Selling cutting boards?

[RonB]

OK folks. I am thinking about selling a few cutting boards. Emphasis is on "few". I enjoy making cutting boards, but usually only make them between other projects, so I'm not making a lot, but more than I can give to friends and family. What got me even thinking about this was my wife telling me I should use the $$ to buy tools. (MTS)


The purpose of this post is two fold:


Is there any interest here in buying a board?

How can I equitably decide who gets a board if more than one person is interested? The reason for this is that I would prefer to sell to an active member. With 17K+ members, it looks to me like only a few hundred post on a regular, if not frequent, basis. Am I off with the idea of selling to active members?

Should I do a lottery? First come first serve? Another way...


Price would be based on the amount of wood used and the time to make. Simpler/smaller/thinner boards would cost less than more complicated/larger/thicker boards. Prices would probably fall in the neighborhood of $50 to $200 plus shipping.


Any thoughts would be appreciated – even from Panhead John …


And here are a couple of shots of my latest, (and probably the first I would sell) :

Shot with flash - cherry


Shot without flash


This shows the taper on the edge

[CaptainMike]

I like what you're laying down, support your habit! Perhaps you could advertise available for only folks with X amount of average posts per day, or something like that, as a condition. I'm sure someone will get butt-hurt, but it's your product to disperse as you wish. I mean, it's not like you're baking a cake...

[Donw]

After you decide on your criteria then why not names in a hat. When you have time, energy and materials, draw a name and build it. When the stars align again, another name. Now, if you decide first come, first serve, then apparently either myself or the mighty juggling Captain should be first on the list based on timing and interest.🙂

[Donw]

Damn, CN can sure type fast!

[barelfly]

My only comment - only do what you feel will be fun. I tied fly fishing flies commercially for many years, and it took the fun out of tying for me after a while. I don’t know what these boards would look like for you, and considering it’s just in between projects, I think you’ll be fine. But that’s my one suggestion.

[RonB]

I have been there too, but I just turned wooden bowls that I liked and sold them at juried craft shows. If someone saw something they liked, they could buy it.

[HawkerXP]

I think you should start with folks close to home and slooooowly spread out. Virginians rule!

[HawkerXP]

Will the table come with it?

[Panhead John]

Ok, here’s my 2 cents….1. Are you going to sell pre-made boards like above? 2. Or will all the boards sold be custom made orders?

If you’re going to sell pre-made boards, I would post pictures of them along with the price and sizes available. Then say I’ve got "10" ,or whatever, to sell at this time. Then it would be first come first served. The first ten people to commit get their boards and close out the sale for that post.

If you’re going to sell all custom made boards to the buyers specs, then do something similar. Start your post by saying, “By December 1st I can turn out 10 cutting boards made to your order. Give a choice of sizes and wood they can choose from. Then take your first ten orders and let them know they can be done by December 1. (Just throwing out random numbers and dates) Once you have your pre-determined number of board orders, then close the post. That seems like a very fair way to do it.

[holehogg]

May I suggest making it easy on yourself and sell them through an accredited agent like myself.
This way you won't be seen as being biased to any members. My commission structure would be a very reasonable 50% (of retail price not on my customer discounted price).
Should you require my T&C's please advise.
Looking forward to an extraordinary successful working relationship moving forward.
P.S. Will they be gift wrapped before shipping?

[STEbbq]

Lots of good suggestions so far. I would also decide if you want to sell and ship internationally so you can be clear on that point upfront.

[RonB]

Thanks for the comments so far folks. I'm just gonna make a board when I have time although if the interest is there, it's not much more work to cut out the parts for several of the simpler designs. Hmmm....

There are a lot of designs I'd like to try - some simple and some very complex, so I will make what I want and the person next in line can buy or not.

OK, with a few adjustments thanks to the comments above, here's my tentative plan:

I will start a new post for people to "sign up" in, and I will first post the time and date that will happen.
It will probably be at 9 PM Eastern Time so as to not discriminate against those still contributing to my monthly SS payments.
A member must average at least 12 posts a month. This could change depending on responses.
The person whose name is up will be able to refuse without losing their place in line. They may not like the board or the price.
There will be a limited time to respond, and if the person does not respond within that time, they will lose their place in line.
The "winner" will be responsible for actual shipping costs including any special tariffs or VAT if international. International may change if it proves to be too difficult.
Timelines will be relatively short because people interested are already visiting the sight frequently.


How does this sound? Can anyone think of anything else I should or shouldn't do?

[Panhead John]

Damn man, 12 posts a month!? I don’t stand a chance. 😢

[RonB]

Panhead John - I did say a month, not a day even though you'd qualify for that too.

[STEbbq]

It sounds reasonable. If it helps, DHL is the best international shipper as they work with customs etc. and are very reliable. While they are not the cheapest, for a speciality item like this, it is worth considering!

[STEbbq]

I would also say your timing is good as we are ready for Secret Santa 2021!!!

Spinaker

[Panhead John]

Fer shur! Those are a lot of fun.

[Spinaker]

Almost that time!

[Huskee]

List 'em eBay-style, highest bidder gets it. Win-win!

[STEbbq]

Auctions are good but how would we do them here? I feel reasonably confident that experienced posters here wouldn’t edit their posts after the fact to try and claim they won but I could see higher potential for hurt feelings.

That said, Ron would probably double his final sale price per board with a bidding approach.

[Draznnl]

I would think that the easiest on you, RonB , would be to wait until you finish a board, post a picture of it with the price and say the first person to claim it can purchase it.

Do you really want to be doing math to see if someone has been averaging twelve posts per month? Over what period? The past month? Six months? Year? Since joining?

As Yogi Berra might have said, the more complicated you make this, the more complicated it gets.

[texastweeter]

Auction. Highest bidder get the board

[Santamarina]

First come first served, regardless of status.

[Spinaker]

Those end grain boards can go for $200 easily. I agree with the rest, make the boards post them and then see how much people are willing to pay for them. If had my shop at home, I would be doing the same. However, my shop time is limited to when the shop is free. Right now, it is being used to make cabinets for our friends house. So the knives in the planer were changed to new blades and we can't run any boards through it until the cabinets are done. That glue is tough on the knives, as you know.

Anyway, that cherry board looks gorgeous. Anyone would be lucky to win that in a bid.