You can earn six figures in pottery. Time, patience, good business sense. For example, galleries are flattering, but they take around 50% royalty. So only pick one or two good ones with lots of traffic and great online presence - they are your ads, not your bread and butter. Building social media is worth your time more than ads, because you can reach more people than an ad. If you keep working on it, find your niche, and sell your brand, you then have a path to competitive pricing. I currently sell my mugs for $150, and am booked out until April... and if that seems obnoxious, I personally witnessed Kevin Merck sell one for $3K. One mug, three thousand dollars. Find your market, then make your market chase you! You can do it!
My 9 yo made Christmas ornaments and sold $2000 (3 shows, a few custom orders, and Etsy) 😮🎉😮🎉 it ended up being a family project - but it was awesome and he really learned how to interact with customers at shows!
As I started to watch the British TV show "The Great Pottery Throw-down" I'd like to see you to take a challenge and make one piece of what they show in one episode. In second episode, they make chess pieces. I'd like to see you more slab build and sculpt because I'm more a slab builder. Or you could show some pictures of your first attempts in pottery.
Over 300 pieces in the first month?! And I'm amazed by your transparency. No fluff. You're a great teacher, putting the reality right in front for us to learn. I love the studio cost break down video too. My idea for 100k subscribes would be throw a 100lb pot! Or 100-1lb pots? ;-)
How wonderfully honest of you! Least you forget your labor costs... seems you spend lots and lots of hours producing your product do you keep track of that time??
Wow, I feel like crap now! I feel like a slacker. 😱. You are really selling!!!! I need to get busy. 🙂🙂🙂. Thanks for the kick in the butt and for the inspiration!
I realize that this comment is way after the video posted, but as an accounting business owner as well as a new pottery business owner, I found your videos very informative and spot on. Love your insight.
I did my final sales from 2019, my first year selling pottery. I started selling in June and finished selling for the year in October. I ended up making 7,000 before costs of clay ect! This year I am taking a step back from my full time job and starting to work at my local pottery store part time. I am going to spend the rest of the time that I would have been working on growing my pottery instead!
Join I enjoy watching your videos. But I wanted to give you a heads up that you accidentally put that the auction ends Jan. 1, 2020 in your description instead of Feb. 1, 2020.
Great video Jon! So interesting to hear the numbers and follow your growth! Any chance you could share you final Net numbers when you have them? It would be so interesting and helpful to see what the difference in between your gross and net profits. Also... never ever stop rambling! It's one of the many reasons why we all love ya!
Thank you so much. I love how transparent and open you always are! You're such an inspiration! I'm TOTALLY new to pottery and your videos are so informative
Thanks so much for all you do for the community. The honesty and genuine enthusiasm that you bring in every video is super inspiring to all of us fledgling potters in the world.
That is amazing ! It shows how hard work and some creativity can go a long way! Great job Jon!! I am where you started a workshop in my basement.. doing events and any shows I can get. You are right shipping is very expensive!
Love your shop being on TV. They did a good job. You almost made me dizzy going round and round! Lol Watched the whole thing and was great as usual.. Tell your sweet family Hello.
Thank you for your transparency , its great to know that potters can make some kinda income as long as your motivated enough, im just working on my art and wasnt sure about selling but this is such a great positive video and shined a bit of light on the subject of selling and making. P.s your stuff very good love your glazes keep potting john :) and making videos
You talked about your gross sales and then the expenses you have to adjust for yet but can you speak to what your increase in production was in a percentage compared to 2018? Also, did you add any new types of pieces that you hadn’t previously focused on? Eg. vases, urns, magnets etc.
Thank you for sharing this information. I'm a newbie, but would love to sell my pottery someday (when I get better at it). I can now see this would be a good goal for me, and worth my time in doing so. Great video!!
Thanks Jon! Love the transparency and excited to hear its going well. Social media & YT play a huge part in allowing you to sell so much work. I don’t think 100k (sales & subscribers) is out of the question for 2020. Best of luck and hope to see you soon. Wonder where workshops fit into that sales
It would be interesting to have an rough estimation of the expenses (clay and other, without the studio setup). Is it a fair income, where you live? The youtube channel is indeed probably a good marketing move. The energy and the tips you show are awesome! I'm sure you'll get to your goals very soon :)
I can't speak for John, but as a fellow pottery, the direct, per unit cost of a mug is pretty low. Clay, if you aren't using anything too pricey like porcelain and you are buying in bulk is about $0.50 per pound. The glaze cost is generally about the same as the clay cost. The electricity cost for a kiln is $5-$10 per load and you need to fire everything twice, but if you are just making mugs, you can fit at least 40 in. So, a ballpark for the cost per mug is ~$1.5, if you are selling for $25, then $1.5 is 6% of the total cost.
