Possible? I’m getting older, have no dependents and only need to generate about 18k a year. I live in an area with relatively few woodworkers and on a growing tourist route.
Thanks for any advice.
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There is a lot of information missing in your post.
Are you an experienced woodworker, with all the tools and equipment you will need for production box making? If you need to borrow money to get set up, that will increase your overhead. If you don't know what you are doing yet, that will require a significant period where you need other income, as you gain experience.
How do you expect to sell the boxes? If thru shops, they will take a significant cut of the retail price. What percentage do local shops take? If they operate on consignment, you won't get any money until the box is sold. If they buy the boxes instead, they will get a significantly higher percentage of the final price. If thru craft fairs, you will need to figure in your time to be at the fair, loading/set up and unloading/repacking time, driving time and expense, booth fees, etc.
Another question to answer is how deep is your market? Will you have repeat customers? Will the demand for fine boxes be satisfied in the first year or two? Is your price going to be larger than for typical impulse purchases? (This question's answer is specific to the tourists who come to your area.)
You need to answer a lot of questions to figure out if this is possible in your situation. But there are more:
Are you a disciplined self starter? No boss to motivate you to get to work.
Are you organized and efficient in general?
Can you manage money well? Get thru lean periods?
Do you have a good design sense and level of creativity?
Are you willing to make what will sell rather than just what you want to make?
In other words, do you have the characteristics to be self employed in a business that is probably precarious at best?
Your best bet is to ease into this to gain information, starting very small and getting information about all these questions as you go.
FYI, I do know first hand about a lot of this, as I have been a professional woodworker for over 40 years. I have kept my income needs very low, (similar to yours), which has made it possible. I also had enough money saved up to build my house and shop with cash, and equipped it with used machinery as I could afford it. It is possible, but your characteristics are as important as the market in your area.
Thanks for the detailed response. Yes to all the secondary questions, good design sense, self motivated etc.
Own all tools and machines, will just have to have a market stall and see how it goes, no real risk there.
I'd love to hear from anyone who is actually making and selling enough small work to live reasonably well. Basically what, where and when.
When I retired, I started making objects and tried to sell them in shops and stores . I soon figured that it was not to be lucrative, the nicest pieces, bowls made from large burls harvested locally would be too pricey and objects such as rolling pins, cutting boards or toys would not bring enough margins . I still make those items but sell very few. However these shops , a cheese store and a microbrewery, needed some woodwork and do all the time so between these two businesses and an expanding customer base, I get about the revenue you are aiming and only work part time in the winter at it. The jobs go from making shelves and displays to turning large serving platers and making door frames and bar tables, the need is endless. So if there are few woodworkers in your area, take the opportunity, this type of custom work is appreciated and brings a better margin.
Prolly not. Why are the tourists there and what are they buying?
I think gulfstar has the right idea. A little gallery work is OK to get your name out there. However a couple of resteraunts, coffee shops breweries that need some nice wooden ware is probably a better bet.
Planters always sell better where I'm at than gallery work. I've been thinking of branching out into some bonsai projects.
Sushi serving boards are fun and not too time consuming. Have any fun sushi resteraunts near you? I have made some simple hangiri for sushi folks too.
A few good patrons and products then you are set.
I have considered boxes as a sideline but decided not to.
Why not make a few and see what you can get for them, how much they sell for and where they go to. That will give you far better information than speculation.
I would suggest that if you invest a few weekends in making 10 good boxes and 30 or so cheaper ones, you will get a decent idea of how well they will go in your area.
As a rule, tourists will seldom buy large items and will often want a cheap keepsake rather than a more functional box. Having small items to sell to people who might otherwise walk away can turn a terrible day into a meh one.
It might be worth approaching funeral directors, vets and pet crematoria too as people will pay much higher prices when they are in a hurry. Funerary wares are always going to be needed...
Also check sites like etsy.com and see which items sell, how long it takes for them to sell and what prices are being asked. It's free to look but a pain to follow.
