# How much do you sell your cutting boards for?



## MR_Cole

Hey all, I have been making lots of really nice cutting boards recently. A guy in my town showed some interest in selling them at his store. I have no idea how to price them. It seems that to make any worthwhile profit, they would need to sell for over $80 (the store takes a chunk). What are your prices? I attached a photo o one of my boards.

Thanks!


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## Dal300

For simple boards I add up the rough board footage. Edge grain I charge at $20/bd ft. plus $30 labor. 
Fancier boards, edge grain, $35/bd ft plus $40 labor.
Edge grain boards are charged out at $50/bd ft. plus $40 labor.

This means that I measure all the wood I start with and get total bd footage, not the bd footage of the finished product. I add in the extra for supplies and labor to cover costs on that end.

I haven't had any trouble selling boards at all by those prices. One at our yard sale went for $175 (end grain, walnut, maple, cherry, 2" thick, 16X20").


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## Puzzleman

If you are selling to a store, you will be charging wholesale pricing. I believe Dallas is discussing retail pricing.

To calculate your minimum price, you need to know your costs. There are several threads discussing this here on LJ.

The basics are: cost of materials (wood, finish, glue, blades, etc.)?
cost of labor (hours per items times hourly rate)?
estimated cost of shop ( lighting, heating, tools)?
Figure at least 10% more for profit and you will have calculated your wholesale price. 
Double that to determine your retail price.

Run the numbers to insure that you are making a profit. Don't sell to the store for less than your calculated price.
If you are not making a profit, then I wouldn't sell them.


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## SteveMI

Most people I know selling cutting boards are making them with the cut-offs from band saw boxes, shelves or small tables, so the material is free. Actually, it helps them avoid dumpster fees.

In my area, most boards with domestic wood are $30 - $40. Haven't seen an end grain cutting board locally.

The ones with some exotics (band saw box guy) are $45 - $55.

I bought couple maple / walnut glue-up panels from a local mill for $30 and cut them down to 4 cutting boards. Only needed to route the edges smooth, couple minutes with ROS and wipe down with oil. Didn't sell too quick so I didn't repeat. Was just trying to have another item.

Steve.


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## Timberwerks

I sell these for $65.00


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## Dwain

Twerks,

That is a unique and beautiful cutting board. It looks like these have a strong Japanese influence, correct? Really nice work…


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## Timberwerks

Thanks

Yes, more of a sushi board actually. Here is a couple more shots of one.


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## Cosmicsniper

It's a shame that people undervalue their work like they do. It's an insult for that GORGEOUS sushi board to be sold for $65. Double that price.

I put a small 7×10" edge grain board (similar to the one in my projects) in a charity auction two weeks ago and it sold for $75. While it is for charity, I wouldn't sell them for less, even though I can knock one out in 3 hours, start to finish…even faster if I made several at once.

Of course, I'm a hobbyist with little shop time. You would have to pay a premium to get me to spend time building things I don't want to build.


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## Dal300

SteveMI, Just a question, and not being smart-alecky, but why devalue your work by selling the boards for less than they are worth?
Even ends and cutoffs have value…. sometimes more than the value of the original length of lumber. 
What has happened by selling at cut rate prices is that you have lowered the value of your total production. You would be better off burning the scraps and selling for higher prices.

For instance: you buy a 25 bd ft pack of lumber for $4/bd/ft. You build a cabinet or something that uses up 22 bd ft leaving 3 bd ft of ends and pieces.
the cost of the lumber you used was actually $4.54 per bd ft. not $4 because you have not used the other 3 bd ft.
Now you could sell those shorts and ends on eBay, (many people do) and reap maybe $7/bd/ft with no more labor than listing, tossing it in a flatrate box and mailing it.
If you make a really decent cutting board out of those pieces and charge $40 you have much more invested in labor, materials and time selling (if selling locally). I'm not sure how much your labor rate is, but even if it's $10/hr. and it takes 2 hours to make it plus $3 in glue and $2 in finishing materials, that 3 bd ft is now only worth $15, minus the time it takes to sell it, and you have devalued your product.
If many people do that you have undercut a market that could be lucrative.

Never under value your worth or skill….. what else do we have?

