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offcntrOh sure, I could make spoon rests. At one point, back when I was throwing for Slippery Bank Pottery, I'd make 240 of them a week.
That's part of the problem. I've made so many that I really don't want to do them again. Ever.
The other part of the problem is the time/money curve.
Everything in my booth is hand-painted: no stencils, no decals, as I say to the customers. If I hand-paint spoon rests, how much do I charge for them? Certainly no less than the lowest price item currently in the booth, $15 cat food dishes. But nobody's going to want to pay that for a spoon rest. I'd be hard-pressed to sell them for $10, people really want them for $5. I can't do that.
Well, I could. I've got a lot of experience painting fast, decorating pots. I could pare down some patterns to $5 level. Well, $7. But why should I?
I feel about spoon rests, and other cheap pots, like I feel about selling seconds: I'd be undercutting my own work. Sure, there are some folks who only have $5, and I'm not going to get any sales out of them, but there are a lot more who have the $15 or $20 or $22 for a toddler bowl, a dessert plate, but might instead buy a $7 spoon rest. I really think I'd lose money.
I know people with baskets of five-dollar pots in their booth. Some of them do really well with that model. Me, I'm okay setting my prices a little higher and letting some of the little ones get away.
That's part of the problem. I've made so many that I really don't want to do them again. Ever.
The other part of the problem is the time/money curve.
Everything in my booth is hand-painted: no stencils, no decals, as I say to the customers. If I hand-paint spoon rests, how much do I charge for them? Certainly no less than the lowest price item currently in the booth, $15 cat food dishes. But nobody's going to want to pay that for a spoon rest. I'd be hard-pressed to sell them for $10, people really want them for $5. I can't do that.
Well, I could. I've got a lot of experience painting fast, decorating pots. I could pare down some patterns to $5 level. Well, $7. But why should I?
I feel about spoon rests, and other cheap pots, like I feel about selling seconds: I'd be undercutting my own work. Sure, there are some folks who only have $5, and I'm not going to get any sales out of them, but there are a lot more who have the $15 or $20 or $22 for a toddler bowl, a dessert plate, but might instead buy a $7 spoon rest. I really think I'd lose money.
I know people with baskets of five-dollar pots in their booth. Some of them do really well with that model. Me, I'm okay setting my prices a little higher and letting some of the little ones get away.