Great advice Wendy. I’ve been putting off starting an Etsy shop. Shipping was my barrier to entry. As luck would have it, I met with a client last week whom I’ve golfed with for 10 years. We got chatting and she told me she had a shipping business that she sold in the 90’s. She and her son own a local moving company (not a van line) but knows the shipping world of shipping chairs like the back of her hand. Never thought she could such a good resource, right under my nose. She’s already pointed me in the right direction!
Thank you for this video - as always your advice is incredibly helpful and valuable! I wonder if you could do a video for us on how you ship your chairs - ie which shipper, how you protect and box/crate them for example. Cheers!
The market where I live will not support charging that much for a chair. I have ended up donating beautiful chairs to charity events to raffle because they were premade and I could not drum up any interest. I buy my chairs for between $ Free to $30 but mostly pay $10 to 20. Happy to send you some examples of my work. It is well done and tasteful. I am still loving making them though.
Love your items! I'm very new at this. I have redone furniture for my own pleasure. I'm fairly creative and crafty. My friends keep telling me I'm so talented. I love doing DIY as I hate having anything everyone else has. Im retired and would like to have an extra income. Facebook Market is loaded with scammers and people that dont want to pay. Is it possible to get any buyers without having a website or Etsy page? I will say Etsy is a nice way to sell but I cant do many items. I can only do smaller items as I dont have a lot of space (condo). Do you have a designer market that you deal with or is the general public your audience? I live at the top of Fairfield Cnty in Conn. Greenwich, Westport, Cos Cob etc. So much money here but have no idea where to begin. TIA, Julie
Honestly, Etsy is one of the best places to sell. It has a huge search engine and you're more likely to be found there. But if you can get known in your area and take on custom orders there, then that might be lucrative.
Hey, you don't want to work for free; your art should be valued (most importantly by you!). It is a common problem with creatives that we don't value and price the way we should. You can do it!
Good morning! Wonderful advice. Thats exactly what I’m trying to push myself to do. Raise my prices to go after that “other” level of client. It’s sad to see so many racing to the bottom of the barrel. I’ll look at refurbished pieces and think how can they have done that and sell for that price? My brain just adds all the costs and I know they are losing money and not doing themselves or any one else any favours.
Thanks thousands of times for your advices ! I'm a begginer but You are absolutly rigt ... it took me a month to remove fabrics tacks staples, glue the notches sand cover holes and defects with wood putty and much more... Just now i'm starting to paint them.... And belive me, i'm a good carpenter ... lol . Whem I get to the final result I'll send you some pictures. Love your work and creativity... You're the best!!!
Thank you for sharing this extremely specific and valuable information. I have handmade and sewn different items for clients for many years now, and I know I have not charged them enough for what I am worth. It takes confidence to charge what I am worth, and I am going to start doing just that. I have started working on my first chair that cost me $12.50, and one yard of fabric cost me $10.50. I’m so excited!
Great advice Wendy. I’ve been putting off starting an Etsy shop. Shipping was my barrier to entry. As luck would have it, I met with a client last week whom I’ve golfed with for 10 years. We got chatting and she told me she had a shipping business that she sold in the 90’s. She and her son own a local moving company (not a van line) but knows the shipping world of shipping chairs like the back of her hand. Never thought she could such a good resource, right under my nose. She’s already pointed me in the right direction!
Oh that's wonderful! Go for it!
Thank you for this video - as always your advice is incredibly helpful and valuable! I wonder if you could do a video for us on how you ship your chairs - ie which shipper, how you protect and box/crate them for example. Cheers!
All that info is stuff I cover in my Business of Chairs course! You can check it out here: chairwhimsy.com/business-of-chairs-course/
The market where I live will not support charging that much for a chair. I have ended up donating beautiful chairs to charity events to raffle because they were premade and I could not drum up any interest. I buy my chairs for between $ Free to $30 but mostly pay $10 to 20. Happy to send you some examples of my work. It is well done and tasteful. I am still loving making them though.
Thanks for so great advice! Normally how do you ship your chairs? Any company you recommend? Need specific wrapping/protection? Cost? Thanks!
I mostly use white glove shippers that come wrap the chairs and hand deliver.
Love your items!
I'm very new at this. I have redone furniture for my own pleasure. I'm fairly creative and crafty. My friends keep telling me I'm so talented. I love doing DIY as I hate having anything everyone else has. Im retired and would like to have an extra income. Facebook Market is loaded with scammers and people that dont want to pay. Is it possible to get any buyers without having a website or Etsy page? I will say Etsy is a nice way to sell but I cant do many items.
I can only do smaller items as I dont have a lot of space (condo). Do you have a designer market that you deal with or is the general public your audience? I live at the top of Fairfield Cnty in Conn. Greenwich, Westport, Cos Cob etc. So much money here but have no idea where to begin.
TIA, Julie
Honestly, Etsy is one of the best places to sell. It has a huge search engine and you're more likely to be found there. But if you can get known in your area and take on custom orders there, then that might be lucrative.
I almost fell over at $500. I do easy chairs and if lucky ottomans - Still a rookie with great vision but idk!!😮
Hey, you don't want to work for free; your art should be valued (most importantly by you!). It is a common problem with creatives that we don't value and price the way we should. You can do it!
Thank you so much for the advice.....you never disappoint
Love
Madelyn
aka : Mbr Boujee Readers
So glad it was helpful
Thank you for valuable information. What shipping services do you recommend? Thanks.
I typically use white glove!
Good morning! Wonderful advice. Thats exactly what I’m trying to push myself to do. Raise my prices to go after that “other” level of client. It’s sad to see so many racing to the bottom of the barrel. I’ll look at refurbished pieces and think how can they have done that and sell for that price? My brain just adds all the costs and I know they are losing money and not doing themselves or any one else any favours.
Yes, it's a hard thing to do for sure! But if you want to survive, you have to do it.
Thankyou for giving your knowledge and experience with such passion 🧡🧡🧡
Thank you Linda! Glad it helps!
Thanks thousands of times for your advices ! I'm a begginer but You are absolutly rigt ... it took me a month to remove fabrics tacks staples, glue the notches sand cover holes and defects with wood putty and much more... Just now i'm starting to paint them.... And belive me, i'm a good carpenter ... lol . Whem I get to the final result I'll send you some pictures. Love your work and creativity... You're the best!!!
So glad this was helpful!
Were do i get those beautiful fabrics.
I've got a mini course you might love, Sourcing Swoon Worthy Fabrics: chairwhimsy.com/swoon-worthy-fabrics/
Thank you for sharing this extremely specific and valuable information. I have handmade and sewn different items for clients for many years now, and I know I have not charged them enough for what I am worth. It takes confidence to charge what I am worth, and I am going to start doing just that. I have started working on my first chair that cost me $12.50, and one yard of fabric cost me $10.50. I’m so excited!
Yay for you!
Thank you so much for this valuable information.
You're so welcome!
Thank you, good advice as always.
You are so welcome!
xoxox
THIS WAS SO HELPFUL!
THANK YOU🌻
So glad it was!
Thank you!
you're so welcome!