Hello everyone. Since I hae made it thru the road of work, semi retirement, to full retirement, I have become addicted more and more to my rod building. I have built rods for many years but have not kept up with much of the technology or new proceedures in rod building. Most of my rod making up to this point continues to be (from what I read on this site) on the lower end of rod building. I make a lot of lower end (cheap) salt water spinning rods and boat rods. This is my market to this point. My customers seemed pleased but they tend not to have lots of money to invest into the high end rod market (winter Texans, retired people. charter boat business and so on). Since being on this site for about six months, I have talked to a lot of great people and obtained a lot of great ideas free of charge. Thanks to everybody esp. Andy Dear and Tom Kirkman and many other authors too numerous to mention..

My question is (finally got to it), If any of you guys have any ideas on things to do to lower end rods (CHEAP) without adding too much of a cost to the customer please help me out.

Thanks and Happy New Year (BE SAFE OUT THERE)


Big John
Rio Hondo, Texas
Blessed are those who can give without remembering and take without forgetting

Unfortunately, the best way to handle the lower end market is simply to buy commercially produced rods and sell those to your customers. It's just very difficult to build low cost custom rods. Sure, you can buy less expensive components, but the time required to build a low end rod is nearly the same as that required to build a high end rod. And, if your time is worth anything, it will count for the majority of the selling price of the rod.

Failing the commercially made rod sales thing, about all you can do is buy lower end components and skip any sort of cosmetic embellishment - no decorative wraps or handle work. Preformed grips versus custom made ones. Anything you can do to save time without overly compromising rod performance. Even so, it's just tough to build a low end rod and compete with the low end rods at the local Wal-Mart. Your labor is just too costly.

If you figure out a way to do this, please share it. I'm sure a lot of other guys are in your shoes.

......

to start with, you can begin with the "new guide concept" this will increase the performance of the rod , with little or no increase in the end cost for the spinning rods
The boat rods you can put the guides on by using the bumper-spiral wrap.

Dave von Doehren
PRRODS......If man built it , man can fix it.and if man built it man can break it !

If you look hard enough and talk to many of the sponsors here you should be able to get some "discontinued" blanks and components
at very reasonable prices. Many of these are not "cheap" parts they are just inexspensive and are of great quality. This could allow you
to still build a better product that could be found at discount stores and be more competitive with your prices. By all means, don't cut
yourself short on the labor costs either. I know that can be easier said than done especially when building is so much fun to do!

Raymond Adams
Eventually, all things merge, and a river runs through it..

Never cut you self short on the price of your rods! You have to build in some kind of safety margin (extra cost that would cover return work on workmanship (bad finish, loose reelseat or thread unwrapping to name a few. If you start out at low prices, the pubic well always expects low prices from you. No matter what it costs you! Remember anyone can build a so-so rod. But it takes knowledge of your materials to be a craftsman. Also remember you are not in competition with WALLY WORLD. Also if you have a business license, you would be buying at wholesale prices
Good Wraps Bob

Awhile back Custom Tackle Supply had some Pac Bay blanks on sale for what I thought was a rediculously low price. I bought 1/2 dozen or so and they turned out to be what I thought were really nice rods. Sold a couple without even trying and gave the rest away for Christmas presents. Wish I'd bought more. As Raymond said above, you can get some really good stuff inexpensively, but, the items aren't "cheap", just discounted. I know Andy Dear has some good blanks at a discounted price - there's 3 of them in my shop right now. I bet most of the vendors listed here have similar deals from time to time.

Always remember, John, that you can put a dress on a pig, but it's still a pig! LOL!!

What I'm trying to say is to start with good components (I didn't say expensive). Looking around the sponsors sites as Bob and Neil have already said will find some great deals. There are some methods to really doll that inexpensive blank, reel seat, and guides up that won't take you two weeks of your free time to do, too (hence, put a dress on it LOL).

Lots of things to learn on this board; use it and the picture board and the sponsors that go with it. Best combination you can come up with. If you're serious about building, take out a subscription to RodMaker Mag, too.

Putter
Williston, ND

Thanks for all the ideas. You guys have a safe New Years

Big John
Rio Hondo, Texas
Blessed are those who can give without remembering and take without forgetting

John,
I too build a fair number of "low cost rods" - primarily for party boat (not 'charter') captains. These are rods that are handed to customers to fish with when they don't have their own gear. The easiest answer is: Keep it simple. Solid fiberglass blanks; through handle construction with either straight hypalon/EVA grips or a stuart slick butt nylon sleeve; graphite reel seat; two to three stainless steel guides and a tip. Total cost of parts is around $20.00. Where you take it from there for your pricing is dependant upon your time; number of "rubber stamped" rods at one time; how well you are set up to do more than one at a time and any deviations from a set pattern. The party boat guys are happy with this arrangement since they wind up with a nearly unbreakable rod, simple maintenance (and they don't feel really badly if one goes overboard).

Since you are selling rods I assume you have the proper tax id's. If not, I would suggest obtaining them. Buying wholesale is a ton more advantageous than buying components at retail. This way you could go two routes. 1- buy the same components you are used to at much better prices...or 2- keep your budget the same and step up to slightly better components. Best of luck!

Jay

Thanks Ken and Jay, I do buy in wholesale lots....I am switching to the vendors on this site for the most part. I guess the biggest thing now I have more time to think about it and I want to take MY ADDICTION to a little higher level. as Emeril says "kick it up a notch". You are abslutely right Ken. I can only keep about ten rods going at once and I do keep them simple. I have started sprial wrapping and the boats up in Alaska approve judging by the new year orders I have coming in. I thank all of you for your input. Not having any or much contact with the rod building community in the past my time and my eyes have opened up to a new side of retirement. WISH I HAD BEEN DOING THIS FULL TIME ALL ALONG.
Thanks again,

Big John
Rio Hondo, Texas
Blessed are those who can give without remembering and take without forgetting