Need help with sales...

[a glassblower's wife]

Hello!
I am married to a glassblower whose been on the torch since 01. He has been selling his pieces to the local head shop for the last year or so but the guy is a flake and let us down one to many times. My husband is all artist and struggles with the sales end of the business. I want to help but I am still just learning. I think his best bet is a distributor, but I don't know how to find a good one. It would be awesome to have a steady income! Any suggestions? Thanks so much!

[skip]

Does he participate in a forum like this? Get out to any kind of glass related functions? Work with anyone else who blows glass? Sell his work retail at a variety of shows? Those are 4 key ways to network.

Finding a distributor may work for a little while but it could also isolate your husband even more. Being that when the distributor finds someone new to work with you'll be in the same boat.

Also he should probably be the one posting on this forum. It's the first step if he really wants to make a living at this.


a glassblower whose been on the torch since 01. He has been selling his pieces to the local head shop for the last year or so

It's 09 now. where did he sell his work for the first 8 years? 8 years is a very long time. Were any connections made during that time?

Steady income from glass involves full time marketing over years and years. I would suggest a part time job for steady and the other time spent making more contacts.

[a glassblower's wife]

Thanks for replying so quickly. We are unfortunately too isolated up in the boonies we call home. But yes he is on here. Just thought I'd help him out so he can spend more time on the torch. The guy that was buying most of his pieces recently died in a car wreck and all the other connections were short lived.

[skip]

A lot of us live in the boonies. You got to travel. You need to use the intardnet to post work every week. Plan shows that coincide with other events you can hit up along the way.

Honestly it's not that hard to figure out. Whats hard is accepting whether or not your going to blow glass for a living.

Almost every single person whose been on the torch for 10 years has had to have a plan b at times. You got to be motivated and personable.

It's going to take work. You won't find any hand outs these days.

[a glassblower's wife]

He posts on glasspipes.org and I totally agree with you about the traveling bit. I have the utmost respect for glassblowers. You guys don't get the credit (and pay) you deserve. Thanks again!

[petto]

who is he?

[CripSkillz]

Ya what he said^,, and a profile pic might get you more responses.. heheh and post post post,, im only 3 yrs in and selling almost everything I make,, all from internet exposure and a few local shops..

[petto]

If you (your husband) have been blowing glass this long you should have some contacts, no? It really is about who you know when it comes to sales. Do what it takes to get the name out there. You will have to travel and burn the phone lines up a bit (and get rejected a lot) but in the end if you can score a handful of steady shops you will be in good shape. No easy answer for this one except lots of hard work. Maybe get a set up at CHAMPS or AGE this year and show the buyers what ya got.

[a glassblower's wife]

Thanks everyone for your posts. He's Ninja. He's awesome at what he does, just isn't as good at branching out on the business end. The couple of shops he has used are slowing down and aren't needing to be restocked anytime soon. The joys of living 2 hours away from civilization. The pic I'm using as a post is one of his latest. I think you're right, he's gonna have to get rejected a few times and move past it til he's got a few steady shops. Thanks again all!

[masterglaster]

Sales on all things are slowing down. The more you specialize, the more your sales are negatively affected by this slowdown. Christmas Craft Shows are a major income source for many glass artists but exhibitors this year are reporting sales reduced as much as 50% at even the top shows. The best way to counter this slowdown is by diversifying your product variety. Try making something other than pipes.

[Eric S]

i'm in montana too, although closer to interstate. i travel at least every 2 months out of state to sell glass, usually i just make a trip, then google or look on here or however i can on the internet to find the stores in the towns i go through, then hit up as many as i can. some wont buy any, some will just buy a bit, and very few will call back and order right away, but if you hit the same shops a few times, and they like the work they get from you, you can build up a relationship that way.

it does take a bit of motivation and $ and lot of research to plan a good sales trip. think spokane, seattle, bozeman, if you can make it, get to CO theres a lot more people and $$, if you have family anywhere east...... find the money, its up to you.

[CripSkillz]

Shit I just checked out his site,, and he is really branched out already,, some awesome sculptures,, n sweet mibs,, you deff need to get that stuff out there..

really nice stuff..

[NUBBLET]

I think he may have been on this site a while back , maybe not ? ninja fire (http://www.talkglass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=17749)

[Kool]

No, not the same guy. This one is just Ninja.

[jedi glassworks]

Get some photos together, get a borchure together. Send them to shops. I found this on another forum, it might help. It's a pretty good list of shops around the states.
Good luck!

Bryan

http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=pmPO9sNmHpGp4RJEiI4uSIg

[NUBBLET]

No, not the same guy. This one is just Ninja.

ninja fire is banned , so it would have to be a different name and his original was glass ninja , that guy has been banned a couple of times . whatever , good luck and yeah get some pics out there hit any shop you can maybe even egay

[Riley]

"Sales on all things are slowing down. The more you specialize, the more your sales are negatively affected by this slowdown. "
I don't feel that this mantra necessarily applies to all things. I have found that the more specialty items are whats sells. if you can create/design/produce a unique product, that is an edge.

nubblet,
have your man get together a variety of work that he enjoys to do and can replicate. pipes and tubes are a dime a dozen thanks to heavy importation from india and china, so finding out what you can make money off of starts by examining the competition. can he make inside out pipes fast enough to make the money he wants, or is the product already available to the market? it usually is and thats not going to change anytime soon.

take this work to a bigger city and find a headshop chain. a shop that has buying power and enough stores to have to keep supplyig. call ahead of time and try to get in touch with a buyer. this will be a manager or an owner, and typically not the sales people. it doesn't work to just show up in a city at a random shop and ask if a buyer is in. 9 times out of 10 the person you need to talk to won't be available, so preparedness is a must.

