When to sell?
When to sell?
On the one hand, I'm not satisfied with my craftsmanship yet and I don't want to have a reputation for less than acceptable work. On the other hand, it sure would be nice to, at least, start covering some materials costs. When is your work good enough to sell? What are your thoughts?
Everyone has to make that determination for himself. It kind of depends on what you mean by "not satisfied with my craftsmanship." If you mean that there are objective shortcomings like off-center drillings, crooked stem joints, glue lines, sloppy buttons, and so on, then most people would say you do yourself a disservice by rushing to market. Most of us don't start selling pipes until we feel our craftsmanship is acceptable at the very least, and STILL wind up being embarrassed by the first year's pipes, a few years later.
If, on the other hand, you mean that you're obsessed with perfection, and, while you don't want to compromise your vision, your pipes are already as good as 70% of what you see for sale, well, you still have to make the choice for yourself.
If, on the other hand, you mean that you're obsessed with perfection, and, while you don't want to compromise your vision, your pipes are already as good as 70% of what you see for sale, well, you still have to make the choice for yourself.
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pierredekat
I guess each pipemaker has to arrive at that decision on his own.
But one word of caution I would put out there is that there are a lot of problem areas with pipes that will only become apparent to you after you have smoked your own pipes for awhile.
For me, I reached the conclusion way too late in the game that I dislike acrylic stems with a passion. As in: now I want to go back and offer a few friends/customers replacement stems.
It's this horrible nagging feeling that I wish would just go away. Or I wish I would take the plunge and do the replacements. But crap, there's only so many hours in the day, right?
Well, nagging feelings suck, let me tell you. If you're one of those people who is prone to nagging feelings, my advice is to wait until you're sure. And then wait a little longer until you're damn sure.
Avoid those nagging feelings altogether, if you can.
But one word of caution I would put out there is that there are a lot of problem areas with pipes that will only become apparent to you after you have smoked your own pipes for awhile.
For me, I reached the conclusion way too late in the game that I dislike acrylic stems with a passion. As in: now I want to go back and offer a few friends/customers replacement stems.
It's this horrible nagging feeling that I wish would just go away. Or I wish I would take the plunge and do the replacements. But crap, there's only so many hours in the day, right?
Well, nagging feelings suck, let me tell you. If you're one of those people who is prone to nagging feelings, my advice is to wait until you're sure. And then wait a little longer until you're damn sure.
Avoid those nagging feelings altogether, if you can.
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KurtHuhn
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I think you kind of answered your own question there - if you're not satisfied with your craftsmanship, it's best to hold off until you are.
Personally, if I had to do it all over again, I would have never sold the first 30 or so pipes that I did. I would have given them away, and gotten some much needed feedback. Like you, I wanted to recoup the cost of materials - but I don't think it was worth it. I really needed much more experience before selling my pipes.
I recently put this lesson to good use. I refused to sell my sole-authorship knives until I had loads and loads of experience under my belt. When I sent one to an established knifemaker and he sent me an email telling me that he was honored to have it in his collection, and he could offer no wisdom on how to improve my work, I knew I was ready to start selling.
Personally, if I had to do it all over again, I would have never sold the first 30 or so pipes that I did. I would have given them away, and gotten some much needed feedback. Like you, I wanted to recoup the cost of materials - but I don't think it was worth it. I really needed much more experience before selling my pipes.
I recently put this lesson to good use. I refused to sell my sole-authorship knives until I had loads and loads of experience under my belt. When I sent one to an established knifemaker and he sent me an email telling me that he was honored to have it in his collection, and he could offer no wisdom on how to improve my work, I knew I was ready to start selling.
Thanks for the great advice fellas. I think I am going to hold off until I feel better about the quality of my work. If I get lucky and happen to turn out something that I feel real good about in the meantime, I may sell. I would rather wait too long than to have regrets. I spent a good deal of time visiting all the pipemaker websites I could find. The two main things I learned was 1) there are a handful of pipemakers whose craftmanship is, IMO, not worthy to sell and I don't want to be one of them, and 2) there are a great many artisans that are turning out pipes that are just amazing, including many of you here on this forum. I want to be known for that kind of quality.