# latest stick



## RATTY (Oct 17, 2016)

lastest one is all done and ready for its new home tomorrow


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## CV3 (Jan 30, 2014)

Nice stick Ratty. What is the wood?


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## RATTY (Oct 17, 2016)

its hazel Randy , and thanks


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## CV3 (Jan 30, 2014)

I do not have access to hazel around here. It looks like a good wood to work with.


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## RATTY (Oct 17, 2016)

it is a great wood , the grain is very easy to work with and get some great colours with it .


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## Lol999 (Jul 4, 2016)

That's great stick Ratty, I bet they sell very well.


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## RATTY (Oct 17, 2016)

i gave it away to someone that can put it to use . i wouldnt know where to start with putting a price on a stick i make .


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## CV3 (Jan 30, 2014)

This is a book I refer to offten. It is one of the best I have seen on doing wood spirits in a stick. It has easy to understand instrucksions and with good photos.

www.treelineusa.com/carving-woodspirits-beyond-the-basics.html


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## Rodney (Jun 12, 2015)

Nice stick!

I've been researching what a fair price would be on mine by seeing what other people are asking for similar work.

Rodney


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## RATTY (Oct 17, 2016)

i should try that way i think . seen some folk asking crazy amounts on places like etsy and then i see some amazing works been offered for next to nothing , and its always confused me , so if somebody asks me how much for a stick i will usually just tell them to get me a drink or i give them away . saves my head hurting thinking of how to price lol.


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## Lol999 (Jul 4, 2016)

If it were mine I would be asking £25-£30 on the "psychic fair" scene and I reckon they would go a bomb at that price. I have seen some going at £80-£150 which is daft money, so if you would be happy with £25-30 then go for it. It will allow you to invest in more tools if nothing else.


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## cobalt (Nov 14, 2013)

I charge around £45- 70 per stick depending on what it is.

the cost of purchasing a seasoned straightened stick is around £10 plus postage then the eyes around £4 per pair heavy duty brass ferules over £1 rubber ferules £1 plus postage . this excludes the cost of the topper ,Danish oil or other .So your looking at material costs around £20 . this excludes time and tool replenishment and on to of that there is the cost of postage to the consumer which can be around £10,

so if your doing this for a living you would have to include time and you cant live on a minimum wage council tax, time, power researching making patterns and the workshop expenses .

So what is a realistic price

If your using rams horn they can be expensive buffalo horn is around £15 before you start


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## RATTY (Oct 17, 2016)

that was the sort of price range i was thinking cobalt , when i mentioned very expensive , it was in reference to some listings ive seen on etsy and ebay for £800 upwards . i would happily pay over 100 hundred for a stick that stood out to me .


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## CV3 (Jan 30, 2014)

When I started selling sticks a friend who is a water color painter told my to be proud of my work. Ask a fair price for the work,time and materials. What I do is one of a kind. I do not have a inexpensive cane or stick. I can always give a family or friendly discount But I always start with a price I want. If someone thinks my work is not worth the time and what I have into it then they do not need it.I do not try to compete with flea markets or products from places that people get 10 cents an hour. I do not sell a lot but I get a fair price for what I do sell. And it is a complement when some one feels it is worth their hard earned money to buy what I have done.


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## Lol999 (Jul 4, 2016)

Which just goes to prove why my wife, who makes jewellery, always says "you'd give things away" when she asks me for a price for a piece she has made! Ironically in my old job I charged top whack because I knew I was worth it but anything else I'm useless at pricing


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## cobalt (Nov 14, 2013)

For a good quality rams horn you should expect to pay around £500 .they say it takes up to 90 hours to make one from start to finish so is its less than £6.0 per hour then material cost

I usually say its around £50 depending on what you want then just leave it if they want one they will come back. after all would they work for less than the minimum wage


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## Rodney (Jun 12, 2015)

cobalt said:


> I charge around £45- 70 per stick depending on what it is.
> 
> the cost of purchasing a seasoned straightened stick is around £10 plus postage then the eyes around £4 per pair heavy duty brass ferules over £1 rubber ferules £1 plus postage . this excludes the cost of the topper ,Danish oil or other .So your looking at material costs around £20 . this excludes time and tool replenishment and on to of that there is the cost of postage to the consumer which can be around £10,
> 
> ...


You're around 45 just for materials and postage. 70 would be better at that rate. (Sorry, no British pound key).

I've been looking at Etsy here to figure out what to charge for mine. From what I've seen so far I should be able to justify around $70 per stick, maybe a bit more, and that's without any carvings. That's based on the workmanship I see on the sticks being sold, I don't see much that's similar in style to what I want to make so that's a little harder to judge. My work should stand out compared to the other sticks being sold in that price range. I can probably go as low as $50 and still make a little money but it'll work out to less than minimum wage for my time at that price.

Rodney


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## cobalt (Nov 14, 2013)

The other issue with selling items is has it been done before ? what can be done has been done

The quality of sticks for sale on line varies so much, most of the American market seems to be wood spirits and limited to the size of the shank it may be the favourite over there but unless you can offer something different it will be a difficult sell.