Putting all of the detailed business case parameters already mentioned to one side, anyone wanting to turn what may have begun as a hobby into a business needs to recognise one fundamental factor of such a move: you're likely to spend 80% of your time doing the business stuff and only 20% of your time making what you want to sell.
Do you want to have a new hobby - "running a business"? If it's still the box making that you're truly interested in, don't make your pleasurable hobby a business.
You might be able to combine the two (woodworking & business) to make success and satisfaction ..... but it's a rare person who can make that meld.
Lataxe
Oh yes.
I run a couple of health centres and the admin is unbelievable.
I do enjoy the running the business side of things, but I can afford to pay an accountant to do most of the real crap.
You reckon it's as much as 80% though?
I have considered quitting doctoring in favour of woodwork, but apart from the income difference was really put off by:
1. Having to take a picture and list every item
2. Having to answer questions on sale items
3. Having to package and post items
4. Chasing non-payers
5. Spending all day at a fair and not selling anything.
This latter I did to make ends meet as a junior - we sold china goods at fairs - but it was soul destroying - all the risk and with no experience, little benefit. It helped, but not much.
If I were to be doing craft fairs and such these days, I'd take something to make whilst I was there...
Healthcare? Doesn’t the government mandate all that admin?
I was toying with starting up with ETSY but if you spend some time and look at what is available there is a terrible discrepancy going on. There will be a very nicely crafted box that has some beautiful work done to it and it's priced just about where I would have priced it myself. Then there are these ornate boxes that are obviously produced by a piece of CNC equipment and they are priced for under $10-$15. So they whole premise of ETSY has been over ran with imported junk and ETSY is so large it would take a whole bunch of people to try and stop the junk that is flooding in. That is not the only product. I finally gave up after I looked up miniature furniture because I find the hardest plan I can in one of my many books and it's the same. Now I am sure not everything is getting import junk that people claim that they create themselves but I bet you that they get a home delivery of some imported box of junk more than once a week.
The next time they are having a craft show or fair that is near you take the time to walk around looking at everything being offered and ask them if they are selling online with Etsy. You will be surprised at what people say...... I became a correspondent for 2 of my favorite racing magazines and I spent tons of time at the track and TONS of money on camera gear and film along with the developing and I would have photographs for sale etc. This was way before digital camera technique made my $15,000 worth of equipment obsolete. So I finally gave up that hope. If your going to try to make your woodworking more that just your hobby. Set a dollar limit and when you reach it and you are still fighting.... just go back to making stuff for friends and family. I have spent a ton of money trying to create a business that I could be successful at working from home. Maybe it's me...... not the business....... I guess we will never know
As a hobby woodworker who has made a few things for sale I think it is really hard to find some niche market and turn that into a long term profitable venture. I can sell a few things but will never cover things like overhead, tax, heat, lighting, etc. but try to cover direct costs like wood and supplies. My project work hours compensation are nowhere near comparable commercial wages. The old saying if you want to make $18K selling wood items, start with $36K is very true in my opinion.
So far, I haven't sold anything myself. I either make it for myself/family or give it as a gift. That has helped me. I think it's possible to make a wage. In Christian Becksvoort's "Shaker Inspiraiton: 5 decades of inspired craftmanship." He talks a lot about the business side of things. Well worth purchasing. For him (where he makes bigger furniture), it was a matter of developing about 200 clients and that accounted for most of his work over the years. Finding your clients is likely the key. Others have given lots of good ideas for this here and I have nothing to add.
AirBnB tourist often look for ‘Experiences’, such as a local cooking class in Mexico. If you would consider immersing tourist into the box making experience, you might make more than simply selling boxes.
The one place I have seen fine boxes on display and selling, is at jewelry stores. The quality was beyond my skill level, but I can see where that would be a place where the high price of handmade craftsmanship would not turn people off.
For over 23 years I operated a wood refinishing and furniture repair business. I closed it down 3 years ago to re-enter the agricultural supply industry. When I was hired, the company owner asked me why I wanted to close my business. My response was that I had spent over 20 years going broke. I was well trained at a technical school in furniture repair and restoration in a program that lasted 9 months.
