anyone making money with your woodworking?

[Jason Watkins]

Hey folks I was just wondering if any of you are doing woodworking either full time or as a side business? I've seen a few posts here and there with people mentioning selling pieces they've made, but was just wondering if we could get some discussion started where we all may be able to benefit from, like pricing, getting customers, marketing, etc.

So far I've done:

a farmhouse table w/1 bench for $750

a desk for $375

And I just got commissioned to do a 3 cubby entry bench w/three wooden crates for $400 

What have you done?

[justin waldron]

Jason, I started a side business a few years ago building kitchen cabinets.  Pricing really depends on the job, hardware, lumber choice etc., but it has paid for my kitchen and machine upgrades.

[jason black]

im curious about this as well. i would like to earn some cash on the side to just pay for my hobby and maybe down the line be able to make the jump to a full time gig. i truely enjoy woodworking

 

[David Dean]

I restarted about 5 years ago building drasser's night stands and other things as well it keeps me in saw blades and wood.

[skulldigger]

I have built a few end tables and sold them both to individuals and online.  I also make display boxes and sell on E-Bay, which has been very successful.

[michael evans]

Made a couple of play bridges for kids,made a little money on.Mainly aim too cover my costs as its a hobby to me.

[Tom Talley]

I have just started up a side business building furniture.My wife and I have just opened a booth in a antique mall sell furniture and home decor.

[Jay Boutwell]

Jason, after a career in Law Enforcement, I started doing woodworking as a hobby and it turned into a second career as a cabinet maker doing custom cabinet and furniture.  This was over 20 years ago and is still going strong. I have tried to quit two times but customers demand my work so  I stay busy all year long.  Lately it has been so busy that I seldom have time to explore what the Kreg Jig community is doing or even post some of my projects.

Once you get established there is always a demand for someone to do woodworking projects.  Currently  I have two complete kitchen cabinet jobs on the waiting list and several other smaller projects like entertainment centers and other furniture.

As Justin said, the prices depends on several things from location you are in to the style and prices of materials.  I have made a comfortable living from it. 

If you love woodworking that is definately a place for you and you will be able to market your products.  The one thing you have in a single family business is that you do not have the overhead as the larger shops and therefore you can work your pricing to beat the larger companies prices and still produce projects that you can be proud of the quality and in fact be much better built than thoes of the commercial companies.

I am big on custom and that is a benifit to my business as I strive to build a customer a "ONE OF A KIND" which is appealing to most.  When I deliver a project it is just that, "ONE OF A KIND" and insures the customer that there is no one else that has the same design or style.  This is totally contrary to commercial as most of their products are exactly alike.  What one person has there are many others who have the same even down to the same color, wood type and style of building. 

 

[Leslee]

 Jason, 

 Jay is right on location where you live. I found out that some people will pay for good quality goods. They would even pay for things that are not in the area. I have two jobs waiting in the wings for refurnishing furniture because it would be too far for them to haul it out of town. 

[Jason Watkins]

Thanks for writing back guys! It is encouraging to hear your stories!

I make all my stuff from solid pine, and try to buy from local sawyers when possible, which is hard because the ones around here do not keep hours on the weekend, which forces me into lowes or HD.

What kind of marketing are you guys doing? I am mostly doing word of mouth advertising now, and am planning to get a space at our town's saturday morning farmer's market (they allow a small percentage of woodcrafts,) selling small items (iPhone/iPad stands) and getting leads for bigger projects like dining tables and such. I am also devising a monthly newsletter/blog and may produce some instructional videos as well.

[Hugh Clare]

The only thing I would add to what's already been said is to look into etsy.com for your smaller items. It appears to be reasonably priced and would save you a lot of marketing headaches. I plan on putting a few of my turned pens on there.

[Jason Watkins]

I've been thinking of setting up an etsy shop Hugh, the terms seem pretty reasonable.

[leonard haag]

I also have been throwing the idea around of trying to sell some stuff, for me, I was thinking about some artsy-fartsy little pieces to sell at craft shows or farmers market type places for now, just to see if anyone is interested.It would be nice to be able to sell enough to buy wood for my occasional project and keep funding my habit