Hello every one hope all is well!

Reading the post down below about the fellow that has been bitten by the fever but has plenty of rods now, Im sort of in that same boat I only have 2 more rods that I need to build for myself un less of course I get bored with somthing but ill have the mrs giving me the hairy eyeball for vanashing into the basement again.

Getting to the point do any of you sell rods at the High end craft shows that are all over the place from spring to late Fall?

Im not talking about the craft fair at the local churches where they sell pot holders but the up scale events where stuff gets pricey IE: Jewely, Hand woven clothing, largeframed scenes made of hardwood, hand blown crystal ETC.

My best friend Ed has untill recently made wood jewelry boxes and cigar humidors out of exotic harwood.

The only place he sold the stuff was at these craft shows and he did quite well . His boxes sold from $40-$600

Ed mentioned that designer / custom fishing rods might do quite well at these craft shows! There are LOTS of men at these shows but not a lot of merchandise for men!

Lets face it shopping outlets and high end craft shows are geared to the ladys for the most part!!

The last show I went to there was a gent that made knives and his booth was swarmed with guys that were tired of looking at hand painted scarves and jewelry with the Mrs.

Actually I think the Orvis Factory store in manchester vermont gets a lot of walk in business from guys that are shopping with the Mrs. Manchester Vermont Is one Big Name Brand Shopping outlet with one lone attraction for men ORVIS at the end of town .

Any way back to the craft show My buddy Ed said that rods would probably do fine as long as you had a full range of prices (like his boxes) most of what he sold was in the middle price range but would often sell 1 or 2 $400-600 piece per weekend.

One thing he did advise was to also have some small cash type items to sell that will pay your booth costs.

for us rod guys it would be flys, flyboxes etc stuff that could be purchased for $5-10 a pop.

Sorry to drag on but this seems a good method for a part time builder to sell some rods without having to seek out individual customers and you would also have time to get some made before the show season started .

Also you could bring some reels and line to the show and let folks try things out on the spot.

Im going to give it some deeper thought as I now have the bug too!! and I know I cant quit my day job.

Happy Wrapping "John"

John- the idea might work very well, the one thing in all honesty is you will not be selling custom rods. they may be far and above anything available from normal sources but custom they are not.
John

John

Thanks for the reply


I agree with you 100% on that, I remember the long strings of posts as to what a custom rod is. my feeling is a custom rod is built to an individual spec.

I only used the "custom" word cuz many folks on this board mostly the new builders refer to any rod above a factory offering a custom piece and I was only trying to relay an image.

I kind of like the term premium or designer.

But I do agree deffinatly not custom rod in the real sence!

What do you think would be a average quality /price for these type of events.

Pac bay and rainshadow blanks comes to mind with the rods in the $250-$400 range ??

More thoughts please !! Happy wrapping "John"

Craft shows can be a valuable means of advertising for your custom rod business. Just don't expect to see many actual sales happen on the floor of the show. Most sales will come after the fact and from those who saw or heard of you from folks who attended the show.

Another excellent idea is to get involved in rod repair. There is a great need for it and the vast number of fishermen who need it, cannot find repair services in their area.

Repair, done efficiently, is very profitable and brings in some cash that you can use to build rods for yourself. Most wives and girlfriends are not neary so upset by your building more rods if the hobby is also bringing in money. Just remember to spread it around from time to time.

................

Tom as usual brings up a good point re repairs One thing at various shows that I have noticed is without a large display people tend to pass by without much interest, what you can do if you have the room is sit and actually work on rods, take and old rod with poor looking thread work rewrap a couple of guides apply finish and stand it where it can be noticed, as I said take a piece of scrap blank sit and do some butt wraps on it while at the show people will stop if they see something interesting when asked and you will be something said like I am working on designing a new wrap will cause further interest.
Re selling at shows not many people carry $200-$400 in cash and unless you are willing to take checks or credit cards you might encounter a problem,anyone trulely interested get a cash deposit on the rod in question immediatley,all to often without the deposit you will be shortly forgotten, bring plenty of Business cards.
John

Tom,

Thanks for the reply,

Honest to God you feel rod repair is a needed service? I Know Ralph has preached the need but I never thought with all the inexpensive rods or liftime warrantys out there there would be a calling.

You have my ear!!,

Ive always had more fun troubleshooting and repairing anything rather than building it in the first place.More info please!

I guess a place to inqure would be local tackle shops?

I like this Idea as I was going to do jewelry repair at one time on my own but did not have the time or $$$ to set up a proper shop at home and I did not have the time to float from jewelry shop to jewelry shop shop in the evenings and on weekends..

any more info would be great.

Doing repair work could provide me with a thread and varathane/epoxy fix that wouldnt take a week to get done!! COOL DUDE!!


