Pricing Pens at Craft Fairs

[L33]

Just wondering...I sell items at craft fairs and would like to start adding pens to my sale items. I'm currently only making the Axminster slimline pens until I get more confident at pen making.

I was wondering if anybody else makes these pens to sell and if there is a going rate as such for the slimline pens. All pens I make will be using wood blanks...oak, walnut, cherry etc.

Thanks in advance :)

 

[Vic Perrin]

There has been loads of info posted on this subject Lee. Just type Pricing Pens in the search bar and there's your answer.

 

[Penpal]

Surely help is at hand they sell for 15Au to 35AU over here.

 

[bigbob]

Think it depends where you are selling them if you have a big throughput of potential buyers you can ask more but up here in the highlands if I ask for more than £10 for a slimline I will be taking the same amount of pens home with me as I started off with. Last sale we put pens to there was a guy selling slimlines plus a stylus for £10.

 

[yorkshireman]

I'd sell a slimline with a box and refill for £15

 

[Woody]

I dont do craft fairs anymore but I sell mine for £18 in a pouch and the more decorative the wood the more I sell them for premium wood deserves a premium price

 

[Winemaker]

I sell my Slimlines for £9 to £10 depending on wood etc.

 

[fortress]

My Slimlines are between £10 - £15 depending on how much work is involved, the wood, the finish and if there is segmentation and the like. :wink:

 

[bluntchisel]

If you make pens as a business then you should test the market, decide how many you might sell, then make and sell them accordingly.

However, if you make pens as a hobby like I do (but I don't make slimlines or similar) then you have a problem. I spend my spare time either metal detecting or pen-making. Therefore, before long I end up with a lot of nice rollers and fountains neatly stored away for when I attend a fair. Obviously, the run-up to Xmas is the best period to sell so I aim to take around two-hundred pens on each visit. I hope to (and normally do) sell enough of these to recoup my outlay for the year, and show a decent profit as well. I never vary the price of my pens to suit the venue, and every pen has a small string label attached to the clip as soon as its finished and stored. I don't have a website nor do I market them via 3rd-parties, but I have plenty of business cards scattered around the stall, and every buyer gets one. Each pen is sold in a velvet sleeve, and goes out with a full, no-quibble, guarantee. I've got a good rep as an honest and reliable seller, and in many cases my customers have become my friends. If you can earn that sort of trust then you will sell many pens! I wish you good luck, my friend.

Regards,
Bob.

 

[Bammer]

I sell my Slimlines for £9 to £10 depending on wood etc.

How long does it take you to make a slimline ? From start to finish ?

 

[L33]

Cheers everyone...I kind of thought around £10...if I worked out how long it takes me to make a pen then I'm probably working way below minimum wage haha...but making the pens is giving me great lathe practice and I'm feeling more confident with the roughing gouge and skew, and I'm definitely getting quicker each time, and the overall finish seems to improve too, so that's more important than the price at the moment. They are great fun to make, and it's definitely an item people love to pick up and ask questions about.

I shan't be buying my millionaires yacht just yet...but it'll feel good to sell one or two at my next fair.

 

[bluntchisel]

And that's the way to do it, Lee - enjoy your hobby, and if you can find a means to fund it then so much the better!

Bob.

 

[chas_41_uk]

I sell slimlines at between £15 and £20, dependant on what it is dressed in

 

[wm460]

Bout the same as Chaz, but in Aussie peso's.

 

[Penpal]

Lee have success selling mate but be well aware of your real total cost to determine your selling price . Then decide if it is worth it.

Peter.

 

[silver]

As a Young gentleman once said on here.

"I don't sell pens, I sell a story"

Pen pricing has been a big debate on here over the years Lee, have a look around at pricing pens you will be supprised what it brings out.

As has been said many time, "if you are happy with what you get paid then that's the price you sell them for"

Enjoy your new found skill mate, hope to see you moored next to mine yacht in Milan.

 

[chas_41_uk]

hope to see you moored next to mine yacht in Milan.

Milan????? You're selling your pens too cheap Eamonn. Phil Darts yacht is moored next to Woody's in San Tropez :wink:
Mine was moored at a private island in the Carribean, but thanks to some bloke called Matthew it's now 30 miles inland in Florida

 

[L33]

It'll be interesting to see how things go this weekend...I already sell items at a craft fair, I've never sold pens. I actually sold a few pen blanks and made a single pen (wasn't great) but instead of wanting the blanks, people were asking me for the pen. That kind of inspired me to have a go at making some pens...I've got about 10 to take with me this weekend so it'll be interesting to see what interest there is. I just need to make a display for them first.

 

[L33]

On a side not...would anyone know where I may be able to find a particular type of pen box...I'm looking for a box like dominoes are kept in...one where the top comes off and then you can place the main box inside the upturned lid...not sure if that makes sense :)

 

[wm460]

Mine was moored at a private island in the Carribean, but thanks to some bloke called Matthew it's now 30 miles inland in Florida

Sure Matthew isnt a woman.