How much can I sell hand made pedals for?

[tddy934]

Hello, I'm trying to start making some extra money for a few things my friend and I need for an experimental band we are starting and I figured a good way to do this would be to make some pedals and sell the on ebay.
I'm curious how much I can make for them.
I thinking of building and selling a:
Dr. Boogie Distortion
Tube Screamer
and a Guitar to midi monophonic converter

Hopw much could I sell these for, individually?
Also, what would be some other pedals I can make and then sell for a profit.
-Thanks

[Mark Hammer]

Seriously, if you're trying to make money, find another line of work or a different product. First off, do you have ALL the tools you will need?  Do you have a drill press, an area where you can have a spray booth that won and signal generator?  Would you have enough of a steady clientele to justify buying the tools and inventory?

More importantly, do you have the chops to debug and repair all these things on your own?

Is it a great hobby?  You bet.  Are there people who are willing to defray the costs of your hobby by buying a pedal off you now and then?  Sure.  Is it still possible that with the 808+ versions of a Tube Screamer out there (many of them sold at prices you can't possibly compete with), somebody local may want to buy one off you?  I suppose.  Could you maybe make $500 selling a bunch of pedals this year, or maybe even enough to buy yourself another guitar or amp?  Probably.  But that's entirely different than planning around pedal-building as a steady revenue stream that extends across several years.  This is NOT the sort of thing you can depend on unless you are 100% committed to doing it and either a) are going to do it for all your income and tool up appropriately, or b) don't really care if you make money at it or not.

Take note that as I write this, the counter in the upper right hand corner indicates we have 17,164 members.  Many of them are existing builders who have captured a market, and there are many more builders out there who are NOT on this forum or even lurking.  Go to musictoyz.com and pedalgeek.com and just take a look at how many pedals there are out there from small builders.

[23]

I build some kits for people and a couple of one offs.....never made more than $30 more than what I spent on the kit... built a monster TS Lab.. all the mods, switches galore, boost etc... asking $200..........and........... I still got it.. its great for people who are wanting a modded TS and dont know exactly what they want... they borrow it for a couple days and then know........... anyway do what you want man.

s

[sean k]

Whats that thing they say about luck... something about opportunity meeting a prepared mind?

I say push your luck, make it work for you... sometimes you'll just learn how unprepared you are when an oppotunity comes along... or maybe you'' be prepared but hadn't had your head up long enough to see the opportunity... either way, as Alanis Morrisette sings, you learn!

I've come to realise, and I may still be wrong, that being able to sell things is about giving people what they want but having them come back for more is about being able to realise what they need and hiding it under what they wanted... so when they realise what they wanted was just a mirage... you've still been able to give them what they needed.

Shiny paint and chrome is the mirage that gets them signing cheques but reliability and performance will bring them back.

And Ebay, thats an area that people are going to be discertations about in years to come, maybe already are, because the rules are different there. You may be selling something people have an awareness of already but if they haven't then your selling a picture and a story.

And some of the stuff thats sold on those places that has been utter junk but the story has turned it into gold! You gotta be a conman, confidence trickster, able to pull rabbits outta hats, to get on peoples watchlists... but for your own personnal integrity... you gotta have the goods, you gotta have those chops down.

Gold plated bronze...

[danielzink]

I don't want to bring anyone down - just make sure what you're doing/building isn't gonna get you chewed out/flamed here or on some other board.

also - go up to the top and go to search and type in: another flower blooms

Dan

[Mark Hammer]

I think e-bay has muddied the waters in this regard.

Were it 1985, anyone having tddy934's thoughts would ponder whether there was enough sales potential in their local market to get started, and whether they had enough investable capital to be able to market to other regions, and maybe go to a trade show to set up a distribution arrangement.

Enter e-bay, and easy-to-make web pages, and now everybody who can knit a pair of mittens sees themselves as being able to sell their hand-knit mittens world-wide, neglecting the fact that there are literally tens of thousands of others doing the same thing, that machine-made mittens from China can be sold for a profit at the dollar store (where everything is a dollar), that only a small proportion of the world's population actually needs or wants mittens, and that when they add up the time it takes to knit a pair and the money for the wool, they will make about $0.83/hr.

