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General Category => General Scroll Saw Talk => Topic started by: don in brooklin on on November 09, 2017, 08:01:38 pm
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I was just finishing up an item on the Daddy Do List when I wonder how many recent scrollers know that Steve has this great program on his site. It is was way down the blog near the bottom.
I have used is many times when I want a quick little gift and my daughter who is a principal needed Christmas gifts when she started at new school a few years ago I did one for each teacher. She got lots of compliments and when she left it was mentioned in one of the teachers that he like her personal approach including a personal key chain.
She changed boards this year and the first thing I heard was ...DAD could you. Thank heavens it only has 33 staff compared to 56 before.
The video that Steve did about this is at https://youtu.be/HEL5kpdgwNI (https://youtu.be/HEL5kpdgwNI)
To get the program as I said go way down the blog and when you are there the Stencil Pattern maker is there too. Great gift for teachers.
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Don I've had the pleasure of making many key chains using Steve's programs. And I love giving them to friends and relatives.
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WARNING ! WARNING !
If you plan on selling these as I did at one time.....Check your pricing schedule .
I decided to make a few of these and sell them at a flea market one time. I priced them at $5.00 each and made a few of "BOB" "BETTY' 'SAM' "BILL" "LINDA" etc. etc. I was happy with that and even offered to custom cut them for Christmas gifts.
Well sure enough, I had a lady who wanted to order 15 of them. (I had $$ signs in my eyes) She gave me a list of the names...There were six different names among the 15 ordered....the problem was, they were LAST names and the shortest one was 9 letters long (2 of those) and the longest was 13 letters long (3 of those) !!
Needless to say the material cost wasn't the problem, it was the TIME FACTOR !
I upped my pricing to $1.00 a letter after that . LOL
I even tried to talk the lady into first names only and explained that the length of the key chain would make it hard to put into pocket and purse but, her mind was made up.
Keep this in mind whenever offering to "custom cut" any kind of item at a fixed price. :)
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I usually don't sell but one of the teachers came to me and ask me to do 25. They used them as gift at a family function.
I priced at $1.00 per letter with a minimum of $5. I averaged 6 letters and charged $150.
I kept track of my time and I averaged 4 per hour. So I made about $20 per hour.
Don
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Good going. That is exactly what I was talking about on pricing.
I still don't understand why my customer insisted on last names. Especially when there were two or three alike in most cases. And some of those "Key Chains" were 3" or 4" long. Very unwieldy!
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I used the program to make two luggage tags. Wrote the address on the side with a sharpie. The luggage was easy to spot in a sea of black suitcases. Used the split ring to put through the zippers.
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I used the program to make two luggage tags.
Barb, that is a very good idea. Can also paint the tags a bright color so they really stand out.
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Good going. That is exactly what I was talking about on pricing.
I still don't understand why my customer insisted on last names. Especially when there were two or three alike in most cases. And some of those "Key Chains" were 3" or 4" long. Very unwieldy!
I did key chains for the grandkids teachers and my daughter who is a principal wanted last names. Came out fairly long but instead of split rings she wanted ball chains to use on sports bags.
She didn't think it was appropriate for the teachers but the same year I did one for each of the teachers in the afterschool daycare and I did first names as that is what they had the kids call them.
The "Daddy Do List" never gets empty.
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Did steve get 10% of salels ;)
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The key chain is interesting. What material are you using? 1/8" BB or similar?
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The key chain is interesting. What material are you using? 1/8" BB or similar?
I have never used plywood as I am not sure it would hold up.
I use scrap pieces of hardwood. Cherry is favorite, maple, walnut even red oak.
I use approx. 5/16 to 3/8 depending what I have.
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I've always used solid hard wood of almost any kind.
I do use a lot of plywood on other things but, I don't think it would work or look too good on the key chains .
And jimp11, NO, Steve did not get any percentage of my sales. He is a nice enough person to give us patterns and ideas to use for OUR benefit not his. ;)
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Did steve get 10% of salels ;)
Steve would go broke on the percentage of my sales. In 10 years of scrolling I have only charged once and that was really just so I didn't get more orders. The "Papa/Daddy do list" keeps me busy enough.
I buy everything that Steve offers for sale even though I may not make plus each year I donate.
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The key chain is interesting. What material are you using? 1/8" BB or similar?
I used 1/4" BB for the luggage tag. It was what I had on hand.
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Good going. That is exactly what I was talking about on pricing.
I still don't understand why my customer insisted on last names. Especially when there were two or three alike in most cases. And some of those "Key Chains" were 3" or 4" long. Very unwieldy!
I did last names for my Grandkids teachers one year and I was instructed to do last names. Some were real long too. My daughter included both a split ring and ball chain so they could use on a backpack or sports bag.
One of the teachers now works for her and it is on her backpack but this year she will get first name key chain.
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What do you all use for the hardware on your keychains. I've used the chain and split rings as well as some of the snake line keychain. The snake line is expensive but does make a nice addition to the finished keychain.
Does anyone have any good places for bulk buying at reasonable prices?
Thanks in advance.
Al
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I buy split rings and ball chains from Stockade http://www.stockade.ca/ (http://www.stockade.ca/) in Canada. Great price on the ball chain but they have a minimum order.
I have bought split rings from https://www.artbeads.com/ (https://www.artbeads.com/) in USA. Watch for deals on Shipping and handling. I bought once at $1.99 but I think it is now $2.99.
Quite happy with their service.
PS: I have done quite a few keychains over the years and usually put on split rings. Last order the lady wanted chains as they were being given to kids for their backpacks.
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Thanks don I'll take a look a them.
Al