I made 16 shepherd hooks for my wedding now the wedding is over and I want to sell these I have almost 100 dollars in materials they are made from 5/8 round stock. I can't seem to get anyone to buy them what are your guys opinion on what they are worth or how to sell them. Thanks

Those look a bit short, and are missing the extra piece for support as a foot that most have. The plant holder ends also are a bit on the "clunky" side since they aren't tapered and just whacked off the base stock diameter. I've found shepherds crooks to be a tough sale. Between time and materials it's tough to price them at a reasonable price and compete with the $15-20 ones made in China that every hardware store or garden center is selling. It doesn't seem to matter that yours are stiffer and stronger and won't bend compared to the cheap 1/4" or 3/8" ones the stores sell, people simply remember the cheap store price.

The few I've sold were either custom ordered by specific customers who knew up front about the added costs, but were tired of the cheap ones always failing, or they were highly decorative.

If it had been me, I might have given the crooks away as presents or gifts to the wedding guests. Usually the MC at the reception usually wants to play some party games and give away something like the centerpieces on the tables or such. The crooks would have been good for that. They would also have been cheap "advertising" of what you can do with your skills that might have brought you some other work from people or their friends who saw them.

Option 2 would be to "finish" them by adding leaves and vines or other decorations to help them stand out from other store bought items. If I was going to sell these at a fair, I'd buy one of the cheapest flimsiest store bought ones and two identical hanging plants ( heavy ones). I'd put my crook side by side with the store bought one with plants on each and good signage asking customers which crook they'd prefer to have their plants on....  The quality difference would be very clear and help explain the added costs.

Lets see here you have a hair over $6 in material if my math is holding true in todays world, if you add $6  for labor you are at $12.  Seeing as you have used them at your wedding they are now USED Items and hence not NEW items for selling purposes.  What can you buy them for in a box store?  Yes yours are hand made BUT the Humming Birds care less as do the vast numbers of purchasers.   Next big question is do you want to be rid of them or want to store some till they do sell?  You might rent them to other couples for weddings or parties. 

Good Luck

 

 

got some in my place at the moment that minion made for a wedding next saturday, top is drawn out and scrolley, they are 7 foot tall to hang some lanterns on and made from 1/2" round, dont know the price

DO  NOT build a box by calling them shepherd hooks. You have some bent 5/8 inch stock so use it as you would any other bent stock. Straighten it out and reuse the stock. Oh darn, the stock is too short, then weld it back together.

Cut the crook off and weld it back onto a single post and have a 2 or 3 crook stand. The straight stock can then go back into the stock rack. This can also be welded to make a tired hook at different heights.

No one said you had to have the big circle at the top. Cut the hook off and nail it to the wall hook down to make a storage rack for stock in the shop.

Use them as plant stakes, or to hold up a fence to allow veggies to grow against the fence. Put two into the ground and span the distance with a bar to make a tomato or cucumber trellis to keep the vines and fruit off the ground.

DO NOT build a box, that way you do not have to think outside the box. ALL options can then be considered.

Mr. Austin,

What alloy are they? 1020? 1040?

I might be interested in them for the right price.

I am in St. Louis, Mo.

P.M. me. please with a reasonable offer.

SLAG.

Who in your Area arranges Weddings? Talk to them, Rent them for $$$???? per weekend.

Neil

Phone a few wedding planners?  All for keeping them out of that box thing mentioned though 

makes some tongs?

I agree with Glenn, you shouldn't confine them to one particular use.  It occurs to me that there's a bit of an urban trend making a "wall garden" with little trays hanging at an angle off the wall.

https://www.google.com/search?q=wall+garden&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8

Lots of gardeners have a fence that gets hit by the sun, but they might be reluctant to run drills and install sufficient hardware to support something like this.  You could re-form the hooks to hang off the top rail of a fence, then bend around to support the box 'O trays.

Something like a trammel hook arrangement may allow the user to adjust  height accordingly.

Alternately, you might consider bending them to hang off a 2x lumber with a crotch to support a bicycle wheel so someone could hang their bike of their garage trusses.

 

On 6/12/2016 at 0:04 PM, Glenn said:

DO NOT build a box, that way you do not have to think outside the box. ALL options can then be considered.

What is half of eight ?  Most people will say 4 from the days of the school room (box).

For those that do not build a box or live in a box, the answer is 3 if you cut 8 in half N to S.  If you cut 8 in half E to W the answer would be 0.

All three answers would / could be correct depending on your mindset at the time of the question.

 

 

That's a pretty interesting way of looking at it Glenn

Careful, Glenn will make your brain hurt...

There was a day when I had a couple of spare shepherds crooks so I rustled these up!