My Best Sale Ever

[William Young]

I have never been to any bigger sales than my local home town ones and occasionally villages out of town within 30 or 40 miles and never pay more than 10 to 15 $$ for either a table (indoors) or a space for my 10 x 10 easy up outdoors.
This morning was my weekly summer 8.00 AM to 12.00 noon one in town at the farmers market/craft sale .
I decided to put a half price sale on my pens because my $69.00 to $79.00 ones were slow going and I wanted to make room for some of the faster moving lower priced ones. That turned out to be a very successful move. I sold a whole whack of pens of all prices as well as spin tops and bowls and turned boxes and bottle stoppers and a number of other turnings. But the pens were the only discounted items.
My normal small town craft sale averages around $250.00 to $350.00 for a 4 hour sale .
This morning I brought home 687.00 clear after expenses. Of course my expenses were only $10.00 for the space and a couple bucks for a couple nice big cinnamon buns from a vendor across from me.
One fella from out of town has a prosperous motel and mini golf course business. He said he has been eying up my pens for a couple years but said he would never pay those prices. With them at half price he bought two Sierras and three Cigar pens and a small bowl. He wants to put the pens on his counter and let people sign his guest book with them. The rest are for gifts.
He asked if I could make a desktop base to fit one Sierra and one Cigar pen side by side . I said about $39.00 and he said that is a heck of a good price and suggested that he will probably pay more when he sees it.
I came home and unloaded and within an hour I had made him his pen holder in black walnut . He wanted it heavy and that was not a problem with 2" thick walnut . . The picture doesn't show it well but the pens slope forward a little like he wanted them to in the base . I will put a few coats of wipe-on poly on it before delivering it.

..

I will be going to the city where I will be taking a relative back to the airport on Monday and will deliver the base and he said to make sure I bring my case of pens (whats left of them) with me because his wife will want some.

Another lady bought five bowls and two pens.

I only sold 15 of the 30 spinning tops I made this week but that is good because I have to get busy and make a whole bunch more other items.
I only have 2 Natural Edge bowls left out of the last ten I made.

The moral of the story is, don't be afraid to put on a half price sale on one particular item sometimes. It attracts a lot of people to your booth and they wind up also buying regular priced items .

I have been told by a few to double my normal price on some items and they will sell if they are not selling at my normal price . That has never worked for me . Every market area is different . There is darn good money in a $35.00 pen that normally just sat there at $69.95 and had to be brought home time and time again
The only pens I have never been able to sell a single one of are the styles where the end has to be unscrewed off before using it. I can't sell them around here at any price but click pens and twist and double twist sell real good.
I will be ordering a bunch more pen kits over the weekend .
I went to the sale with only three banana boxes of turnings and came home with one and a half so you know where I will be for quite a few hours in the next week trying to catch up. .
W.Y.

[Toolman56]

First's wtg on the sale's that is very good, i know about sale's as i sell at craft shows and swap meet's too, and i work at a party store and i just bought $50 dollers worth of halloween merchandise i'm gona take apart and put in my wood craft's,but yes i wouldnt mind buying a few pen's myself, if i were closer, there nice.

[Mike Crosa]

What's the saying? "All the world loves a sale." And you sure proved it. Kudos to you.

[JohnB]

Goodonya Bill,

It's a nice feeling when things come together like that.
I occasionally have a sale at my monthly stall as well. Just put a pile of stuff in a box that has got a little knocked around from transporting back wards and forwards to the markets, or that I've made a blue on while making, leave the original price tag on with a line through it, and put another tag with the discounted price next to it.
Put a big sign on the box "SPECIAL-DISCONTINUED AND SLIGHTLY SOILED".

It's amazing how empty that box is at the end of the day.

Missed out on our monthly market stall today.
It is as miserable as sin outside, and was raining this morning when I got up. Also considering that Myself and the rest of the crew have a cold, I just gave up and went back to bed.

[bearfretworks]

FANTASTIC news Bill! Glad to hear of your success.

[USMC1126]

Good job on the sale.
By the way thats a really nice chunk of black walnut you got there.

King

[Gaia]

Congrats on the great sale day!

Really like that walnut pen holder too. Way to go!!!

Bobbi

[Andy]

Nobody deserves the success more than you Bill. We all deserve it equally as much though!!! LOLOL Can't reply for long since I have to run up town to the bakery for a couple cinammon buns now ... thanks to you for planting that idea!! ROTF

Andy

[workin for wood]

Congrats on all the great sales Bill. Keep up the good work!

[Wood Dog]

Congrats Mr. Young.......better make more pens for that motel man if he does not chain down those "sign in" pens somehow. Ahhhhh cinnamon buns...................lucky you.