Thread: Market study/New frame options??

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Ok, you asked. It certainly is a very nice, well done frame, but marketing something like this and actually making a buck at it is something else. Have you figured how much you have in materials and time? I would bet it is pretty substantial. Question is, can you mark that up enough to make a reasonable profit to make it worth your time and effort, and would that figure be something that was competitive with what some existing shops are now charging for a similar product?

We've had people ask us to do frames for them, and recently I sold an extra frame I had on Ebay to get some room in the shop. While the ad ran I had about 7 people ask if we could build a frame for them, and one shop asked if we could build several for them to sell. While it is flattering, the reality is we couldn't charge enough to make even minimum wage for the time we invest. As you probably know from doing your nice frame, it takes a whole lot of time and work to put one of these together. Can you get someone to pay you enough so that you make a REASONABLE profit.

I've looked at this myself to simply help pay for our substantial shop rent every month. Right now it doesn't make us a dime and costs us a whole bunch every month.

Not trying to throw a wet blanket on your idea, but I don't see how small operators like you and me can compete with the big guys who are geared up with the equipment to crank these out in large numbers. You would be competing against people like Morrison who probably buy stamped brackets by the thousands. Just my opinion.

Don