Happy wrapping "John"

There is a large market for repair, particularly if you are in a larger metropolitan area (at least 100,000 people if you are to stay busy).

I routinely took in 75 to 100 rods per week and sometimes more. Most needed simple guide replacements or tip tops. A handful were more involved - handle/seat replacment or broken rod repair.

The repair business is overall, a much better money maker than is building rods IF you can attract a sufficient number of people and perform the work in a proficient fashion. I wrote on article on how to do this in a recent issue (can't remember which one it was right now).

If you don't mind doing repair work it can be a real boost to your income and custom rod business. But be warned - in some ways the repair business takes greater skills than does the custom rod business.

.......................

We've done the bit at several craft shows and trade shows in the past. Experience with this is mixed.
Depends on season, how the custom 'art' or craft work fits in with other displays. It must be unique to what you do as a craft, and selling other wares with your custom rods is more with the scene for a flea market that will not attract many buyers for custom rods.
The idea has merit in 'showing' your work, giving business cards, circulating and getting feedback from both the organizers on your participation, as well as what the general public comments toward your presentations.

Agree with Tom, don't expect perhaps a lot of direct selling at these events, but exposure may be your best friend here. Costly, time consuming, but also it can be pleasurable if you like meeting a vairety of people and answer questions about "why is custom better"? Prepare to answer a lot about your craft, and it will probably gain you more in the experience of dealing with it as a business and it may also help you for improvement about what others have for expectations.
Agree also with John, people will pass by without interest if nothing interesting is shown. This is where a display table of actual work in progress can give a 'show and tell' story about how you are crafting the custom rod to begin with. Let potential customer know you are available, more than expecting that what is peddled on site will bring a whack of cash. It might, but most probably will not. Have your business cards ready, and let the visitors remember who, where, and what it is you had shown.

Remember the 'general' nature of a crowd at a craft show event are less interested in the brand naming and more of what it is you put into the crafted item you wish to sell.

Rich
Solyrich Custom Rods

Kirkman is correct on experience gained from doing repairs. You won't believe how much imagination and thinking out of the box that you have to do. I have learned a great deal about building rods from repairing them. Trying to match threads, trying to match ferrules, piecing together broken rods, matching old guides, etc. etc.

There is good money in repairs especially if you batch finish.

Pricing repairs is a tricky business. You almost have to go on experience to be able to price repairs unless you go on a cost + basis.

If you repair reels also, you have to be very careful not to contaminate the work.

John,

I've made my living for years doing art and craft shows. I'm a glass sculptor, and I've done everything from swap meets to juried art shows.

If you are looking to actually sell stuff, rather than just 'make contacts', you'll need what we call an 'inclusive line'. That means products in a decent range of prices. You would want to have some stuff in the booth that would help pay your expenses and keep folks interested while you wait for that one or two guys who will happily drop $200 to $600 for a 'premium hand crafted' fishing rod.

Flies, both for fishing with and as JEWELRY ( a couple of well tied, 'pretty' flies with the barbs cut off and ear wires attached WILL sell, if you display them properly) can help pay the costs and even make a profit.

You know those pretty wood pens that all the wood turners are making? Try a few with decorative 'butt type' wraps on them. Nice to hold, pretty, AND durable gifts that folks can buy for their fishing friends.....You could even make them out of scrap blank pieces, maybe???

Consider demonstrating in your booth during the shows. NEVER read a book or magazine to 'pass the time'. It's unprofessional and makes you appear uninterested in your own products. EVERYONE enjoys watching someone else work, and working at your craft during the shows keeps you busy AND draws a crowd.

Dispaly is critical for success. You'll need LOTS fo product if you plan to sell much. A nicely crafted rod rack with ten to twenty nice rods that are geared to the predominant fishing techniques in your area, (plus a couple of 'oddballs'), will draw fishermen from a long ways. Five rods leaned against the side wall of a canopy or booth wall that you are sharing with a friend to save money won't be seen by hardly anyone. Make sure you 'make a statement' with any of the products you decide to sell.

This will work if you have a good product and show it well. While my 'lowest' price is only $8, I sell a surprising amount of $200 to $300 pieces, with an 'average' sale at my last big 'show' of just under $40, and this stuff is breakable AND has no 'use' beyond decoration.

I talk to dozens of fishermen EVERY week (I make sure to have at least a couple of fish sculptures and a glass fly fisherman on the shelf to 'attract' them). They would buy decent stuff if it was there.

Let us know how it goes. While I've considered it, I can't afford to do both things at the shows.

Good Luck!

Buddy

John some additional thoughts re craft shows to make some additional money and increase customers you might consider displaying pool cues, gaffs ,walking or wading sticks done with a butt wrap and or weave you just want to give the customers a wide variety of choices and show your skills at the same time and not as expensive as building rods alone for a show
John