@@adraxiom There are lots of other costs, but that was just a ballpark for the per mug costs of materials and power. Like this all assumes you have your own studio and kiln, John's studio cost him, I think close to $60K . A booth at a fair can be anything from $50 to $1,000+ depending on the event. Selling only, places like Etsy take 10% and shipping a mug can easily cost $10. So, if you buy a mug for $25 "with free shipping", the person who makes it might get just $12.50, minus the $1.50 in basic costs. Shipping is often one of the biggest costs, outside of just the time spent.
Jon is blessed to have his coffee shop as a place to market his pottery. It works well and he doesn't have to share the cost because he is the owner. It fits well. Popularity on UA-cam helps. Jon, you have a way of making it all fun on your channel. I love that you share your family with us.
Monitizarion cash flow? Just discovered your channel, now a subscriber. Haven’t looked thru all your vids. Im sure there are a few vids with more than a million or two views? Thanks in advance for your answer.
I would love to buy a whole set of mugs from you one day if I save up the money. I got to make a bowl of my own when I was in highschool and my glaze turned out so beautiful! My teacher was impressed, I wish I could do more pottery but I don't think anywhere offers any classes or anything like that where I live.
I don't know were you live, but I was surprised how pottery classes are sometime quite badly advertised (like you find them because of someone who knows someone, not on social media and stuff). I know that doesnt help you with 'how to find them'.. hope you will.
I would love to see some more Raku firing and maybe experiments with materials to add awesome patterns to the surface (like feathers and hair and stuff?) One day, I'm going to try this and see if I can make something lovey and delicate like a Japanese sake bottle and cup set. *Dreamy face* One day....
Good job, Jon! Gives me hope for the future if I stay at it. So where did you get the gradient background for your photography? What brand & what size? I’ve looked on Amazon & other places but I don’t know what to buy. It makes your Etsy photos look really professional!
Thanks for another video!! What kind of camera do you use and how much was that?? I see lighting behind you, was that very expensive? Thanks again for all your videos!!
Hi Jon, Thankyou for your many great videos here! I have been doing ceramics for about a half a year and I’m frustrated because my ceramics class only does low fire and I want to do high fire for cool glazing effects. So I was going to ask you what kind of kilns you have, and what is your favorite one? I don’t know when it will happen but I would like to eventually get a kiln that’s easy to use like the new digital ones.
Do you sell out of your products or do you have an inventory that you try to keep up? I love your videos and have been thinking about getting into pottery soon! Thanks for the inspiration.
Sales are very good! What is the net profit for the year excluding the proceeds and expenses for the studio. Or if you prefer, what's your net margin ? I'm curious if i could make a comfortable living doing pottery.
For100K, come surpise some of your craziest fans/students/wannabe friends with you and EC her in the great Texas panhandle. My husband says you are me as a man, whatever that means. I know I sound total weirdo status, but that's fine. Hahahaha. Thanks for what you're doing-so fun to watch and be inspired to make the things! If in fact we are that similar you probably actually think that's real weird of me to say which could feel creepy to you or maybe like, "yeah lets all grab dinner!" Prob the former. If not, dinner's on us. Peace, pottery, and adventure! :) Sarah Beukelman
That doesn't sound a lot of money considering that you still have to pay for expenses and your salary. I was dreaming of getting into this :( And then I wanted to ask you why don't you have any employees when you seem to be so busy but it would add to your overhead.
Nobody gets into pottery for the money! I would say this is a lot of money for a potter to make and this level of sales is thanks to a great social media/UA-cam presence.
@@ND-eb7gs The point is that there are expenses to be met. I think that a diligent person should always try to think on how to support themselves. Besides, we all get old.
@@seanstumpf4190 This, the fact he decided to focus on that (more events)... maybe also the quickstarter that increased his visibility, and probably just *having* an online shop :)
@@Jonthepotter I'd love to know what your net was I know that's personal but I'm trying to gauge on ratio of reinvestment into the business to profit to know if I'm over spending etc etc:) I enjoy how open and honest you are about this stuff not enough people discuss business honestly.
