90% of my pieces are custom made

[Former_Member]

Morning all.

Have been having a serious think about my shop. I have 122 pieces (and probably twice that many in stock).

But 90% of what I sell is custom requests. Which means the stock pieces virtually NEVER sell.

My question is: Are they too expensive?

Stock pieces 'Happy Birthday' 'just married' etc are £7.50 and custom pieces are £8.95

Shall I reduce my stock pieces to say £6.00?


Each comes in a gift box.



Grateful for any help

[Former_Member]

no i would not reduce the prices of the stock items or would you still make enough profit out of them if they are lower priced??. even if they do not sell, they might be inspirations for people who want custom pieces.

[TerraRhapsody]

Barbara has it spot on. You have to think about the fact you're running a business, and that you need to make sure you have that profit. There is no guarantee the items will sell at a lower price, and they are going to be the things enticing people into your shop and bringing in those custom orders. If you try to get rid of the things enticing people in, you may find that you get reduced traffic and fewer of those custom orders!
With regards to some of your stock, they are the sort of things that people are likely to want to customise- I have those in my shop as well, so there are a few made-to-order items as well as ready to ship.
Having a good selection of ready to ship and custom items is always a plus to cater for the people that have planned ahead and the people that want off the shelf stuff!

[Former_Member]

I have the same issue, but not to that extent. Most of my orders are custom, maybe about 60%. As much as I'd like to create new items for the shop I try to keep it down to a minimum. Since I know customers normally want something created just for them, I make only a few banners to list to give them an idea. And you'll always have that customer that needs something NOW.

[LIMASCRAFTS]

I agree to Barbara ;)

[Former_Member]

We would create SALE with huge discount for items what are ready to ship :)

[sunshineandvodka]

Unless you want to lose money I wouldn't discount them. They are timeless pieces and will sell someday.

[CopperLeafStudios]

It means that you are running a great custom made business :) Those items may be drawing people in to purchase a custom listing -- they are serving a purpose by being there, and it may be more marketing than selling. Don't feel like you need to get rid of them! It could have an impact on your other sales.

My biz is 90% custom work as well -- but I keep a full shop, and do a fair amount of product development. It helps keep my shop fresh, and in my market's eye. My sales slip when I let it go, even if those aren't the specific items selling. They eventually rotate out and get sold at galleries. Sometimes you have to look at the whole picture :)

[Former_Member]

Thanks for the feedback everyone. It more or less reinforces my thinking.

I'll keep renewing things and see how it goes.

Cheers everyone