EVERY gambler thinks they can beat the house.  The reality is that some do, yes, but in between those "some" are a great great many others who can't.

The OP asked about three specific things he'd like to build and sell.  Two have limited sales potential because few really know what they are or how to use them, and the third is as common as table salt.  Like I say, I have little doubt that he could make $500 this year selling his pedals for a fair price (or maybe even a price that is a little inflated, so as to make the product seem better to the buyer), but what needs to be considered is just how much choice is available at ridiculously low cost to those very same buyers through that very same e-bay.  I think if he adjusts his sights to think of sales as simply subsidizing what can, at times, be a costly hobby, he'll be more content with his choice.

[earthtonesaudio]

I think the OP answered his own question.  "How much can I sell these for" is equal to "how much will someone pay for one," and the answer to that question can be found easily on Ebay.

[modsquad]

Not again...Does no one use the search button.   Okay I'm cranky today.

[ryanuk]

I think you woudl need to be really committed to this activity; there a plenty of builders with sufficient demand but not enough resource to turn thme around with the profit margin. (Check the forums - some BIG names can be found pouring their hearts out explaining 1 year waiting lists!)

I've built several pedals for folks and I'm always being prompted to set of a webpage or list stuff on ebay, but building pedals is a labour of love. (I dont have a laser printer so it takes me about an hour to manuafcture a PCB!!!) To make any maney you'd have to go full time and build in quantity - however without the right tools and supply chain it would take hours and cost loads.

Lastly selling other peoples designs on ebay would infringe their IP rights and may land you in trouble.

RyUK

[23]

Look around at your local music scene... that where i moved most of my builds. Alot of the kids are broke and you can give them the pedal they want and they can afford it. Ive never sold anything on ebay..... just be sure you can trouble shoot and repair if they come back

[Paul Marossy]

All I can say is good luck. You will need it.

[Mark Hammer]

I think the OP answered his own question.  "How much can I sell these for" is equal to "how much will someone pay for one," and the answer to that question can be found easily on Ebay.

Yes and no.  The prices you run into there can be misleading.  Somewhere out there is a customer who will pay $400 for a guitar knob on e-bay, but that doesn't make it "worth" $400.  Somewhere out there is a person who sold a vintage Uni-Vibe for $40 (I bought my vintage Bassman for $30!!), but that doesn't make it "worth" $40.  I see the same items listed for the same outrageous price in the same stores in Vintage Guitar for several years running.  Is that what it's "worth"?  Apparently not, or else it would have sold by now.  But people see the listed price, don't keep track of the ad over time, and mistakenly assign that value to that item.  My sense is that too many people set their expectations of worth based on too few instances observed on e-bay rather than any really broad sampling of asking/paid prices for a broad-enough sample of comparables.

As many home-owners have found, you can ask any price you want....if you're willing to wait.  The challenge is nailing down a value when you're NOT willing to wait.

[fpaul]

It amazes me that people keep asking this question and that the same people immediately pounce in to crush their dreams.  80-90% of businesses fail.  10-20% succeed.  It's dog eat dog in ALL business. Get over it.

[electrosonic]

In this month's Guitar Player magazine, they review the new budget line on Visual Sound pedals. They are all priced at $69. Solid looking, well made. I think it is pretty hard for a home builder to compete with that, unless you are offering something unique, that people are will to pay extra for.


Andrew.