I bet his next video is going to be about planters and like throwing of the planters Jon if I’m right can you tell me by either pinning me or just reply to this saying you got it right
You can earn six figures in pottery. Time, patience, good business sense. For example, galleries are flattering, but they take around 50% royalty. So only pick one or two good ones with lots of traffic and great online presence - they are your ads, not your bread and butter. Building social media is worth your time more than ads, because you can reach more people than an ad. If you keep working on it, find your niche, and sell your brand, you then have a path to competitive pricing. I currently sell my mugs for $150, and am booked out until April... and if that seems obnoxious, I personally witnessed Kevin Merck sell one for $3K. One mug, three thousand dollars. Find your market, then make your market chase you! You can do it!
My 9 yo made Christmas ornaments and sold $2000 (3 shows, a few custom orders, and Etsy) 😮🎉😮🎉 it ended up being a family project - but it was awesome and he really learned how to interact with customers at shows!
As I started to watch the British TV show "The Great Pottery Throw-down" I'd like to see you to take a challenge and make one piece of what they show in one episode. In second episode, they make chess pieces. I'd like to see you more slab build and sculpt because I'm more a slab builder. Or you could show some pictures of your first attempts in pottery.
Over 300 pieces in the first month?! And I'm amazed by your transparency. No fluff. You're a great teacher, putting the reality right in front for us to learn. I love the studio cost break down video too.
My idea for 100k subscribes would be throw a 100lb pot! Or 100-1lb pots? ;-)
That was my idea ! A piece made with 100 pounds of clay!
How wonderfully honest of you! Least you forget your labor costs... seems you spend lots and lots of hours producing your product do you keep track of that time??
Wow, I feel like crap now! I feel like a slacker. 😱. You are really selling!!!! I need to get busy. 🙂🙂🙂. Thanks for the kick in the butt and for the inspiration!
I realize that this comment is way after the video posted, but as an accounting business owner as well as a new pottery business owner, I found your videos very informative and spot on. Love your insight.
I did my final sales from 2019, my first year selling pottery. I started selling in June and finished selling for the year in October. I ended up making 7,000 before costs of clay ect!
This year I am taking a step back from my full time job and starting to work at my local pottery store part time. I am going to spend the rest of the time that I would have been working on growing my pottery instead!
You should make some dog and cat food/h20 bowls! I love special one of a kind homemade stuff for my pets!
You should have a pottery work shop contest. You would give a weekend workshop for 4 people at your studio.
A full year in the new studio! 2020 will be off the chart
Congratulations I love how you pay attention also of what you’re doing.. by the way whatever happened with “survivor”?
When you hit 100k subscribers you should try a go at making a slip cast mold and slipcast something
Join I enjoy watching your videos. But I wanted to give you a heads up that you accidentally put that the auction ends Jan. 1, 2020 in your description instead of Feb. 1, 2020.
Dude, that's freaking awesome! Gives me hope for my little pottery start-up!!!
Great video Jon! So interesting to hear the numbers and follow your growth! Any chance you could share you final Net numbers when you have them? It would be so interesting and helpful to see what the difference in between your gross and net profits. Also... never ever stop rambling! It's one of the many reasons why we all love ya!
Net this year is close to $0 or even negative because of costs and the studio build but with it, the future profit potential is great!
Social blade predicts you'll reach 100k sub by mid April. You're making great content, I bet you massively overshoot the 100k in 2020 goal.
Thank you so much. I love how transparent and open you always are! You're such an inspiration! I'm TOTALLY new to pottery and your videos are so informative
Thanks so much for all you do for the community. The honesty and genuine enthusiasm that you bring in every video is super inspiring to all of us fledgling potters in the world.
Thanks for sharing this info. I am three years into pottery and setting some goals so this was helpful.
That is amazing ! It shows how hard work and some creativity can go a long way! Great job Jon!! I am where you started a workshop in my basement.. doing events and any shows I can get. You are right shipping is very expensive!
Love your shop being on TV. They did a good job. You almost made me dizzy going round and round! Lol Watched the whole thing and was great as usual.. Tell your sweet family Hello.