One thing I realized is that people buy a "story" as much as they buy a product. In your case I could see your story may include something about the wood, or inlay material. i.e "one of a kind log with unique wood grain, or how you spent 2 months looking for the perfect color of walnut", etc.
With furniture refinishing the story is the memory. The memory of being rocked to sleep in Granny's rocker, eating at Mom's table, the good times they had growing up setting on Grandpa's bench.
After 20 years I was just tired. My market was declining. Throw away furniture is the norm. Very little rock maple furniture being made these days.
One last thing, calculate a shop rate. Include all overhead, those expenses that don't change with your production volume. Then set a reasonable expectation on production time, or billable hours. If you can average 6 hrs of production a day in this business, you are doing well.
Good luck.
I enjoy making boxes. I watch Rob Cosman YouTube videos. From time to time, he has talked about making boxes early in his career as part of his income stream. In one of the videos (don't remember which), he talked about how he needed to reduce the time from 10 hours per box (nicely cut dovetails) to 2 or so hours per box but yet still have that perceived quality of a dovetail. His solution was to use box joints - had the look of a dovetail but the speed of a router. I could see where if you are making boxes, trying to first make the box you like and then distilling it down similar to what Rob Cosman talked about being a general approach. There are also plenty of good books dedicated to small boxes. I'd look at these for design inspiration as a starting point for you then to modify until you have something you can make in a time efficient manner.
In terms of materials, after I joined a local woodworking club, I found that there was lots of good wood to be had for free (both rough sawn and in S3S type configurations). This should help on keeping the material costs down.
Also, this doesn't need to be an all or nothing proposition. Make like 10, try and sell them and see what you learn about making and selling. Dave Ramsey (of Ramsey Solutions) has lots of info on side hustles. Start it while you are still working and see how it goes. As Dave puts it "that way it's a small jump from the dock into the boat." Good luck.
Modern tools like the Shaper Origin, and dovetail jigs could also be a great investment to crank out perfect dovetails quickly and with ease.
I'm doing it for myself or as gifts for friends. I've tried selling it on Facebook a few times, but it didn't fly off the shelves like hotcakes.
My wife saw a turned wooden salt box on line, showed it too me and asked me if I could make one. I said " sure I can make that but this one is $9.95 free shipping with prime"!
I make boxes from time to time. Good scrap wood I keep and then it piles up and I need to create space. There is usually not enough of any one thing to be very useful on a larger project so I will make some boxes. I have sold a few, given a bunch away, made them to stash my own stuff in them. Jewelry boxes, humidors are something you can sell if they are very, very good but your competing with every one from Louie Vuitton to Cost Plus. Who will buy a $800 box? Someone that will spend $100 for a cigar or needs a place to keep their 18 carat diamond ring.
I have a sister that is much older than me. She married a guy when I was about 7 or 8. His parents were Russian immigrants and his father was a professor of German surprisingly or not actually when you think of it. In Russia he had been an adjutant to the Czar. The parents escaped with the loot and gave a bunch of jewelry and such to my sister when she married their son. One of the things she got was a BOX. It was given to the father as a gift from the Czar. It was silver in a sort of classic bombe design. It could have been Faberge I dont know. The Czar was big on Faberge so it could have been. On the lid were mounted 4 eliptical stones red ,blue,yellow and green about the size of my thumb..not my 7 year old thumb but my thumb now! Inside the lid was an etched inscription in cirrilic writing. The inside was tooled leather and gold leaf. It sat on my sister's coffee table and I would play with it when I was visiting, like a toy. I was mesmerized by that box. The marriage didn't last and my sister gave all that stuff back,...clean slate and all. Decades later I'm in the gem room at the Carnegie Museum and there behind a glass display was the BOX!
I have a pretty high standard as a result but I think if you can make a box like that, and you almost have too, you can sell it !
