Questions on Shop inventory, Kind off broad...

[Hairic]

Ok, So I'm working on getting my leather shop figured out, And have come to the point where I need to think about some things.  Would really like some input on how everyone does it.  My plan is to produce several of one item like wallets, bags, belts, holsters, etc, I want to be able to sell online, That's not really my issues as I do that already for my wood work, However first question is what do you all use to ship items in, I don't want to just throw my products into a brown box and slap a sticker on it, I kind of want the packaging to look nice so my first issue I am having Is inventory as just stated, what do you all do for packaging an item.  The larger concern I have is leather choosing and storage, I think I have an ok idea for storing the leather, However I cant just run to the store and pick out leather everyday so I need to have a fair bit on hand, at least that's what I am telling my self, In my head I'm thinking if I just get 8-10 oz leather I can always skive it down, But that's allot of work and really wont be as consistent as purchasing thinner mats, So does anyone have a rule of thumb or is this something that comes with time.  I know that I don't want to buy anything less than sides or bare minimum bends,  I figure a roll rack is the way to go as far as storing them, Ideas welcome.  Guess what I'm asking here is what would be a good formula of leather thickness to keep on hand.  

I would like to see peoples shop layouts if you do not mind showing them, I am limited on space and I Plan to have a 4x8 workbench with one giant cutting mat placed in the center of the shop and use it to work around, Works good in my wood shop that way.  I want to have a dyeing station/gluing station so to speak.  I have a sewing machine on the way so want a corner dedicated to sewing.  I'm really considering purchasing a skiving machine, but might wait a bit for that just to see how things go, I know it can be a tremendous time saver.  Then I know I'm going to need places for random hardware storage and Items of that sort. I then have my little laser that I will pretty much just use for branding and cutting the thin stuff. Then we circle back around to inventory, Finished and packaged kind of inventory.  I don't plan to have loads of things but enough that makes me feel good I suppose lol.   All this I'm trying to fit into a singe car garage, Its actually a little larger than a single but lets just call it a single for now.  If this does Good I have an addition of my house that is about 1300 square feet with bathroom, basically a basement just on the ground floor that I can use too, as its just a workout room and music room right now and its attached to this little shop, So bigger dreams would be to turn the little shop into a store front kind of thing and the addition would be the shop, but that's just dreams lol.  

I know I want to try and do as little finishing as I can as far as the leather goes, I do not mind dying the leather or anything but I really like to cut sew be done, lol.  But with that said I want to always be able to grab some natural veg tan off the rack and make a totally custom piece when asked.  Plus tooling is getting to very relaxing for me and I definitely want to improve on that and get that into my line up of items eventually. 

Any way if you'r are still reading I do appreciate any advice you have, I have already learned allot from this place so you are all my go to now lol. So with that said Any and all advise is welcome as I am sure there are plenty of things I have not thought of.

[fredk]

On 3/3/2022 at 12:37 AM, Hairic said:

However first question is what do you all use to ship items in, I don't want to just throw my products into a brown box and slap a sticker on it, I kind of want the packaging to look nice so my first issue I am having Is inventory as just stated, what do you all do for packaging an item. 

I wrap the item in tissue paper. Not very carefully. One large sheet of tissue paper wrapped around it. Then it goes into a white carboard box for posting or in to a white paper bag which has handles on it if its being collected in person

On 3/3/2022 at 12:37 AM, Hairic said:

. . .   The larger concern I have is leather choosing and storage, I think I have an ok idea for storing the leather, However I cant just run to the store and pick out leather everyday so I need to have a fair bit on hand, at least that's what I am telling my self, 

I keep a lot of leather on hand, in what I call me ready-use boxes. Every thickness from 6mm to 0.5mm. Its all kept in plastic boxes. The main thing is I keep a computer spread sheet and a paper copy of a list of which box has which leathers in it

I moved from a good generous sized shed to the spare bedroom in a small apartment. I have one main work table, a smaller one for dyeing and one for small assembling. What I'm thinking of doing this year is making a ginormous wood tray for doing the dyeing on. It will sit on my cutting / prep table when needed and after dyeing it can lifted away and stored vertically till the next time its needed

 

[Hairic]

1 hour ago, fredk said:

What I'm thinking of doing this year is making a ginormous wood tray for doing the dyeing on. It will sit on my cutting / prep table when needed and after dyeing it can lifted away and stored vertically till the next time its needed

 

Ah that's actually a good idea,  I did a little research and found a few company's that do custom boxes for shipping and even product boxes, not terribly priced depending on what you add to it, I want to keep it simple, however will add about 3 bucks to my minimal wallets for a "product" box per wallet, Guess that could go into the shipping and handling cost.  I also had not even thought about bags for in person deals so that's also a good Idea, Thank you for the advise.