# Has anyone used custommade.com



## cabs4less

I found this site and its like 40.00 bucks a month to use. From what i can gather you pay your dues and upload pics of your work and a bio and poaple who are looking for a furniture builder search thier area on the site. My question is does anyone having feedback from the site. I will be honest my area is dead and I hurtin for work and if it the site works I will pay the money but right know I cant afford to gamble even with 40.00 bukcs a month heck thats my phone bill payment LOL


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## Puzzleman

If your area is dead for sales, why not risk $40 for one month? Where else can you take that money and get a potential for return? However, I do not think that being on there for one month would be sufficient, it will probably be at least 3 months to be fair to the site.

I think that you need to look at it as part of your overall marketing package if it fits your product line.


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## cabs4less

I figured 6 months would be enough time to tell if its worth the investment and i sure i can write it off on taxes some how My big issue is how creditable is the site I not accusing or anything I just dont trust people in down economy with my money no matter how much it is


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## ShaneA

I will say there are a lot of quality artisans on there. Not sure if the site is helping them by increasing sales. It would seem to be able to help people find local craftsmen, which would help with the shipping hurdle of large items. I do like to look at the projects for inspiration. If I was not a woodworker, and had a large budget to work with, I would give them a try. However, since I am broke, I am stuck with trying to make it myself. Probably not a real helpful response, but it will get you back to the top of the forum list.


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## Beginningwoodworker

I dont know how helpful the site would be in getting business. But its some real good woodworkers on there.


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## fge

Important thing you need to do. When paying for marketing online, buy a pre paid credit card, only give the marketing firm limited access to your funds and only for the amounts agreed upon. If it were 40.00 per month, I would only leave 40.00 on the card at a time.

You need to give any marketing 3-6 months to really determine the value of ROI. But if it is no good, no need to fight with them over cancelling, just dont put anymore money on the credit card.

The web site u speak of tried to sell me but I declined. I dont think they market to the population I am trying to reach.


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## wdkits1

I joined CustomMade a year ago and will say that it took awhile before I got my first commission, but it has driven folks to my website. I did get a sizable commission just recently which will pay for another year. From my understanding CustomMade gets over 100,000 hits a month from folks looking to get stuff made. I guess alot depends on what you are selling. My biggest seller has been my custom knife blocks and custom signs and a couple of martial arts belt displays. Small stuff but work is work.


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## cabs4less

I like the idea of limiting there access to my funds and My problem is my area is just over run with unemployed cabinet , trim, framer guys cause no one is building now so i was thinking if i could broaden my marketing radius I might be able to find work but I am limited by I can only install and sale cabinets where I hold a license three years ago I didnt care where the work was I just went but now alabama is startin to crack down on that I know a cuple guys lookin at time cause they cant pay the massive fines they got charged wit for working in a county where they didnt have a linense so I thought about furniture cause I have a store linense honestly I just trying to figure out a way to get some work thanks for all the replys and I am open for sugesstions


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## DLCW

Was a member for over 6 years and didn't get one lead. When I canceled my membership I got 4 or 5 leads sent to me from custommade.com. There is a long thread on WOODWEB.com about custommade.com. Many people had this same thing happen to them when they went to cancel their membership.

Your call.


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## Dark_Lightning

Interesting, to say the least. I considered it, but I have limited time to generate a lot of product, due to being employed overtime, already. At the time I looked, it cost $250 to get in, iirc. Seems like it's free, now. Not certain about that. In any event, if I had a ready market, I could crank out small boxes and make a living…I think. Then, we have real life experiences like DLCW. Not saying there is anything wrong with his stuff, by the way. I know how politics is at work; people get canned for not being liked, even if they are the best at what the company wants in terms of expertise. Dumb, but real life.


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## KnickKnack

Just wondering - did you do it and, if so, did it work?

I've spent a few days strolling around that site - some really nice stuff up there.


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## bbrown

What percentage of each sale does CustomMade take? It seems to be buried in their fine print somewhere (not a good sign IMO).


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## tncraftsman

When I last used CM their commissions were close to 15% of the sale AND your shipping cost. The base commission was around 10% and you had to use their payment processor which took another 2 - 3%.

For better or worse I used CM for years. About a year ago I got an email from them stating they are only focusing on jewelry makers but still have other artisan specialties on there.


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## bbrown

That's interesting. I wonder why they don't accept furniture makers any longer. I would suppose they were not making money from furniture? Or maybe we are too crotchety a bunch to work with 

Why would they charge for shipping? Would this not be worked out between the buyer and the maker? How does 'Custom Made.com' prevent buyers from just by-passing their site and just going directly to the maker once they find something they want to buy on the site?

Is there currently any other web site or source like 'Custom Made' for makers to sell their high-end furniture? Selling my reproduction stuff which can take 150 or more hours of work to make, is almost impossible. I'm told there are buyers who will pay but finding them seems very difficult.

-Bill


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## tncraftsman

Their best margins were on jewelry. Email they sent basically said CM had been on life support for years and is only focusing on 1 thing though keeping existing artisans in other areas.

Sorry, they didn't charge for shipping but the total they presented to the customer included your shipping and they tacked on their percentage to your cost plus shipping. Everything I made was sent via freight so adding their percentage to custom furniture + freight was a budget buster for most people.

"Is there currently any other web site or source like 'Custom Made' for makers to sell their high-end furniture? "

Not sure but let us know if you find it. CM was NOT the place for high-end furniture. Lots of tire kickers and people wanting anna-white type stuff made for basically material costs.


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