[petemoore]

  All the little niches are either being smoothed over or filled.
  Overstatement ? maybe, point is easier to make and add caveats to sometimes, more often these days peoples average experience [whether gleaned from using 15 - 250 dollar pedals or just reading this post] and understanding about pedals is better than ever before, this probably helps drive prices lower.
  A few years ago I read here how there is a glut market, everyone and their monkey contributing to the # of little-guy pedals available online.
  The economy is picking up [you read it, say it aloud now to make it true].
  I tend to look at the speaker and amp as a first, and the hard issue...most of these kids would buy a 'power booster' pedal for thier amp that doesn't go loud enough...a niche market which I've had the opportunity to smooth over as opposed to fill. Just turn the amp up, then try to see if you can get something 'more' by pre-boosting.
   Here's an expample [one of plenty]: the wise sells to the unwise...
  "This booster can transform your amp" [no real untruth here].
  "It can allow you to boost volume with click of switch" [any good booster does this]
  "Allowing you bring lead guitar out in the mix {possibly true}.
  "Makes your set up sound like X's" [misleading and almost always untrue].

   Kids with amps that won't crank loud enough and sound nasty when the try are perfect candidates for a ''power booster'' pedal sale.
  I'm not sure I'd want to hear the sounds made with the PB, or read the scathing reviews either.
  Scatthing reviews abound on the net, "Power boost'' sales to those with less than optimal of super overrated power supplies may notice the amp "This  pedal makes a terrible soundl}.
  speakers make sounds.

[Paul Marossy]

It amazes me that people keep asking this question and that the same people immediately pounce in to crush their dreams.  80-90% of businesses fail.  10-20% succeed.  It's dog eat dog in ALL business. Get over it.

I'm not trying to crush anyone's dreams, I'm just living in the real world dude. Some us (like myself) are doing this for a living, but building for other people who have successful businesses. I know what it takes from a production point of view. I actually would like to start my own business, but I am a nobody with no reputation. That's the biggest hurdle, getting started. I have no doubt that I could offer at least a couple of useful things that are not just another Tube Screamer clone, but who is going to buy them from an unknown nobody without some big name making mention of your pedal that you built them or some kind of "lucky break" like Guitar Player magazine finding your pedal interesting?

In this month's Guitar Player magazine, they review the new budget line on Visual Sound pedals. They are all priced at $69. Solid looking, well made. I think it is pretty hard for a home builder to compete with that, unless you are offering something unique, that people are will to pay extra for.

And that is precisely why you need to have something special that everyone wants to even compete with that. Otherwise, people will think you have an over priced product that is nothing special. They won't sell, unless you are someone very well recognized. But that has limitations, too, especially in this worst economic climate I have ever seen since I have been alive.

[DougH]

I thinking of building and selling a:
Dr. Boogie Distortion
Tube Screamer
and a Guitar to midi monophonic converter

Hopw much could I sell these for, individually?

$29.95
$1499.99
$49.95


To be honest- interesting pedals have become so plentiful and cheap, I rarely get the enthusiasm to even build stuff for myself anymore. Let alone "tooling up" to be the next Stompbox Idol hopeful...

(Not to mention, I have so many pedals now that I rarely use, and amps that I'm so satisfied with. I've put the soldering iron down except for an occasional tweak, and have gotten back to some serious woodshedding with my guitar. But that's a different story...) <yawn...>

[Philippe]

It amazes me that people keep asking this question and that the same people immediately pounce in to crush their dreams.  80-90% of businesses fail.  10-20% succeed.  It's dog eat dog in ALL business. Get over it.

The 'same people' are simply trying to say...be realistic. Probablity & possibility are two remotely different elements that have to be taken into serious consideration before embarking on just about any venture/idea/dream.

[DougH]

Well the OP did say he wanted to just "make some extra money for a few things". I don't think he's planning on quitting his day job tomorrow and betting the farm on this. I'd guess what he wants to do is attainable. But I would start with local people he knows and get some word-of-mouth stuff going. This would work better than being yet another new and anonymous pedal builder on ebay.

[Skruffyhound]

Probably not news to anyone, but using the advanced search functions on Ebay allowes you to see the prices payed for sold items, which as Mark suggests is a more reliable guide.
My advice? Be aware of all the above and then go for it anyway. It's a good feeling having someone buy something you made yourself. Face to face sales are the best. Make quality though and believe in what you make, then it's easy to sell, people can see from the look on your face that they are getting something worthwhile, and they will pay good money for unique, handmade and beautiful, on top of just  functional.