have a basic price point set for most of your work, but allow play both up and down. look at work in the store, how much is it retailing for. does the mark up seem to be double wholkesale or more, or in more rare cases less ( as in some shop owners pay more and sell for less than dbl what they paid, i.e. they pay 100 and sell for 175, that would be a 1.75 mark up, instead of a dbl mark up.. pay 100 sell for 200) some import items are so cheap wholesale they are marked up 3 times i.e. paid $1 for a chillum sold for, 600% mark up or 6 times initial cost.

i deal with head shops that have more than one store and they have the buying power you can rely upon, so they expect to get a good deal on 100 spoons and they get the best deal from import dealers. they can spend $8k + on orders without hesitation. if you can befriend a shop owner and get an idea of what he needs and where there are gaps in the product field he needs filling then you will be able to ascertain what products you can create to fill in the blanks.

how much is he paying for X product and is he satisfied with it. can you make it better for the same price, or even better, cheaper? once you understand the demand side, then the supply side makes more sense. you don't want to make average products for less than average pay, so make a unique product that isn't readily available and you can set the price.

i work with the store to find a wholesale price that will allow a reasonable retail price so that the product sells. that way your merchandise is moving and your getting your name out.

this is just some basic theology on middle of the road production work. if your trying to establish yourself as an artists and not a production worker than you will have to develope a style that sets you apart. as you said ninja is an artist at heart, then most production work will leave him drained and less than inspired for the more refined aspects of glassworking. i know this feeling well.

my struggle isn't the money aspect but spending so much time making money and not enough making the work that matters for me the most. the balancing act of artist to businessperson is hell on earth (for me). good luck

p.s. i am in a rush while writing this and am short on everything i wanted to say. if any of this is helpful and you want to continue this exchange i will gladly oblige when i have some time.

p.s.s got some typos out and clarified somethings but i'd still like to get it all out there, in time.

[Kool]

ninja fire is banned , so it would have to be a different name and his original was glass ninja , that guy has been banned a couple of times . whatever ...

Yes, he was banned a couple times, but his original name wasn't glassninja (that is someone else), it was S!nb@d. Anyway, I was just trying to head off any drama surrounding the person you mentioned... we don't need any more... and since I am positive that this is not the same person, it seemed the logical thing to confirm it. But good lookin' out.

[dnug42]

how about going to trade show in march? make some biz cards, photos of work... rub elbows with the industry people- make contacts...workin for the right distrib. is great...constant work...but please man- dont have yer girl sell yer stuff- that is sooooooo weak- i see guys who send there chicks into shops to sell there work because they think the guy buyin will buy more from a hotty- i get a chuckel out of that- weak sause......
goldy
i sell everthing i make at this point...everything....

[a glassblower's wife]

Thanks for all the tips and info! We would love to go to the trade show. Where is it? Thanks again all!
M

[petto]

CHAMPS and AGE are Vegas 2x a year. Feb/March and August.

[bzglass]

Have you tried Etsy? Etsy gets me a retail sale about once a month. I know that is not much, but it is a great place to promote your work. Some people make lots of sales each moth on Etsy, and there are a few other sites like Etsy, out there as well.

If it is possible you should work the business/sales side for your husband. let him blow the glass, and you get out there and make those sales. To sell glass, you got to get out there and do it. Even to find a distributor, you got to go out there and find one who can take a % of your work each month.

I used to send boxes of glass out on a two week rotation for a few shops I worked with. But you have to build that type of relationship up with those stores. If y'all have a quality product, it will sell you just have to make it happen.

The economy is hurting everybody's sales! Good luck!

[a glassblower's wife]

Thanks BZGlass. We just got hooked up with Etsy last night. It looks promising. And thanks Petto for the info.

[newmexicomagma]

I'm finding to make a lot of sales have products ranging from 2 dollars to your higher priced stuff. My biggest sellers range from 15-25. The more product u have the more u will sell. Be proactive and buy a how to buisness book if u have to.

[J Howard]

try the rosen BMAC show in philly (feb) for non pipe stuff. i dropped the pipes about 4 years ago and am much happier (you don't have to drop them entirely, that's just me). i highly recommend at least attending it as a guest artist this february, and check it out.

i did that back in 01' myself (acutally i volunteered w someone, so i could see the whole process). then i developed and refined a line for a few years, designed a booth that could hang on that level, and did the craft show circuit for a year to price test the line. when i finally did the show, things went very well the first time around. it's very expensive, so you want to get it right. now i have accounts all over the country, so it's not like i have all my eggs in one basket, like you often do with distributors. seen a few people go down for a while when their sole agents fail.

the champs show is like the rosen show, just for pipes.

[RajS]

Get some photos together, get a borchure together. Send them to shops. I found this on another forum, it might help. It's a pretty good list of shops around the states.
Good luck!

Bryan

http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=pmPO9sNmHpGp4RJEiI4uSIg

this list not not 100% accurate. theres shop from ny thats listed in the north carolina part.

[SoberstoneGlass]

http://www.headshopfinder.com/ is another site with at least an accurate account for my area. but has all the states.

[berning]

Sales on all things are slowing down. The more you specialize, the more your sales are negatively affected by this slowdown. Christmas Craft Shows are a major income source for many glass artists but exhibitors this year are reporting sales reduced as much as 50% at even the top shows. The best way to counter this slowdown is by diversifying your product variety. Try making something other than pipes.


i realized really soon after i started meltin, that there are a lot of pipes on the market, and a lot of them are really nice. for me to sell anything i would need to lower my price. so i decided to start making other things. petite vases, oil candles, suncatchers ,pendants , assorted seasonal ornaments and other stuff that old ladies would buy. then my wife puts on her most bland sundress and her favorite pair of old lady shoes, and a sellin she goes. personally i don't care what i make, i just want to melt some glass and sell it .