Would you do the same thing if you were an electrician and had enough left over material to wire a garage for someone on the side?
How about if you were a sheetmetal worker and built sheet metal geedunks being paid by the piece and all of a sudden, the owners tell you that since you built too much product they were going to sell the last 20% at 1/4 of it's value?


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## msmith1199

Like somebody pointed out, you have to give a store wholesale prices. I usually go opposite what some here have said about pricing for items like this. I figure out the prices based on what the market will pay. You can kind of get an idea by looking for similar items in other stores and see what they are selling them for. Then I work backwards from there. If I know (or think) I can sell a cutting board for $80 then I figure out what it costs me to make it and decide if it's worth it.

As a general rule of business a retail store is going to want to price an item about 100% over what they pay for it. (That figure can obviously vary) So if a cutting board will sell for $80 they are going to want to pay $40 for it. Maybe $50 at the most. Otherwise it isn't worth it to them. The good news is a retail store can probably sell it for more than you can sell it for on EBay or at a swap meet or other similar places.

In running my own little one man business, I have found it's much better for me if I can get others to do my selling for me. I've actually started a little network of people (sort of like Avon) who sell things for me and I give them 20% of the price. It's worth it to me because when I'm trying to sell stuff I spend as much time selling as I do making. So if I can get somebody else to do that part and only take 20% it works out good for me because it frees up 50% more time to make more stuff.


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## mds2

I grandpa sold 250 cutting boards over the last year. He changes anywhere from $35 to $50.


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## a1Jim

It's not what you ask or how many you sell, it's how much profit you make assuming your trying to make money,As an example if you sell 200 boards and make a $1 dollar each verses selling 10 boards an making $20 each.


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## MR_Cole

Thanks for the great info guys! I think it's going to work out. As I am only 17 and have no bills I'm happy with very little profit. It is profit enough to see people admiring my work. I love woodworking and as long as they can cover the costs to make them I'm happy. Again, thanks for all the info! Feel free to keep adding input!


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## mporter

It all depends on where you live. Why has nobody mentioned this? Live in New York City and charge 200 ea, live in Columbia Mo and charge 40 for the same board. And damn glad to get 40.

No offense dallas, but you would sit on your boards for 50 years selling them for 50 bd/ft and 40 in labor in the area I live in.


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## Dal300

mporter, I'm not too worried about selling them for my price.

What I sell does quite nicely at providing for my shop and other extras. A quality made product will sell itself. Because you choose to sell to a lower economic class of clientele for a lower price doesn't make a profit.


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## Straightbowed

35 to 40 for mine domestic woods only nuttin fancy


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## dalethewhale

G'day guys,

Question for dallas,

Mate, did you mean to say "end grain $50/bd ft?" or "edge grain $50/bd ft"?

This was was the third price you gave in your original response to this thread.

Cheers in advance

Whale


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## Dal300

Yes, end grain, sorry, typo.


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## grenger

1 - i add up the price of the wood required (most are done using exotic woods)
2 - add $12.00 for sandpaper, oil, boardbutter, glue, etc
3 - $10.00/hour (6 hours for engrain)
4- $5.00 for handle groove (if requested)
5 - add 15% for overhead (dust filters, etc.)

a endgrain 18×12x 1 1/2 (padauk, walnut, cherry, purpleheart, maple) runs around 135.00


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## jakob

My first craft sale I went with $25xBF + Cost of materials and sold out my table. I came up with the numbers out of the nether and they seemed right to me. I did however use BF of the finished item and didn't bother with other materials or actual labor hours. When I went over every thing afterwards I discovered I didn't make a whole lot of true profit and plan on changing the model before my next sale.

I am new to the art/craft sale/fest world and have yet to try and do consignment.

I did just make a fish finder case and couldn't bring myself to price it with labor, I got $0.50 an hour at best …


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## Dusty56

*Timberwerks*, I think you could get more for those gorgeous boards ! 
Very nice wood species and fine details, I also like the "metal" legs / risers : )

*OP*
$10 per hour just isn't enough if you stop to think of everything that you do to the boards in an hour's time…..minus waiting for the glue to dry of course. : ) It's funny how location also makes a huge difference as to what you can charge for your handiwork. In one local city I was able to get $85 for a board and 3 towns away, I couldn't get $30 for the same board. Different climate, different values.


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## grenger

you are right Timberwerks.