Considering your circumstances and location, it's definitely possible to generate income through woodworking. With the growing tourist route, offering unique handcrafted wood items or providing woodworking classes/workshops could be lucrative. Focus on marketing to tourists and locals alike, showcasing your craftsmanship and catering to their needs and interests. Good luck on your woodworking journey!
I chose to become a professional woodworker about 45 years ago. At that point, I made a decision to look for a few customers needing larger projects, rather than a lot of customers buying little things. I think it has saved me a lot of time on the business end of things. I also chose to only do top quality work, even for things for which I wasn't going to get a lot of money. And I broadened my skills as fast as possible. I figured the only way to make decent money was to have customers who wanted ME to do the project for them. When you do a competitive bid, you are often bidding against others who are going out of business but don't know it yet. Not good for you. I completely relied on happy return customers and word of mouth to generate business. I also ate a lot of rice and beans the first few years, as most of the money I made went right back into the business. And I was consistently "underpriced" on my hourly rate compared to what people thought someone of my abilities "should" get. I could have made lots more per hour putting tools in the back of my truck and working as a trim carpenter in Nashville, the nearest boom town. I chose not to, partly because the increased overhead would have eaten up all the extra income and maybe more. And yes, I could have made a lot more money in my work life if I had sat behind a desk the whole time instead of working in my shop.
There is no way to guarantee success with a woodworking business. Small craft items can be pretty trendy, and time-consuming to sell. Selling thru stores means you only get a fraction of the sale price, often too small a fraction of too small a price (or the item sits in the store for years.) So, I would advise to start small, experiment in as many ways as you can think of, and grow organically from what you discover, rather than having a pre-conception of how to do it.
Apologies for this second post. I had been following the added posts as they came in, but had forgotten and didn't notice that I had posted at the very beginning. And the OP had thanked me for my writing. So some if not all of this latest post is redundant.
Harvey
Thanks and not a problem. I've recently got the hang of working with some very difficult local hardwoods that no one else really touches and the tannin blackening technique. Feeling good about it.
Urns can be boxes, and they are pricy. I made mom's and now I'm on the hook for a few more. At least one denomination of Christians (Catholics) require the ashes to be kept together in a sacred place. The market is there, and it will always be there. People are willing to spend money on this. Just a thought.
That's a fantastic idea. My dog's (I know, not the same as a person's) ashes are in a nice little box.
I can see people spending fortunes on a box urn. They often have payouts specifically dedicated to the funeral and associated services, so the price can be inflated without much care.
Seems morbid to be discussing...lol.
It all seems morbid until you get to the age where half the people you've known are gone. It's the side of life nobody wants to talk about and everyone should.
I fact, last fall I finished a dovetailed walnut box with a sliding top for a man's wife's ashes. Custom work, with a Star of David and a brass plaque on the top. Years ago we made one for a church to use for memorial services. You might be able to make a connection with a place that specializes in cremations.
I basically got orders from friends for their parents. I'm not charging anyone. But it's obvious to me that putting small add in the church bulletin would make an impact. If that isn't enough donit in a second parish next to it. Word will spread.
There is a local higher end jewelry store in which I see some nice locally-made jewelry boxes for sale. That might be a good connection to try.
Just for the fun of it, you might want to look at Matt Kenney's work and that of Ian Hawthorn in the (Hawthorn Fine Boxes). Both make boxes for a living, and represent very different approaches. Ian has a few YT videos on veneer boxes apparently from his early days.
“[Deleted]”
Supply creates its own demand. Building on commission happens later.
Make six of your best boxes and see if you can sell them. I'd configure them as jewelry boxes, but I am not an expert on making smalls and what that market looks like.
I agree with a post above -- don't waste your time bidding against others on jobs, not for fine furniture and other fine woodworking. As that post mentioned, most of the people involved in providing bids are going out of business and don't know it yet, or aren't really in business in the first place, or only build in-between selling woodworking instruction as their main source of income.