Thank you for your transparency , its great to know that potters can make some kinda income as long as your motivated enough, im just working on my art and wasnt sure about selling but this is such a great positive video and shined a bit of light on the subject of selling and making. P.s your stuff very good love your glazes keep potting john :) and making videos
I'm super excited you're doing a restock! I've been eyeing your work for quite a while now and can't wait to grab one before they're gone again
You talked about your gross sales and then the expenses you have to adjust for yet but can you speak to what your increase in production was in a percentage compared to 2018? Also, did you add any new types of pieces that you hadn’t previously focused on? Eg. vases, urns, magnets etc.
Thank you for sharing this information. I'm a newbie, but would love to sell my pottery someday (when I get better at it). I can now see this would be a good goal for me, and worth my time in doing so. Great video!!
Thanks Jon! Love the transparency and excited to hear its going well. Social media & YT play a huge part in allowing you to sell so much work. I don’t think 100k (sales & subscribers) is out of the question for 2020. Best of luck and hope to see you soon. Wonder where workshops fit into that sales
Best wishes to you dude, $100k and 100k subs!
I bet you could write messages on the glazed hearts with marker and change them!❤️
Congratulations Jon!! You do such beautiful work and are very inspiring! Set your goals high! Your work, personality and ideas will get you there!!
It would be interesting to have an rough estimation of the expenses (clay and other, without the studio setup). Is it a fair income, where you live?
The youtube channel is indeed probably a good marketing move. The energy and the tips you show are awesome! I'm sure you'll get to your goals very soon :)
I can't speak for John, but as a fellow pottery, the direct, per unit cost of a mug is pretty low. Clay, if you aren't using anything too pricey like porcelain and you are buying in bulk is about $0.50 per pound. The glaze cost is generally about the same as the clay cost. The electricity cost for a kiln is $5-$10 per load and you need to fire everything twice, but if you are just making mugs, you can fit at least 40 in. So, a ballpark for the cost per mug is ~$1.5, if you are selling for $25, then $1.5 is 6% of the total cost.
@@Loathomar Thanks! Also maybe renting a place at a fair.. is it something costly?
@@adraxiom There are lots of other costs, but that was just a ballpark for the per mug costs of materials and power. Like this all assumes you have your own studio and kiln, John's studio cost him, I think close to $60K
. A booth at a fair can be anything from $50 to $1,000+ depending on the event. Selling only, places like Etsy take 10% and shipping a mug can easily cost $10. So, if you buy a mug for $25 "with free shipping", the person who makes it might get just $12.50, minus the $1.50 in basic costs. Shipping is often one of the biggest costs, outside of just the time spent.
Jon is blessed to have his coffee shop as a place to market his pottery. It works well and he doesn't have to share the cost because he is the owner. It fits well. Popularity on UA-cam helps. Jon, you have a way of making it all fun on your channel. I love that you share your family with us.
@@Loathomar Thanks. It help me having an idea of all the hidden costs!! Enjoy your day, everyone!
You had an awesome year. love the new stuff for the Etsy restock.
I love your work! 😍 I hope I can snag a mug before they sell out.😊
I would love to see a p and L post. I'm sure you have a lot from this year because of the studio build but it would still be interesting.
Thank you very much for sharing and giving us newbies an idea.
Maybe have a contest, where your fans can submit our own work?
Monitizarion cash flow?
Just discovered your channel, now a subscriber. Haven’t looked thru all your vids. Im sure there are a few vids with more than a million or two views?
Thanks in advance for your answer.
More Mocha Monkey coffee in the restock please! It's so gooood!
Thanks bro I'm starting my studio now and this helps! ✌
Fantastic, Jon!! Congratulations!
Sold out on etsy
I would love to buy a whole set of mugs from you one day if I save up the money. I got to make a bowl of my own when I was in highschool and my glaze turned out so beautiful! My teacher was impressed, I wish I could do more pottery but I don't think anywhere offers any classes or anything like that where I live.
I don't know were you live, but I was surprised how pottery classes are sometime quite badly advertised (like you find them because of someone who knows someone, not on social media and stuff). I know that doesnt help you with 'how to find them'.. hope you will.
Hey dude! Im 13 and i am planning to start pottery as a hobby. Where do you buy your clay?
Nobody
Absolutly nobody
Jonthepotter: Stonks!
Awesome!! Thank you for sharing!
I would love to see some more Raku firing and maybe experiments with materials to add awesome patterns to the surface (like feathers and hair and stuff?)
One day, I'm going to try this and see if I can make something lovey and delicate like a Japanese sake bottle and cup set.
*Dreamy face*
One day....
Great to see someone rewarded for their work. Long may it continue 👍🏻 I’m only just starting out as a business, it gives me hope!