Others are just a shank that's been cleaned up and vanished or treated with oil but there as cheap as chips and you wouldn't find much satisfaction in doing them maybe some will have a wrap of some kind

The quality of sticksmakers here is very high and offer a very wide range of wildlife and material usage .

Also stick makers shows have a huge following here and its mostly for enthusiasts but people will pay for quality . also if you want a rams horn crook you would have to order it very few are advertised as makers don't need to do so..

I don't bother with any of it takes up to much time , people ask for a stick and unless I fancy carving it I don't do it .I have sold sticks I have made for my self whilst walking with them . people will stop you and ask for them but wouldn't go out of my way to sell one

As for on line you get so many queries and you end up wasting your time as people just want a guide to sell there own stuff

My guess is if you had a rams horn crook and walk around with it with ramblers you would get a steady orders in America but I certainly cant see the wood spirit selling here


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## RandyL476 (Aug 24, 2014)

Great looking stick.


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## MJC4 (Mar 6, 2014)

Very nice looking piece Ratty.

As far as selling sticks IMHO it's all about what the market will bear so to speak and what you are willing to take for a piece. What I think my pieces are worth and what they will sell for is at best a crap shoot. I make sticks for the enjoyment of creating them and I don't consider the time invested as anything more than a pleasurable hobby. If I tried to equate the time invested in each piece with an hourly rate than my sticks would never sell. The "market" here is craft fairs, word of mouth and posting some pics on Facebook. I do not want my hobby to have me become tied to a device to monitor a website so that is not in the cards for me. I sell a few sticks here and there for $50-$100 depending on the work involved. Folks around here that want a carved hiking stick will normally shell out $60- $75 without a lot of haggling. Start pushing $100 in the Midwest and your work will sit. Out west around the National Parks and Forests folks are looking for that unique souvenir to take home from vacation and a handcrafted hiking stick sells well. If my sticks/carvings sell I buy more tools, if they don't I make do with what I have. The Halloween Pumpkin Heads I made went over quite well so I'm ordering a new mini rotary tool. Keep whittling!

Mark


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## Gloops (Jan 23, 2015)

Good looking stick Ratty, well done.

On the selling of sticks it all depends on whether you are looking to it as an income or as a hobby with benefits. In my case it is a hobby and any monies made for the effort put in is put back into the purchase of materials, tooling, and equipment. I don not advertise and any requests are made by people seeing my sticks as I walk with them and are done as dog portraits of their pets.

For people that "stop me and buy one" I normally ask £80 and stipulate that time is not a factor it will be ready when its done as forcing oneself to work when not in the mood leads to mistakes - I am retired and done meeting deadlines and wanted yesterday.

A hobby is for enjoyment not stress.


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## Lol999 (Jul 4, 2016)

The pricing of goods is a nightmare. My wife has been on the craft fair scene for 4 years now selling her handmade jewellery. If she costed in her time, and any extra for her "art" then she would never sell. It all comes down to WHERE you sell and WHO walks through the door. In the Peak District I've seen people shy at paying £25 for a good thumb stick, and the Peak is walkers paradise so there are loads of them.

I plan to sell mine just as a hobby, thought I may as well do something to relieve the days whilst the wife pitches her stuff, and if mine sell them great it's more money for toys and tools, and if they don't I'll give them away as gifts.

A second hand car dealer gave me the truest advice ever on pricing - something is worth only what people are prepared to pay. My pedlars sticks for instance will be going at about £20 on my stall because I think the market will stand it. A friend who stands Chatsworth House Xmas market reckons he can get about £30-ish for them there because there will be more money floating about.

I'll finish with this one. A chap I know sells crystals and rocks etc for healing. He bought some jade bracelets in from China and seeing the price at £15 knocked them out at £36 and he did loads. When he put his glasses on he saw he was actually paying only £1.50! So not being a greedy chap he reduced the price to £6. Nobody was interested. Go figure.


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## RATTY (Oct 17, 2016)

i have always done it as a hobbie and for gifts when i was working but since a accident that has left me unable to work due due spine damage and the ammount of meds i take , not body will even give me an interview as the meds i take would leave me as a liability to their insurance . so now thinking of trying to make it an income as sitting around doing nothing is sending me crazy . plus the extra income would be a blessing.


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## Lol999 (Jul 4, 2016)

Go for it mate. You will hopefully make a few quid and the social aspect is great, you get to meet some lovely people. I'll even throw you a good venue in your neck of the woods - Southall Minster. Not been myself but the footfall is apparently amazing and they come to spend. If you go on their website there is a link to the chaplain, a lady, and it is she you have to contact. Do it sooner rather than later as they get a lot of interest. Only thing is you can't have electric for your stall, which is why me and the missus don't go as her stall is lit up like a ufo!


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## Gloops (Jan 23, 2015)

Sorry to hear about your misfortune Ratty and can sympathise with you , my wife has a collapsed vertebrae in her spine amongst other issues and is on constant morphine based patches for the pain.

Keepm working on the sticks as you say being idle in mind and body is not good.


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