A lot of the latter are building and selling not at a profit, but simply to provide marketing material for the job that really pays the bills - running schools or small classes. Yep, they do great work but it's usually done at a very leisurely pace and not within anything that looks like commercially feasible time frames. In other words, you can't spend six months building one project and make a living doing it unless you are off-the-charts 'famous' or living off a trust fund or a spouse's income.
You have to test the market. Make some boxes and urns, rent a table at a local arts/farmers market and see what happens. Put on Etsy, see what happens.
With good pictures, marketing and learning the ins and out of getting hits online, maybe doable.
Pet custom urns would be a thing. Laser etched name, or picture of pet etc.
$18k would be quite a few urns……..!
As a former box maker that progressed from small music boxes to high end jewelry boxes, you can watch my journey here and take away any relevant info you need. https://youtu.be/wcZEdqI3hjw
I grew up in a family owned light const. company and started at 8 yrs old on
jobsites as everyones personal assistant. I wanted to be a builder at 10yrs old and in high school I majored in drafting and for my senior year had 2 hours a day on the large table. This is before computers and I did the blueprints to what was my dream home. Well I then worked at the family business and then spent time in all of the trades so I would be well versed in each one and I had a good handle on it..... at 29 I managed to rupture 2 disc's in my lower back and that was the end of my years of working my tail off to be ready to become that builder. I was told that everything I had done that was physical so far in my life was DONE! they didn't even want me to drive anymore. So after a couple of years I was able to walk around but I to this day have to be careful. I am now 56 and I had my wood shop already when I got hurt so I eased into that and I found out that there is no money in woodworking. I bought a molder and that has went nowhere. I have beat my head against the wall for years trying to find that niche market but I think that people just don't have the money to just spend. I create some hand drawn and cut Suns out of 1/4 plywood. I cannot sell them for what the plywood costs me. I have taken to finding the most detailed plans in one of my many many books and I scale the plan down and build most things at 1/8th scale. I have 1/8th scale Adirondack chairs that you swear are full size..... they are more time consuming and harder to produce due to there size.... its hours on the scroll saw then the disc sander. I made my mother a in and out box that is a miniature pergola. It is very very unique however I would never make any money on all the stuff because the price of the raw materials just kills your bottom end. Now add the saw blades for whatever you choose to use, plus everything else. Sandpaper is not cheap and whatever you finish it with. Now add in the electricity that you use, where are we so far? Now how are you going to pay yourself and how much per hour? How long did it take you? Oh yeah...... do you have any building over head you have to cover? I crammed my entire woodshop into a 1 car garage after I priced what size pole barn I figured I wanted. Well the concrete prices killed that dream. I am actually glad I didn't build it.... thhis little bitty garage might be tight and I have to dust everything after a build but it sure is cheaper to heat than that 32' X 64' barn would have been. I have had to really just give up the whole "I'm gonna work from home" dream due to my my back slowly getting worse and worse. Thanks to Sketchers for the slip in shoes. That was god send for me. I actually considered a cnc router but there again is the endless weekends being a slave to your ego thinking you are going to sell enough wood items to even pay for your gas, the booth space and the biggest one of all is making enough to pay yourself. You won't even make minimum wage. Trust me, I'm good after 35-40 years. But nobody buys stuff like you think they would. If it's priced over $10 bucks it yours. Go look at Hobby Lobby, stuff isn't flying off the shelf at that place....... Sorry for the gloomy look at woodworking but don't ever try to make a living at it unless you have some commercial standing order for each week. Then you are a slave to someone else..... its a catch 22
I spent almost 5 years developing my business with the help of the business consultants. I wrote a business plan and was introduced to a former CEO of a plastic injection molding company that he started in a little bitty building and grew it to a very large company that is one of the biggest employers in our area. I really poured myself into what I felt was the biggest challenge of my life. After all of that effort and spending all that time learning, I was really pumped up and I got everything legal, did all of my LLC license to start and I began to spend time and money doing my initial sales. I was trained by a National insurance company for 2 weeks on how to sell your own grandmother the chair she was already sitting in. Get it? They were just ruthless but I of course toned it down and followed proven sales tactics and after 3 months I called my mentor and he asked to come see him at the marina and we sat down and he told me that it was time to try another business. That was really awful........ So try buying a single head wood molder and try to step into that world. I couldn't provide at least the equivalent to either of the 2 companies that offer screen molding to full staircase kits that have 6 different types of railing and 4 different choices of wood....... Oh yeah, no spiral staircases either.... That was one of the nastiest lessons I ever had to learn. It's a hobby and it should be treated as one unless you become one of the maybe 1/2% of woodworkers that either have been trained at accredited schools and find that lucky break. Where would Norm be without his TV and endorsement deals? It's a great dream and just because I couldn't pull it off doesn't mean you won't. One piece of advice.............. Set a dollar amount that you are willing to spend to try and become a commercial success.... once that number is reached.... just make stuff for you family and have fun...
