others have stated.

Keep up the good work and give us some more to look at when you can.

[bikermutt07]

4 hours ago, Brown64 said:

Thanks for the nice comments guys. I did this for a friend of my mothers if it would have been anyone else I would have insisted on more, but I doubt I could have got $80,00 for it though most people I deal with think they should get it for what a wallet cost in the store that has been mass produced. I try to explain that these are a one of a kind, hand made, and of a higher quality leather, but I must not be to convincing. What I need to do is find out how to get started on the web maybe there I can find someone willing to give a fair price.  

People who mention a store's prices aren't going to be your demographic. My brother taught me awhile back that you should try and spot window shoppers early on in the conversation. Don't waste your time on them. If they are asking the same type of questions over and over like "well how much would it be if you just do this part and not that part". They aren't spending the money. Those folks will run all over town shopping you and probably in the end, don't buy anything at all.

If you watch for them, you'll see them.

I know it's a little off topic, but I thought it may be helpful to someone. I bet NV has run into those people.

[NVLeatherWorx]

2 hours ago, bikermutt07 said:

People who mention a store's prices aren't going to be your demographic. My brother taught me awhile back that you should try and spot window shoppers early on in the conversation. Don't waste your time on them. If they are asking the same type of questions over and over like "well how much would it be if you just do this part and not that part". They aren't spending the money. Those folks will run all over town shopping you and probably in the end, don't buy anything at all.

If you watch for them, you'll see them.

I know it's a little off topic, but I thought it may be helpful to someone. I bet NV has run into those people.

These woods are full of them bikermutt07, and they do indeed try to haggle over the price by doing the 20 questions routine.  I have also been known to be very stern with some of them, especially when they try and take the conversation down a path that is going to ultimately result in me embarrassing them and catching them in their game.  I make it very clear that I am a professional craftsman and Master Leather Craftsman and that I am in this for business and hobby; I then invite them to take their business elsewhere so that I can actually work with a real customer who is truly interested in having something made for them.  I have yet to be called rude by anyone else who has witnessed this so I guess I am on a good track.

As you said, spot them early and do what you need to get them out of your breathing air as fast as you can; let them go suck up someone else's Oxygen for awhile.

[bikermutt07]

Where's the like button?

[Brown64]

Sounds like good sound advice! I'll take it to heart, and thanks for the insight.