Billy stopped in to tell me I'm the official size ..of Austin Texas :o/ He had previously measured my waist (so embarrassing) to make a belt for a shop there. Well they said it was perfect and ordered 400. Yes 400!! in my size. He sells these things for $80 a piece! THEY sell them for $120! Dude takes the side of a cow, cuts strips, bends copper wire to resemble a buckle, pokes a few holes and splatters paint on a few of them. Done. No stitching, no design.. etc. He will have all 500 done in less then a week. Unbelievable!
He said the reason they sell for that price is the story behind them. He went out in the Little Pigeon river and had his woman take pictures of him wading in the water, pounding metal against a rock. Then he went to NY and sold himself as "the TN hilbilly" Spread that photo around, rented a $700/night suite for two nights & threw moonshine parties in the evenings. Those New Yorkers had never had moonshine before, so he was INSTANTLY the coolest guy in town. At that show he took enough orders to set him for the rest of the year. Now! There was a film crew here the other day, who met him in NY, they filmed his shop and went to his home. He said he was running around trying to clean up and they told him not to. They took shots of a rusted car in his back yard, empty beer cans etc. Made him out to be 'the hilbilly' he has advertised himself as. Now he's gonna be on TV and is WORRIED about ALL THE ORDERS he'll get! What a problem to have!!
Now, I've come to realize I am more 'proud' then I have allowed myself to believe in the past. I could NEVER do that. Be the dirty hillbilly! No way!! AND....... I take pride in the art I create. I would LOVE to have an item that we could complete in a matter of minutes and sell mass quantities for crazy prices. Hell, if I had that, we may not need this store!! BUT, we started this for the love of the art. The satisfaction taken from being able to do things others can't and the quality and beauty and absolute perfection in the finished piece.. <warm fuzzy feeling> I have trouble with the thought of throwing something together that I know anyone could do. But when you break it down, we sell a chair for $2,500 and are still making minimum wage or LESS hourly. This guy makes like $2-300/ hour! Dude is making a killing!!!
This has made me actually consider finding something we could mass produce, sell it wholesale like he does, and have this business on the side. Then maybe our art will be 'fun' again....... it's become 'a JOB' and neither of us are as excited about it as we used to be. My only concern would be adding something else to my plate. I already run my home, this shop, an online store, and Etsy. To add wholesaling........ *sigh* BUT, it has the potential to make us TONS of money if done correctly. I could FINALLY get my JEEP!! ((4 door JK! Green with Warn bumpers and swing away carrier, Cepek wheels (chrome AND black), Mickey T's, Sky Jacker lift (just 4") and the half doors with the metal frame & like 35 pockets!!)) Oooooh one fine day.....
Like I need something else to wrap my head around..... but if I could swallow a bit of my pride, this could possibly be a good idea.... worth thinking about anyway.
Back to work. Count down to huggin my Momma T- 3 days!! :o) Dancing with daddy in 4! <3 CAN'T WAIT!!!!!!!!!
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