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## freddyaudiophile

For me, in this neck of the woods, I ask $60 to $80 for an edge or face grain board. I typically double the cost of the wood and add $5 to $8 for glue, oil, 4 rubber feet and stainless steel screws. So, for that, folks get a board anywhere from 12-13" deep x 15-18" long x 1.5-2" thick. Such a board is maple followed by 6 or 7 other types of wood (bubinga, jatoba, ash, black walnut, bloodwood, cherry, hickory, Purple Heart, etc.). To date, I've only done simple strip boards with a single glue up. I've had a few repeat customers too, and have done a package price for 4 boards for one customer. I've done 14 boards and they average me 3 hours in labour each, from rough exotic lumber to the board leaving my shop with 3 coats of oil and the feet installed. I sand each with the ROS for about 30 mins, some longer… Having a helical head planer helps reduce some of the sanding needed IMO.

Soon, I plan to try a few with two or three glue ups, and maybe an end grain board. I've seen some end grain boards here sell for $125 at farmers markets and such.


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## Whitewalls

I sure am glad I came across this thread. I have been making more and more boards lately and I am having a hard time figuring out cost. I have been figuring out bf cost at $10 a bf and adding $3-7 dollars in material depending on size. But from what I'm seeing from you all I am shorting myself big time. I sold my biggest one for $100 and that was 24×12x2. So I better start looking at my numbers again. Thank goodness for help from fellow woodworkers.


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## grenger

whitwalls, how much time does it take you to build a 24×12 board, is it endgrain?


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## Puzzleman

Whitewalls, Visit a blog by Huff. He discusses in simple and easy terms how to calculate all of your costs toarrive at a minimum price to sell at. It can be very helpful.


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## Whitewalls

Grenger, I didn't keep track of my time exactly, I was building other boards at the same time too. I would say I probably have about 3-4 hours into it total. I'm starting to track my time though on each board I make, that way I have a better understanding of how long it takes. The longest time period of course is when i'm planing stock down to size and then ripping it on the bandsaw. The carving board I made took me a lot of time because of all the different set ups I had to do make the groove and the handles. But it should go quicker next time.

Puzzleman, thanks for the info, I will take a look at it.


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## Whitewalls

I actually made it simpler for me to figure out costs today. I did an excel spread sheet that has formulas in it to figure out how many board feet each board is and then add 15% for waste. Then have other columns for labor rate, hours and other materials and shipping if applicable. Also a column for discounts for friends family or promotions. Now if my wife gets an order for me she can just enter the sizes and reference previous boards for the labor and work out a price without having to get a hold of me.


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## Tomblvd

I buy most of my wood for cutting boards on the web (Bell Forest Products), and I'm happy with their service, but where else can I get domestic wood for end-grain cutting boards that would be cheaper?

Any ideas would be appreciated.


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## Finn

".... I have no idea how to price them. It seems that to make any worthwhile profit, they would need to sell for over $80 (the store takes a chunk). What are your prices? ..." From the original post.
... In selling functional items, it does not matter how much labor or materials you have in a product. It only matters "what will the buyer spend for this?" You can make a functional object like a cutting board and spend 100 hours on it and it will still sell for little more for one made in ten hours. I do not make cutting boards but I make many wooden boxes and bellows and can only sell them for what the" traffic will bare"...
Selling art is a whole different thing.


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## JesseTutt

Other considerations include your location. If you live in a prosperous area then people are willing to pay more, if a poor area then they pay less.

Also, what you charge affects what others can charge. If you make a cutting board and sell it for less than the person who is trying to support a family from the sale of cutting boards you will force him to lower his price. Perhaps his 17 year old son will not get something.


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## lizardhead

I just want to make a quick sale to recuperate the cost of making another one. But when I finish a piece that I am particularly proud of I price it at a not for sale price. Everything has a value so never say it's not for sale-just put a ridiculous price on it, then if it does sell you are a millionaire. Tongue in check.


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## Woodendeavor

Are you selling on consignment or on wholesale? The price for these is different. I determine my cost (material cost and hourly rate) and add a profit. This would be my wholesale price and they would have to make a minimum order for me to sell at this price. If it is a consignment arrangement there are allot of questions you need to ask. If the board gets damaged in the store are they going to pay your time to fix that board? probably not so consignment comes with a whole additional level of risk so you need to set your price higher to cover this risk. I factor the cost add profit and add an additional 50% to cover the headache that will come from a consignment arrangement. Just my two cents


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## TechTeacher

Mark, do you care to elaborate on how your sales system works. Is it formal? or more or less some friends that know you make things and are able to make the occasional sale for you?


