What does everyone do to evaluate the competition in the furniture and cabinetry industry?
I’ve had the occasional opportunity to speak w/ prospective clients and view and discuss custom furniture and cabinetry they’ve purchased in the past. Also, I see others at furniture shows. But, are there other ethical ways to find out what others are charging for what their providing?
Lastly, how does everyone evaluate the strength of the custom furniture and cabinet market in their area?
Replies
I'm still green at this - I haven't even officially started my business or even had cards printed - but I don't try to compete pricewise. I quote based on what the job is worth for me. I have tried to compete with others (retailers mostly) and that's a lose-lose situation. I figure that if they've come to me, they want me to do the job. Reputation and trust is more valuable than money. Establish that and you've got it made.
Chris @ www.flairwoodwork.spaces.live.com
- Success is not the key to happines. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful. - Albert Schweitzer
In many cases we know exactly what the competition is bidding on specific jobs; prospective clients often use this info to try to get leverage. Of course, they aren't always telling the whole truth but after a while one gets to know pretty well what the competitors in your specific market are offering. I've occasionally had a situation where I said to a client that I would match a competitor's bid (for the same specs)if I saw the original in writing. I've also had cases where an architect who wants to work with me will tell me exactly what the competing bids are. If he's ethical, he won't tell me who the competition is, but we can usually figure it out anyway. It comes with years of winning some and losing some.
David Ring
http://www.touchwood.co.il/?id=1&lang=e
I'm not a pro at this, but I do sell pieces. In general, I tell prospective customers that are shopping mostly based on price that I'm not the appropriate provider for them.
The reason is that I'm not set up to produce multiples of the same design, and doing so makes the price far lower than a truly custom (and unique) piece. The ones that eventually buy a piece generally decide that they want what they want, and the customization is worth the approximately triple the price of a standard design.
To answer your question though, would require knowing what you're interested in producing. If it's custom furniture in a specific style (modern, shaker, colonial, etc...), a great deal of individuals in the trade now post their prices on their websites. For example, there are now so amny people making authentic reproductions of Windsor chairs that the price is pretty well fixed at about $800 for sack-back.
I have not sold any of the wood pieces that I have made, but I have spent a lot of time in people's homes doing bathroom and kitchen remodels.
When I started I wanted to make sure that I was pricing myself "under market value," but as my skills increased and as the jobs became more and more involved, my prices increased as well.
My point is to not be as concerned for what others may charge as to strive for fair pricing that reflects the quality of your work.
I forgot to mention web sites dkellernc, that's a good source.I have never made a Windsor chair, but $800 seems like it would be hard to make money w/them.The replies are interesting, thanks everyone.
My impression is that the early pioneers of re-discovering the way these were once made (Michael Dunbar and others) have been so successful at disseminating this information that hand-made Windsors have reached a sort of "commodity" status.
There are several people (young people - in their 20's) that are trying to make a living making Windsors in this area, and at least one has given up because the margin is so low that he could not make even a meager living, though he was able to sell everything he could produce at approximately market prices.
I suspect this is true to one extent or another with any custom furniture enterprise, because these are optional purchases, and the buyer doesn't need to buy a custom piece to get 100% of its function (for example, a chair from Rooms-To-Go will certainly hold a sitter, at least for a little while until the joints fall apart). With things like kitchen and bathroom cabinets, the buyer pretty much has to buy at least some level of customization to make it fit the house, though big-box stores are challenging this requirement with direct-from-factory custom designs.
Good post and so true about Windsors.
TWG ,
To evaluate the competition can reveal the physical size of the operation and type of products fabricated .I do think you are meaning on a local basis for you right ? Like a " market survey " .
Get prices on similar works if there are none then good for you .
I have had shops call on the phone asking for prices per foot or unit but typically they pretend they are a customer .
Personally I believe that coming in the front door is the best approach . Go introduce yourself and explain what you are up to . They may be happy to help , I always thought if I told them how much I bid they could bid less and take a job , it never happened so I generally will help those who are honest .
Go take a look at the local custom furniture and cabinet companies drive by , you could call and ask how much turn around time they are working on presently , if they say they can have it ready yesterday you know they are dead in the water .
good luck dusty
The market for custom stand alone furniture is not local anymore. If I'm interested in a reproduction or an "in the style of" piece of almost any ilk there are probably at least twenty bona fide makers out there who would love to bid on it and would be happy to ship it. For certain genres there are way more than twenty.
The strategy for competition in the handcrafted markets, as I understand it, is to make a unique product and to sell it on value and what it truly costs you to make, not to compete on price alone. Of course, studying your market may tell you how pricey of an item to attempt to market in the first place. (Maybe this advice applies less to custom kitchen cabinetry than to custom armchairs, but custom is custom.) Price is not a selling point, because it is arbitrary. Custom work is sold becuase of its value, which is unique and hard to compete with.
Brian
First, I would not try to compete!!! If you doing the same type of work as others in your area you better be Faster, Cheaper and Better. In other words, find your own Niche. Have a different style, use materials of better quality and combine them in unique ways. Anything you can do to stand out. The Customer needs a reason to have you work for them and it shouldn't be Price!
To give some examples, in my area there's lots of custom cabinet shops doing the same things, raised panel doors etc, and they all compete against each other. But one shop went with veneer equipment and makes his own panels, flat and curved. He has no other cabinet shop that can compete with him and turns out modern kitchens with custom panels and curves as well.
Furniture is quite a bit more difficult, but still possible. Get with Architects, Interior Designers and try to impress them with your work. Remember, just because you make quality pieces does not make them desirable. Consider that the Design and Finish can be as important as the Craftsmanship.
Whether your area can support custom Furniture will depend on many factors. Look at the Art scene, Realestate(many Multi million $$ homes) and the economic demographics of your area. This info should be available the newspapers, realestate publications and public records or the Library.
Earl
You are not going to compete with the discount places such as furniture city,etc. You have to find clients that are interested in strictly quality. I found that working with your local designers is the best way as well as least expensive way. I started with some hard to find reproduction queen anne pieces, but I live in an area where there is a market for them as well. It takes a lot of research and phone calls to find the niche. Hope this helps
TWG:
Several here have said it already but I will repeat it here, DO NOT COMPETE! Set very high standards for yourself and your clients (qualify your prospective clients just as they qualify you) Develop a systematic approach for working with your clients, and set your prices accordingly.
All of us who make a living working wood will tell you we've over priced and underpriced our work, and there is no replacement for experience! Today after 20 years I can pretty well nail the price for anything we are asked to build. Stick with it and spend some time around other sources for the type of work you do and listen.
Have fun with this!
Madison
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