Cheaper And Better

A gallery in Reston, Virginia contacted me recently to talk about purchasing wholesale… They were very excited about some of my furniture, but weren't really sure they could move the work at the prices I needed to get in order to make things practical on my end.

Since almost all the cost of the work they were interested in was labor, I was a bit stymied. Sure, I can work below minimum wage if I want to, but I can't pay the bills if I do so. We both wanted to do business, but I had to find a way that we could both meet the costs of doing that business. Basically, I had to come up with a way to cut labor costs without sacrificing quality.

Well, it worked! I realized that by using a higher grade of steel and raising the cost of materials about 30% I could cut out almost all of the finishing work which is often more labor intensive than building a piece. So I've been able to drop the prices significantly on most furniture and some of the sculpture as well. Mosaic, unique sculptures, and  commission work that draws largely from recycled material will not see any price drops, but this is still a great opportunity to buy work at reduced prices. The cold rolled steel that I will be using in the future is not only better looking than hot rolled steel, it is also stronger. So dropping the price has actually led to an increase in the quality of work. How often does that happen!

So, regardless of what else happens, I owe a big Thank You to Jay & Sharyn for the interest that led to this discovery.