I have a customer that wants to order 8-10 lite to med freshwater spinning rods, but wants to kee rod cost at $135-$150.

Do you guys have any favorite blanks for rods in this range? Going with pretty standard components and hi-alloy guides for other stuff.

Thanks,
Marc

How much do you want to make and what is your expected costs

I want to keep the blank cost in the $25-$40 range. Should have just posted that probably.

Thanks,
Marc

Depending on the length, the longer the blank and the more ferrules it has the more the cost goes up, Pac Bay, and Baston should have something close, it most likly will be a blank made overseas. a 6 -7 foot rod of entry level grahpite, you should be able to pull it off. Either of those companies might have something in the 43 mill mod range, one thing that will get you if you want a 1 pc 6 or 7 foot rod is oversize shipping thats another $10 -15 bucks on top of a shipping charge , Check out Binghams or any of the sponcers on the left , they often have clearance rod blanks

oh, Wholesale? that is something to state up front, that will make things easier



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/19/2007 02:28PM by Chris Karp.

TRY THE PAC BAY TRADITIONS 2 COMES IN MATTE GRAY AND MAY BE WRAP IN A MULTIBLE OF COLORS HOPE IT GOES WELL

Are you buying wholesale?

Yes, I do buy wholesale.

Other than what has already been mentioned you can also get some of the lower modulous St. Crox and Lamiglass blanks in your price range. Don't over look AmTak...especially the Matrix blanks (you can get those in green AND gray now). Also take a look at Mud Hole for their 'special' spinning blanks. Good deals there also.

Sounds like your customer may be wanting to re-sale these rods. Is that the case? Will you be putting your name on these? Each to his own, but I try to draw the line at a certain point. I never allow a customer to put a price on my rods. We know the components will be put together properly and the quality will be excellent, but be careful choosing 'cheap' parts just to make a sell. The workmanship may stand up to the test of time, but the components may not. Even if you do not put your name on these rods, the middleman may possibly say who built them. That would not be a good thing for your rod building reputation. I'm not saying don't do it...I'm only saying be careful and think things through.

I have a hard time building any rod, reguarless of size, for less than $200. Not saying I don't or won't...I just have a hard time doing it. I also do my dangdest to profit at least $100 per sell even for the smallest of projects. It goes up (sometimes way up) from there.

So why does this customer want this many rods built so cheaply?

Best of luck.

Jay

The ISJ 662 Shikari blanks that Karen has at Bingham's Ent are a good choice. At a great price.

Sevier Tiger eye or St Croix SCII would fit the bill. What length/action is he looking for?

Mike (Southgate, MI)
If I don't want to, I don't have to and nobody can make me (except my wife) cuz I'm RETIRED!!

Hi Mike,

Looking for 6' and 6-1/2" lite, med lite, and med. actions. Two pc. if available.

Thanks,
Marc

The Sevier Tiger Eye blanks would fit the bill nicely. They are listed on the left and will sell wholesale if you have a license

Mike (Southgate, MI)
If I don't want to, I don't have to and nobody can make me (except my wife) cuz I'm RETIRED!!

Marc , ck. out the Rainshadow ISP 783f , Sp 721-2 , Sp 781-2 we do sell wholesale and these will fit right in your price range

Robert

Check out the Rainshadow ISB 842 and the ISB 843. I build them in that price range.

I highly recommend Black Dog Tackle listed to the left. They carry a Tiger eye blank that is reasonable. I built a rod on one and it is not bad for the $.

I would check out the Rainshadows. They make a nice rod.

There are a lot of good blanks out there that will fill the requirement. But the question is backwards. Did you ask him how much he could afford, or did he just simply tell you that he didn't want to pay more than that during the conversation?

If it's the former, build for medium profit and a nice rod. He's probably not gonna resell it. If it's the latter, I'd build for maximum profit, and expect him to maybe resell it or brag about how cheap he got it.

We sell affordable rods - it's our niche. But we've learned that we set the price, not the customer. If there's any bargaining room in it, we still have a low limit that's not to be breached. Some folks want custom rods for WalMart prices. We've learned to suggest that then, they go get WalMart rods. (OK, no offense to WalMart or their rods, but c'mon, y'all, you know what I'm talking about).

We just recently had a sistuation where we took a rod in the layup stage back to a customer for testing. Two of his buddies tried it as well, and both wanted it. One asked how much and said he couldn't afford it when we told him, and we all said thanks for the time. The other ordered a rod, but called the on Monday to say he couldn't afford it right now due to some problems over the weekend and would order later. Well, he shouldn't have ordered it to start with - and we learned to wait a day or two for buyer's remose (or the wife) to kick in before we start building a rod, even if we get aq deposit. In his case, I don't think dropping the price would have helped. But we've also learned that the price, once set, is the price - period. I'd rather lose the sale than argue about price, at the time of the order, or any other time either. WHen an order is placed we have our components in mind and we tell the customer if he wants something we don't carry, we'll gladly order it but the price will go up accordingly. Some are OK with that, and some aren't. A handshake is a nice way to end the second kind of discussion.

Uncle Russ
Calico Creek Rods

To be more specific on the Rainshadow front, I'm working on a similar rod for a customer. The IS721F is a very nice light freshwater blank. Rated 2-6 lb, 6', 2-piece. A nice value and in this price range. There are sizes up and down the line rating range from there.

I would echo Russ's suggestion and also a thread that was on the board earlier regarding components. After the blank, the guide selection is next critical. You can suggest that for a little more money, he could step up to the midrange price guides and have higher quality components than is typically available in a department store rod.

If he's price sensitive and not willing to go above $150, you should still be able to build him a quality rod with this blank and hardaloy style guides and still retain your profit margin.

Terry