Advise for selling Sight Unseen

Greenberg Woods

Greenberg Woods

Joined
Dec 27, 2013
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2,696
Hey Guys, I finally recived a package I shipped to myself, A box full of beautiful pieces of Mexican Kingwood "My all time favorite wood"

I plan on selling this wood as "sight unseen" That is to say, you would not be selecting a specific block to receive. The wood has a highly variable appearance, which I have grouped into 3 major types "known as violet, Golden and Red" and will have photos of.


I plan on adding a line to the effect of "feel free to request blocks of a specific color, and I will try my best to select blocks that meet your needs" And then using my knowledge of the wood to select pieces based on customer request


Is there anything else I am missing here? I have photos of very representative blocks "Not just the cream of the crop" and doing this is certainly helping me keep the cost below what I would charge selling these as listed blocks "savings of 5-8 dollars per piece"

I welcome any advise. Thank you
 
I have purchased sight unseen blocks before. There was an example picture of what to expect in general. Also, the prices were heavily discounted.

I think large discounts would be the best way to entice people to buy sight unseen, especially if you trying to unload lots of wood.
 
I would probably buy if they were moderately priced. Kinda like putting 3 buck in a slot machine.
 
I buy sight unseen blocks when I feel the price is reasonable.
I am a new maker so my judgement is likely not on par with others.

Justin
 
Not having much experience buying wood, the cost would definitely have to reflect not seing the actual piece I'm purchasing. I'm not saying loose money on it but the only way I'd buy it would be to have a fair price. I have a fair bit of wood on hand thanks to another member, but after this last knife I'm making will be using a lot more wood over made materials.
 
Ben, if you stated that it was good wood overall, I would try an order or two.

That is all!
 
Greenberg Woods said:
I am completely confident in this wood. It is my favorite wood to use on my own knives, and always my first suggestion for clients.
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While it's nice to have your word on the quality, I would have to see a significant savings on my end to buy it sight unseen. If you are putting less work into the finishing and photographs, then it should cost you and the customer less.

If a block was regularly $40, I would expect more than just a $5 discount for buying it sight unseen.

Your pictures of late have been very good. They are clear and show the grain very well. I'm just curious, but why are you changing your way of selling blocks?
 
Most of the wood I sell on my site includes a picture of each block. I do sell some blocks as bulk, cherry, walnut, figured maple and a few others. These blocks are considerably cheaper than other blocks, and figure from one block to the next is similar. I wouldn't ever consider buying a figured wood sight-unseen. Just my .02
 
S.Alexander said:
While it's nice to have your word on the quality, I would have to see a significant savings on my end to buy it sight unseen. If you are putting less work into the finishing and photographs, then it should cost you and the customer less.

If a block was regularly $40, I would expect more than just a $5 discount for buying it sight unseen.

Your pictures of late have been very good. They are clear and show the grain very well. I'm just curious, but why are you changing your way of selling blocks?
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Because beyond just the labor that goes into surfacing each block, polishing, spraying, buffing, photographing and listing each block I also have to keep track of it. As a college student who goes back and forth it can be difficult. By selling sigh unseen at athe least a known level of quality I can ship from my dorm or my house and don't have to worry about refunding orders for missing blocks.

I'm in no way giving up on specific blocks, and in fact plan to post many more amazing blocks, but I think it could help me to not have to keep track of as many pieces.
 
There is nothing unusual about buying wood sight unseen. If you order blocks or scales from a supplier they just take one off the shelf and send it to you. If you don't like it, you send it back for a replacement. Most of the time the item you receive is fine.

The best way to do what you want is to sell it in bundles. Show a group of ten blocks in the photo. Sell it in bundles of 3, 5 or 10 blocks. State that the bundles are all similar to the example photo. Guarantee satisfaction or you will replace them if returned. Make the price good and you will have no problems.
 
I would have to get a very large discount and buy from a reputable supplier in order to motivate me to do so. $5/block wouldn't be enough to make me jump. Something like a small batch of 10-20 blocks in a given wood at 1/2 price may make me take the jump.

That said, I really prefer to see exactly what I'm getting. I try to buy only what I need to complete orders and sometimes handle size and shape play a big role in what wood I pick up. If I see grain lines that are going to look weird, I pass. If there are pockets of plain wood with burl in all the right places, I'll pick up the cheaper partially figured block over one that is 100% burl just to throw away 1/3 of the cutoff from it. Also, sometimes I look for pieces with straight grain that flows with my handle profile shapes and its good to see that.
 
My perspective is this: If I were making runs of knives in groups of 10, 20 or more and they were just knives I knocked out quickly and the quality wasn't on par with what I can give an individual knife made one at a time with full attention to all details, I would consider buying in bulk.
But this isn't how I make knives. I make them one or two at a time and pay attention to every line and detail. So I would never consider a random piece of wood for my work.
I wouldn't be your market, but there may very well be a good market for you.

Try it out. There may be a sweet spot in the market for this method.
 
In general, I'm looking for unique pieces so I like to pick stuff individually. That's one reason I don't buy in bulk or sight unseen. In addition I don't make them that fast and I don't have storage space to have lots of extra wood laying around.
 
Good question Ben and reaching out to your customers, but as you can see ,everyone is different. You have sent me sight unseen wood when the price is right and I'm fine with it


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I have purchased wood sight unseen and am happy with what I got - but the price did reflect buying with that method. Problem I've got a good bit of wood on hand and don't make that many knives.

With sufficient discount, I'm happy with sight unseen.

Ken H>
 
I would never buy wood handle material sight unseen. A lot of times the handle is what sells the piece. And I'm just picky.
 
Greenberg Woods said:
Because beyond just the labor that goes into surfacing each block, polishing, spraying, buffing, photographing and listing each block I also have to keep track of it. As a college student who goes back and forth it can be difficult. By selling sigh unseen at athe least a known level of quality I can ship from my dorm or my house and don't have to worry about refunding orders for missing blocks.

I'm in no way giving up on specific blocks, and in fact plan to post many more amazing blocks, but I think it could help me to not have to keep track of as many pieces.
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That makes sense. I guess it would give you more time to focus on your studies.

I also like Stacy's idea of selling them in lots as well. Take a single picture of everything.

Good luck this year in school.
 
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