There was an article in Fine Woodworking about 20 to 25 years ago about an individual who made a living by making wooden bookmarks. I distinctly remember reading it (thought full time woodworking could be a fun thing to do). I seem to recall it had tips about work flow etc that could be useful.
I even found the link to the article. Hope this is helpful.
https://www.finewoodworking.com/2002/10/01/a-life-built-on-bookmarks
My mother did something similar, but painting. She tole painted stuff that would be $10-$30 now, took what would be about $35 an hour in current money for doing it - at a high rate of speed- and sold it in person. Some of the other folks who were running her same circuit made stuff that you wouldn't have to think about your finances to buy in big numbers and repetitively and did well. one of the guys used vintage broom making equipment and made brooms - in huge volume. They sold from his hands in better quality than what you'd get for the same price at home depot, and I'm sure his cost was far higher than the original manufacturer.
the broom maker had a day job and my mother was a teacher in a rust belt state with benefits and a solid accruing pension - she could scrape up 1000 hours of time in a year to do what she did because it was enjoyable to her as a production mode. Figure she spent about 10% of her time coming up with new stuff and figuring out how to paint it fast and the rest of the stuff she painted fast - one by one.
the people who sold complicated expensive stuff did less well. it was neat, but things aren't like they were in 1984 or whatever it was when my mom started. If you're selling boxes, for example, urns are a need and will maybe get spending more than they would have, but local funeral homes are seldom independent and the PE backed groups are probably going to buy stuff from overseas or beat up anyone else to get a barely worth it price for the maker and demand priority and volume.
In 1995, for example, people would go out in the fall for craft shows in areas where the kind of country stuff was palatable and they'd look for gifts. My mother was in the gifty stuff.
She started out trying to do finer art and drawing and pretty much had no takers before she took some classes on tole painting - which was never palatable to me, but it was a great business for her.
Something like that bookmark business would be a great gift, but the fervor was strong in the 1990s for crafts to be made locally. Is it now? Do gift recipients care? In the burbs where I live, I see almost no interest in hand made stuff and people would spend $100 taking their kids to a mediocre restaurant, spend a grand a week for part of the year taking kids to travel club sporting events, and then hesitate to buy a bookmark for $5, even as a gift.
With availability of information, though, there's never been a better time to be a hobbyist. My mother did her thing for 35 years and as time moved on, she made smaller and easier stuff and then age and health kind of closed the door on her.
I've watched a lot of people in her craft circles just about run themselves nuts because they knew better than to quit their day jobs but could just about spend every spare minute that wasn't family obligation time working on their side gig. I've seen several local people here trying to run woodworking businesses and operating at a loss before they pay themselves and plenty of people in forums who either did in the past or while they've been posting file for bankruptcy. if it'll make money, it'll do it without much investment and you can scale up later. My mother rolled up right around the 7 figure tipping point over 35 years and never overextended herself on anything - not premises, not materials, not anything. I'd ask myself if I were anyone on here looking to start a business and spend first before having the revenue stream to match the spending "what makes me so special that i'm going to beat the odds, and I can't wait to do it?".