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## msmith1199

Tech, my system is friends that sell to their friends. I also have a lazer engraver so I do things other than just wood. My type of sales work better with personalized stuff. Most of my things go to people in law enforcement agencies so they like things with custom badge and patch images. I've also sold quite a few cutting boards just through friends on Facebook. I actually had to turn down business for Christmas because I'm sitting in Maui right now and didn't factor in enough time in the shop this year.


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## lumberjoe

I think our stiff is priced very fairly:

https://www.etsy.com/shop/KandJWoodCrafts?ref=si_shop


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## lightcs1776

Nice boards for the price, LumberJoe. It is interesting how varied the prices are for a board.


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## fladdy

I don't know if any other LJ's referenced it, but there is a good blog here on LJ's about pricing your work. It is about 5 pages long, but worth the read. I suggest reading it. Since doing such, I've sold 6 cutting boards to coworkers in less than 1 month and have 3 more ordered. For a board 12"x12"x 7/8" thick I sell them for $45-$50 and include a little jar of beeswax/mineral oil mixture. I still profit about $10 per board and pay myself $15/hr. It might me low, but I'm making money and no one has complained about the pricing.

Just my opinion.


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## Racer2007

I know this thread is a little old but I have to comment on priceing.

lumberjoe , for the the prices you are are chargeing for some of your boards I would be loseing 50% of my cost for them. The best prices I can find for Maple and Walnut in my area a 12" X 18" x 1.5" board would cost me pretty close to $50 just for the wood. And I don't see any way to buy the wood online and have it shipped for less than the local cost.


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## msmith1199

Richard you must have some hugely expensive wood in your area. A 12×18x1.5 board is 2.25 board feet of lumber. Figure 3 BF to start with for waste. Last time I bought walnut here in California it was $8 a bf. That's $24 in California prices. Oak and Maple are down in the $4 a bf range depending on what type you get. That's $12 for that size board.


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## Racer2007

Mark , In San Jose I am finding Walnut for $9.50 to $13.00 BF and the $9.50 is not that good of Quality. If you know a better priced source in San Jose I would love to hear about them.


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## msmith1199

I get my wood through MacBeath and it comes out of their San Jose facility, but it has been over a year since I bought Walnut. I have a huge supply in my shop from an auction where I got a couple of truck loads of various woods. My prices are wholesale, but it really isn't much better than their retail prices. In looking at their website, they will sell you a 25bf bundle of Walnut for $239. That works out to $9.56 a BF. So my wholesale price is probably in the $8 a bf range, but I have to buy 100bf at a time.

Last time I checked prices at Aura Hardwood in Modesto all of their retail prices were about the same as my wholesale prices from MacBeath. Aura has several facilities in the valley.

I was under the impression that the MacBeath warehouse in San Jose was a wholesale only facility, but it's on their website with hours listed, so maybe they do retail sales there now.

If you want really good prices, someplace around here I have contact info for a company out of Indiana that will sell you a 40 foot container full of walnut. I don't remember the exact figures, but I did the math and it was going to be something like $4 a BF which included shipping the container to California. The only catch was you had to unload the container and that isn't an easy task since you can't get a forklift into it, and the container will be sitting on a trailer. The other catch was a container of walnut was a whole lot of money!

If you're interested, I can check on the price of 100bf of Walnut at my prices and then I can sell that 100bf to you retail and just tack on a small fee to cover my time and handling of the stuff. Probably no more than 5%, plus I have to collect sales tax. You would have to come to Tracy to get it after they delivered here.


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## Racer2007

Mark , Thanks for the info but I am just a hobbist type wood worker so I would only be looking at 5 0r 6 BF at a time. I havent been able to check MacBeath yet and even the 25BF package would be hard for me to find a place for it since I live in an Apt., but Aura has Walnut for $9.50 BF and what I saw when I was there last week was not real good looking. But then they are currently in process of moving to a new location just a mile or so away and thier supply was a little low due to that so it may be better in a week or 2 when they get setup in the new space. Also I got a real good felling about them as they had no problem talking with me and showing me what they had on hand even though they knew I was only looking for a very small order and not like somethng for a cabinet shop order. And then here in San Jose you also have Southern Lumber but you don't even want to think about thier prices unless you just won the Lottery.