Good job, Jon! Gives me hope for the future if I stay at it. So where did you get the gradient background for your photography? What brand & what size? I’ve looked on Amazon & other places but I don’t know what to buy. It makes your Etsy photos look really professional!
Wow this is so inspiring!!
Thanks for another video!! What kind of camera do you use and how much was that?? I see lighting behind you, was that very expensive? Thanks again for all your videos!!
I'd love a video on the Kickstarter! What would you do differently? What worked well?
Hi Jon, Thankyou for your many great videos here! I have been doing ceramics for about a half a year and I’m frustrated because my ceramics class only does low fire and I want to do high fire for cool glazing effects. So I was going to ask you what kind of kilns you have, and what is your favorite one? I don’t know when it will happen but I would like to eventually get a kiln that’s easy to use like the new digital ones.
How about a nice fluted deep dish pie plate. 🥰
how much money goes back into the business? materials, etsy fees, etc
Do you sell out of your products or do you have an inventory that you try to keep up? I love your videos and have been thinking about getting into pottery soon! Thanks for the inspiration.
What was the highest price you got for a single piece in 2019?
Sales are very good! What is the net profit for the year excluding the proceeds and expenses for the studio. Or if you prefer, what's your net margin ? I'm curious if i could make a comfortable living doing pottery.
thanks for sharing that....
😳WOW!!! Pot ON Potter!! 💪🏻Cheers👍🏻
nice job, damn, I need to start throwing more pots. I get why you valued your shop at 50k plus....taxes, nice job very smart. lol
If you add workshops and become the pottery’s supplier to your local area you can make more. Don’t upload your workshops so people attend.
For100K, come surpise some of your craziest fans/students/wannabe friends with you and EC her in the great Texas panhandle. My husband says you are me as a man, whatever that means. I know I sound total weirdo status, but that's fine. Hahahaha. Thanks for what you're doing-so fun to watch and be inspired to make the things! If in fact we are that similar you probably actually think that's real weird of me to say which could feel creepy to you or maybe like, "yeah lets all grab dinner!" Prob the former. If not, dinner's on us. Peace, pottery, and adventure! :) Sarah Beukelman
Wondering about taxes. Would you subtract the taxes from that $66,000 total? Or has that already been factored out
That doesn't sound a lot of money considering that you still have to pay for expenses and your salary. I was dreaming of getting into this :( And then I wanted to ask you why don't you have any employees when you seem to be so busy but it would add to your overhead.
Nobody gets into pottery for the money! I would say this is a lot of money for a potter to make and this level of sales is thanks to a great social media/UA-cam presence.
@@ND-eb7gs The point is that there are expenses to be met. I think that a diligent person should always try to think on how to support themselves. Besides, we all get old.
wow. congrats
Does your pot count include broken pieces? Meaning if you fire a bowl and it breaks in the kiln are you still counting it?
How many hours a week do you spend making and shipping pots?
are you going to NCECA this year?
Elaine Adams yes!
sales vs expenses?
For how much do u sell mugs? I'm not sure how much money i should prepare for it and your etsy is currently empty :(
What is the total profit amount
What’s the average cost of one mug?
7:05 - 66k. Was the total less before your you tube channel? I can only imagine this boasted sales.
3:18 ;)
@@adraxiom good man! So yes. It more than doubled his sales. Lol.
@@seanstumpf4190 This, the fact he decided to focus on that (more events)... maybe also the quickstarter that increased his visibility, and probably just *having* an online shop :)
Are you a basketball fan?! Do you play?
Guess how many pots in 2013
Is this just pure sales or sale profit after expenses?
This is gross sales, before expenses
@@Jonthepotter I'd love to know what your net was I know that's personal but I'm trying to gauge on ratio of reinvestment into the business to profit to know if I'm over spending etc etc:) I enjoy how open and honest you are about this stuff not enough people discuss business honestly.
I bet his next video is going to be about planters and like throwing of the planters Jon if I’m right can you tell me by either pinning me or just reply to this saying you got it right
Honestly a lot less than I thought
I would support you but ironically ' This feature ia not supported in your country'
How much money can you sell??
You sell money?
Pot head 😋
I quite honestly do not understand why you have to make all kind of faces in order to show or sell your pottery. Really strange.
How much does the piece cost? and How
do I set a price for a piece?
Thanks for your videos🫶🏼❤️