The answer is probably nothing. it's definitely nothing for me.
Thanks for sharing this.
Couple additional insights.
* Most of the "stores" that will take your work on consignment either want 50% of the selling price or want you to pay a monthly fee regardless of whether anything sells. Many will have sales people that won't take any time to learn what you make or aren't interested.
* If you search the noted woodworkers on FWW you find they teach classes many weeks of the year to make up for the limited market of their high end quality woodwork.
As mentioned above go to your local markets or art fairs of handmade items (don't focus on what you want to make) and just watch the customers for what attracts them and what goes through the sales point. You want to get an idea of what the market is inclined to buy. (You will be surprised that the main item is the caramel corn.)
Selling direct, unless it is a well known art fair, usually needs to be priced for the people attending "casual" money and probably not what your product is truly worth.
Charity auctions are a great example of what garbage people will spend money on. I made a round solid cherry table with a shelf. Nice piece. It fetched $195. Not even covering the most of materials. I didn't put a reserve on it. I'm not out anything but REALLY thought it would fetch a pretty penny for the school after watch food gift baskets go for more than $200. SURELY people will spend money on a table they can pass down to multiple generations. Nope. Popcorn. People want popcorn.
Yea, I’ve made a few pieces for those auctions putting in about 20 hours of work and gotten about the same sales price. Only saving grace is person who won one was super excited about it, thanked me that year, and when she saw me at next years auction (I didn’t make it again) she thanked me again. The first one I made, I was so upset at how little it sold for, I didn’t even mention to the winner I was the one who made it when we were in line next to each other as we were leaving. I did however see a Maloof inspired rocker go for $3,000. It was initially put on a silent auction and I and about five others wanted it. After a few rounds of back and forth I just marked the top bid $300 on the silent auction list knowing the wood cost more. Given the excitement, that item then went to live auction and really was a fun one to watch. I stopped bidding at around $2,000 figuring at that price, I could instead get one of the various weekend getaway trips and take my whole family and my friend’s family.
Same experience at charity a auction. Made a very nice Stickly table, QS white oak, went for $50. Never again.
Ouch. It's insulting.
Making a living at woodworking is difficult, even when you need to only generate a relatively small amount of profit. This becomes easier if you have a unique type of project that isn't produced in large numbers by others.
The problem with selling finer woodworking products is that the public who is interested in buying is not interested in paying what a high quality fine woodworking piece is worth; at least not in high volume numbers. So, if your product is unique, you will have a much easier time establishing yourself (assuming it's a piece that is artistic in some way or very useful in everyday life.
People love to look at fine woodworking pieces, whether they are art oriented or functional. They aren't nearly as willing to pay what they are worth.
The other end is the actual selling process. Shows? Online via a website? Instagram? Facebook? Etsy? Many places to sell, but there is again the starting period where your products must become known and liked and in demand in high enough volume to produce a profit.
There are a lot of expenses in production and selling and the required price to make any money is sometimes a barrier to selling.
Good luck. I know of very few, if any, who would live their lives any other way once they have started and established themselves.
"Given your low financial needs and unique location, generating $18k a year through woodworking in a growing tourist area seems quite feasible."
Reading a couple later comments had me remember what a regional woodworker told me. They made a quality table top tea box with drawers for tea bags, spoons and strainer plus room for 6 cups made by another artisan. They then gave it to a community art gallery gratis for use by workers or patrons, but not to be sold. They made another quality display box with drawers made to hold wrist watches (pillows) and gave that to a local jeweler gratis, again with stipulation it not be sold. After a month he started getting commissions to make similar items and ones for other uses or collections. Being commissions his pricing quotes made it profitable. Then over a year his clientele increased due to word of mouth from peers of the first customers. The key was positioning the items in circumstances where people appreciated quality craftsmanship and most likely to understand the cost of such.
I talked with a local potter who started her business part-time, with ambitions of making it a full time gig. She told me that she got a grant from the local (city) government which she used to create her website and to get her business started. Perhaps your local government might offer something similar to help you.