I only do 2-3 shows a year. I feature many different items that I have turned along with my pens, which are the largest part of my display. One of the questions I get from other woodturners is how do you price your pens. This is also a big discussion at meetings and with groups of turners. Not only pens but other items. This is something that can be tricky and most definitely has a learning curve.
There are many different opinions on pricing items for sale. The most popular is “take the price of the materials plus your time at say $20- $40 to get a total”. Or “double or triple the cost of materials to determine what you are going to sell them at”. If that is what you do and it works for you, that is great. I have found that using these methods in my market does not. Honestly, I do not think there is a set formula that will work for all your shows unless you are someone like Barry Gross who has a national reputation. I’ve also have turners telling me I should sell my Slimlines at $45 to $65 depending on the wood. I ask them how many they sold at their last show and it is usually about 5 pens where my last show was 15 to 20 pens. Volume is your friend.
After doing shows for 10+ years now, I have learned which markets to go to and which ones not to. I try to stick with Art Fairs for the most part. I also have a corporate show that is a shopping event for their 5,000+ employees only and that is very successful. I avoid small church craft fairs. They are better for arts and craft items. The large churches sometimes do better but I also avoid those. School craft fairs do well but I find they are sometimes hard to get into and may have 2-3 other woodturners attending.
One final note, election years are not good for artists. People who make a living traveling to art shows around the country all say their sales are down about 40% on average during election years. The last couple of years have also been bad because of high inflation and the economy.
Even people with money are not buying.
So, how do I price my pens?
Slimline Pens: Wood and acrylic are priced at $25.00 each. They sell very well at this price. I have tried higher but this seems to be the magic number. It helps when I have the making process down to about 30 minutes per pen (including a CA finish).
Mid-range Pens: These are the Wall Street / Gatsby’s, European/ Designer, Cigar/ Big Ben, Slimline Pro, Classic Click and other like these I sell for $45.00 each. I also offer an inexpensive cardboard gift box for $5.00 extra which is popular.
Fountain Pens and Rollerballs: I charge $65.00 each which includes a satin gift box and these sell very well. Note: I always use the Classic Elite kits as these are easily interchangeable so if a customer wants a fountain pen but likes the wood on the rollerball more, I can easily switch the nibs and give them what they want and they love that aspect.
High End Pens: These are the Lighthouse, Dragon Twist, Phoenix Rising and any other specialty themed kits I sell for $75.00 each and they are in a nice Cherry box.
I do have a Expensive Majestic Fountain Pen and the body is made from Maple Burl I got from Chris Ramsey in a beautiful, windowed case for $199.00. It has not sold yet but who knows, maybe the next show will be the one where it goes home with a customer.
In closing, price based on the market and what kind of show it is. Even if that means adjusting prices from show to show. It’ll take a bit of experimenting but you will find the magic number for each pen that works across most markets. By all means, if you have questions, reach out to me. I am always happy to help.