Can I make money with these?
Discussion
Nearly retired pipe fitter / plumber here!
I need to keep busy and have been thinking about what to do when I am fully retired.
I like making things, so I thought I would knock up a coffee table from some iron pipe and reclaimed seasoned oak.
Results as shown.
Do you think it's something I could sell, or find someone that could sell them for me?
Cost wise:
timber was £25. pipe and fittings about £35, plus about £100 in labour. So, I need to sell it for about £160 min.
Suggestions welcome
I need to keep busy and have been thinking about what to do when I am fully retired.
I like making things, so I thought I would knock up a coffee table from some iron pipe and reclaimed seasoned oak.
Results as shown.
Do you think it's something I could sell, or find someone that could sell them for me?
Cost wise:
timber was £25. pipe and fittings about £35, plus about £100 in labour. So, I need to sell it for about £160 min.
Suggestions welcome
Etsy always features lots of products like that, the prices can sometimes vary £100's for nearly the same item. Take a look.
https://www.etsy.com/uk/search?q=iron%20pipe%20tab...
https://www.etsy.com/uk/search?q=iron%20pipe%20tab...
A friend of mine works in an antique shop (Surrey market town). The proprietor buys items like your table, along with lamps (steam punk style etc), picture frames, mirrors, lights, chairs etc as well as antique items from fairs here and in France. The items that aren't antique she works on with paint/lacquer/wax etc to age them. A table like yours would be priced at at least double what it's cost you to make it.
You maybe able to reduce the timber cost by using scaffold planks
http://www.scaffolding-direct.co.uk/scaffolding-bo...
http://www.scaffolding-direct.co.uk/scaffolding-bo...
Edited by Birkin1932 on Thursday 11th January 21:12
Grandad Gaz said:
Nearly retired pipe fitter / plumber here!
I need to keep busy and have been thinking about what to do when I am fully retired.
I like making things, so I thought I would knock up a coffee table from some iron pipe and reclaimed seasoned oak.
Results as shown.
Do you think it's something I could sell, or find someone that could sell them for me?
Cost wise:
timber was £25. pipe and fittings about £35, plus about £100 in labour. So, I need to sell it for about £160 min.
Suggestions welcome
My immediate thoughts are these:I need to keep busy and have been thinking about what to do when I am fully retired.
I like making things, so I thought I would knock up a coffee table from some iron pipe and reclaimed seasoned oak.
Results as shown.
Do you think it's something I could sell, or find someone that could sell them for me?
Cost wise:
timber was £25. pipe and fittings about £35, plus about £100 in labour. So, I need to sell it for about £160 min.
Suggestions welcome
1. It's niche.
2. You need to sell for more than you think, you've only factored in the costs of manufacture - and I am doubtful if you've fully accounted for those. You've not considered marketing, storage, logistics.
3. Who's your customer? I visualise those in trendy bars where hipsters sip craft beer. But I think you may struggle to access the people who fit out such places and if you do snag one you may then find you've got to supply a big order in a time frame that won't feel like retirement.
4. If you're going to sell to the general public, I think you'll find a lot of people talk themselves out of buying one. They'll be drawn to the quasi-industrial look of the things, they'll think they want one, then they'll think it's just an ensemble of pipe fittings and something they could make themselves. Then they will go to Ikea and buy something bland, soulless and inferior.
Definitely but its where you sell them that'll be the challenge. Posh niche London shops could work well.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1i4rgxOi73c
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1i4rgxOi73c
Frimley111R said:
Definitely but its where you sell them that'll be the challenge. Posh niche London shops could work well.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1i4rgxOi73c
As soon as I saw the YouTube link I knew what you had done. Now go to your room and consider your behaviour.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1i4rgxOi73c
As said, you need to factor in everything - consumables (sanding supplies, finishes, etc) as well as time/fuel to get materials, etc.
There probably is a market for them, especially custom made to particular dimensions. However there are endless tutorials on how to make these (just put "pipe table" into youtube) so it's people that want one but are too time-poor or hamfisted to make it themselves.