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## bannerpond1

Folks, this is just my opinion, but I strongly believe end grain cutting boards are the only way to go. Not only do they allow infinite design options compared to an edge grain board, they will last longer.

Hundreds of years of butcher blocks can't be wrong. It takes more work to make an end grain board, but I believe you will be happier with your work.

Plus, you will find you can use scraps that would not be long enough for an edge grain board. The more you make end grain boards, the more you'll like the design possibilities and the more creative you'll become in those designs. You can check out Wood Whisperer, among others, for a tutorial on end grain boards.


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## Racer2007

I would love to do end grain boards but I just don't have the equipment to get the cuts right for all the glueups required, with edge grain boards I can get them done Ok with the tools I have until I can get the space for better tools for the job.


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## msmith1199

On the end grains boards, I would have to say it all depends on that. What are you doing with it? I can glue up an edge grain board in no time. Run it through the planer a couple of times then run it through the drum sander a few times with different grades of paper down to 180, do some finish sanding, put it on the CNC and cut it out with handles and a juice grove, put on some coats of mineral oil and it's done. I can then sell that board for about $75. And edge grain board can't be put in the planer once you've glued it up edge wise, it requires a lot of extra cuts and then an extra glue up and a lot more time in sanding since it can't go through the planer. Then I'm more limited in what I can do with it on the CNC. And then I can sell it for maybe $90?

For me, since I'm selling mine, there is more money to be made in edge grain than end grain. And edge grain sure does look a lot nicer than end grain to most people. Most of the people I've sold boards to use them as decoration on their dining room table. I've only done edge grain by specific request.


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## threekats

Pricing your items .

All things considered as in cost of materials, Board Feet calculations and your labor selling an item for twice the cost or three times the cost is just profit. try calculating your Profit Margin .

Price of items ..24.00
Labor…............28.00
Total.. 52.00
Sale price 120.00
Your profit 68.00
Profit margin 56% this is your Profit 68.00 divided by Revenue ( sale price) 120.00 =.00.56666

That is a great percent when considering most companies 10 % is healthy 20% is a high margin.

That is my price for a 10×9 end grain of Cherry and Walnut. 
Hope this helps.


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## threekats

> On the end grains boards, I would have to say it all depends on that. What are you doing with it? I can glue up an edge grain board in no time. Run it through the planer a couple of times then run it through the drum sander a few times with different grades of paper down to 180, do some finish sanding, put it on the CNC and cut it out with handles and a juice grove, put on some coats of mineral oil and it s done. I can then sell that board for about $75. And edge grain board can t be put in the planer once you ve glued it up edge wise, it requires a lot of extra cuts and then an extra glue up and a lot more time in sanding since it can t go through the planer. Then I m more limited in what I can do with it on the CNC. And then I can sell it for maybe $90?
> 
> For me, since I m selling mine, there is more money to be made in edge grain than end grain. And edge grain sure does look a lot nicer than end grain to most people. Most of the people I ve sold boards to use them as decoration on their dining room table. I ve only done edge grain by specific request.
> 
> - Mark Smith


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## JackDuren

> Pricing your items .
> 
> All things considered as in cost of materials, Board Feet calculations and your labor selling an item for twice the cost or three times the cost is just profit. try calculating your Profit Margin .
> 
> Price of items ..24.00
> Labor…............28.00
> Total.. 52.00
> Sale price 120.00
> Your profit 68.00
> Profit margin 56% this is your Profit 68.00 divided by Revenue ( sale price) 120.00 =.00.56666
> 
> That is a great percent when considering most companies 10 % is healthy 20% is a high margin.
> 
> That is my price for a 10×9 end grain of Cherry and Walnut.
> Hope this helps.
> 
> - threekats


I didn't know he was a company?


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## azwoodworker

This is an old post. and maybe many just sell to friends, but no one mentioned marketing costs in any of the posts, and some sell at craft fairs which require setup if just for the day and time labor it took to sell if you are manning a table for a day.


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