DeVeryTY Posted March 11, 2004 Report Share Posted March 11, 2004 Hi people, Just started making lures a little while ago and have been getting a lot of good feedback from friends, family & neighbor's (& thanks for the great comments here) on the lure's I've been making. These lures have been experiments and I wouldn't ever think of selling them. I've given one away as a present and have had a few people ask to buy one and now I'm wondering if I should take the step and actually sell some of my babies? As I've gone along I've noticed I can duplicate most of my better efforts and I have 4 or 5 shapes and color combinations that most people seem to like. I have e-Bay experience and can put up a small website in a few hours. So, my question to you folks is what have been your experiences in selling your work? I'd like to hear anything you'd like to share, the good, bad and ugly. What were your expectation's starting off? Is it worth it? I'll keep making them whatever I decide, I'm hooked (pun intended). Thanks guys & gals DeVery Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gr8flyz Posted March 11, 2004 Report Share Posted March 11, 2004 It's hard to say whether or not your lures will sell well as lures, but I looked at your glass heads you posted, and they look great & are certainly unique. With your talent for glass, you may be able to do very well making lure sculptures. That is, they'll look like lures but are for show & be considered art. Art work will probably demand a higher price too! I'm sure all kinds of folks would buy them, not just anglers. Just a thought. I've kept my business going for 15 years, and have yet to be able to make a full time living at it, but it has grown in that time. I've experimented with things like making fly jewelry, mostly earrings, and they sell better than my flies or lures sometimes, plus I get more for them. My biggest problem is I can't motivate myself to just make jewelry. I keep making tackle mainly because I enjoy doing it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richoc Posted March 11, 2004 Report Share Posted March 11, 2004 Been doing it for 20 years now. Used to pay for all my fishin trips. But now lucky if it pays for it self. Good luck though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boatnik13 Posted March 12, 2004 Report Share Posted March 12, 2004 As someone mentioned on the other B.B. post > you might start giving some out for free to people who can get back results to you(field report)and who have exposure to other clubs ,tournaments,tackleshops,ect. We need to know how or what that lure is like befor we buy because cheap competition ($1.99) lures are in all the retail chain stores and you want people to know you have quality lures,That they are custom and not like thoes in the bin. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skeeter Posted March 16, 2004 Report Share Posted March 16, 2004 In my opinion, you never give lures away to anyone except close friends and family. Why? Simple, it never really pays off. I sponsored a fisherman early in my start of this craft. I busted my @$$ keeping this clown in baits. It was the best work I had ever done at the time. The clown won tournaments on the baits, but never sold a one. I am not saying that all fishermen will do this to you, but unless you really know the person that is throwing the baits, you will probably just be handing away money. As hard as I have to work at making these things, folks are just going to have to pay. If you do give away some baits, you should never expect anything in return. Something may come from it, but never expect it. There is an earlier post on what I think it would take to make your hobby a viable business. http://tackleunderground.com/board/viewtopic.php?t=2225 But, be careful what you ask for. If you do manage to have baits that people really want.... don't forget who has to make them. You could wind up working yourself to death. Keep it enjoyable and make the best baits that you can. If you really turn out a high quality, highly productive lure, don't forget to charge them for it. Don't underbid your work. You work very hard to produce them and you deserve to be paid for your time. But be sure that the customer gets his hard earned moneys worth. Skeeter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boatnik13 Posted March 18, 2004 Report Share Posted March 18, 2004 Thats why it pays to shop around. Knowing who can test your lure the way you want it tested and from a friendly source such as these clubs. I would think we would not want to be known as a bumb or free loader looking for hand-outs but as a help in field testing and of course a free lure cause it would be nice to give out the lure in return for the free help. I believe this is how I would do it along with others locally who require certain modifications for there style of fishing or contest. If I made lures for musky (a fish of 10K casts) > I would search out (by request) musky experienced people who frequent the PIKE family on a regular bases. Then I would mail out X amount for testing and constructive feed back. Just my opinon! ....." I hope some day soon to be able to live this Idea".....Never have the time to get rolling. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeVeryTY Posted April 7, 2004 Author Report Share Posted April 7, 2004 Thanks for all the input guys. I'm still thinking about it, and still making lures. DeVery Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