There probably is a market for them, especially custom made to particular dimensions. However there are endless tutorials on how to make these (just put "pipe table" into youtube) so it's people that want one but are too time-poor or hamfisted to make it themselves.
So said:
My immediate thoughts are these:
1. It's niche.
2. You need to sell for more than you think, you've only factored in the costs of manufacture - and I am doubtful if you've fully accounted for those. You've not considered marketing, storage, logistics.
3. Who's your customer? I visualise those in trendy bars where hipsters sip craft beer. But I think you may struggle to access the people who fit out such places and if you do snag one you may then find you've got to supply a big order in a time frame that won't feel like retirement.
4. If you're going to sell to the general public, I think you'll find a lot of people talk themselves out of buying one. They'll be drawn to the quasi-industrial look of the things, they'll think they want one, then they'll think it's just an ensemble of pipe fittings and something they could make themselves. Then they will go to Ikea and buy something bland, soulless and inferior.
I'm afraid this is the reality.1. It's niche.
2. You need to sell for more than you think, you've only factored in the costs of manufacture - and I am doubtful if you've fully accounted for those. You've not considered marketing, storage, logistics.
3. Who's your customer? I visualise those in trendy bars where hipsters sip craft beer. But I think you may struggle to access the people who fit out such places and if you do snag one you may then find you've got to supply a big order in a time frame that won't feel like retirement.
4. If you're going to sell to the general public, I think you'll find a lot of people talk themselves out of buying one. They'll be drawn to the quasi-industrial look of the things, they'll think they want one, then they'll think it's just an ensemble of pipe fittings and something they could make themselves. Then they will go to Ikea and buy something bland, soulless and inferior.
Many will say how lovely very it is and how they'd buy one.
The truth is almost nobody will.
Personally, I think the tables OK.
Grandad Gaz said:
Nearly retired pipe fitter / plumber here!
I need to keep busy and have been thinking about what to do when I am fully retired.
I like making things, so I thought I would knock up a coffee table from some iron pipe and reclaimed seasoned oak.
Results as shown.
Do you think it's something I could sell, or find someone that could sell them for me?
Cost wise:
timber was £25. pipe and fittings about £35, plus about £100 in labour. So, I need to sell it for about £160 min.
Suggestions welcome
I like your table but there's an immediately obvious problem with it which the maker of the Josephine table on Etsy that somebody mentioned has already addressed/fixedI need to keep busy and have been thinking about what to do when I am fully retired.
I like making things, so I thought I would knock up a coffee table from some iron pipe and reclaimed seasoned oak.
Results as shown.
Do you think it's something I could sell, or find someone that could sell them for me?
Cost wise:
timber was £25. pipe and fittings about £35, plus about £100 in labour. So, I need to sell it for about £160 min.
Suggestions welcome
https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/259606270/the-jose...
Those great big bolts sticking out the top - I would say no to those on a table for home use - banging plates or mugs off them - would really become a pain - an inability to lay a tablecloth over the table or indeed anything flat over a corner - that's a problem even in a workshop table.
Would the extra labour involved in insetting the bolts be so much more expensive as to make it not worthwhile? Would definitely be more saleable without the bolts.
I disagree with the negative comments. You don't (I think) want to take over the market, just make some and make some money. The etsy table shows how much people may pay for it and it shows that there is a market for it.
Don't worry about all the business stuff yet, just do what you can to sell some tables and test your idea. You can spend so long planning and worrying about it not working that you end up doing nothing. There are 65 million people in the UK. I am sure there are more than a few who would love that table.
The bolts on the top may not be a great idea but don't change it until customers say so. Try different designs and finishes (paint the metal/varnish the wood etc.)
Go for it.
Don't worry about all the business stuff yet, just do what you can to sell some tables and test your idea. You can spend so long planning and worrying about it not working that you end up doing nothing. There are 65 million people in the UK. I am sure there are more than a few who would love that table.
The bolts on the top may not be a great idea but don't change it until customers say so. Try different designs and finishes (paint the metal/varnish the wood etc.)
Go for it.
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