I made a mission style lamp for our front porch. Friends and relatives have commented that I should make them to sell. So I had a mahagony board out in the shop and the next thing I know I’ve got 6 lamps in the last stages of completion. My problem is I don’t know where to sell them. Is there a site that sells on a commision or something other than Ebay. Any help would be appreciated.
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Replies
My recommendation is to find a fine crafts store in your area that will sell on consignment. I have one that I use and it has been a good outlet for my work although a lot of these types of items are slow movers. I have taken several commisions from people that have seen my work in her store.
Tom
Douglasville, GA
Are they UL listed?
No . Is that something I should consider?
You can't afford to get them UL listed. Just be sure to use electrical components that are UL listed.
You are not allowed to do that.
George, I don't understand your comment. One is not allowed to use components that are UL listed?
I read that as meaning you can't sell a lamp that's not UL listed, even if all the electrical components are UL listed. I don't believe that's true, certainly not true nationwide, but I think that's what he meant.
Edited 3/18/2004 5:49 pm ET by Uncle Dunc
Come on George explain why I can't. I used a UL Listed socket that had two screws for wire hookups. I used 14 gage wire and there is no ground. I could not find a socket with a ground screw. I talked to a experienced electrician and he said he had no problem with my setup. My lamps are exterior lamps for damp locations only. Not wet locations.
UL tests an appliance as a whole. Just because you use UL-approved components does not mean the item as a whole will pass. Your lamps are most likely perfectly safe, but insurance is the main issue. If you sell one and it does cause a fire, you get sued. If it was UL-approved, you have a little backstop. If not, you have no defense at all. It's perfectly legal to sell items that are not approved. If you get big and try to get liability insurance, the carrier will get very concerned if you're selling non-approved appliances. Some places, like schools, have rules that do not permit buying anything that isn't approved. For home use, pretty much anything goes.
The middle-of-the-road approach, which is what I do, is use an unmodified UL-approved light fixture inside my lamp. So, the socket, cord and switch are approved as a unit. The fixture just hangs inside. The sort of light you use for auto repairs works, as do packaged units made to convert bottles into lamps. I make the lamp and the end user unwraps the fixture and stuffs it inside the lamp. No guarantee that enclosing the fixture like that won't cause a fire. The fixture is not approved for use in that context. But, at least you can say you used a UL-approved assembly and only made a box around it. The electrical shock part is probably covered, but not the fire issue. To be a little more sure, put the biggest bulb you can find inside and run the lamp for a week or two. If it doesn't start on fire or melt, good. Then put a sticker inside saying not to use a bulb bigger than maybe a quarter of the size you tested it with. Fluorescents are good since they don't get very hot.
To build electrical equipment for resale (that includes light fixtures) requires some type of certification for your shop. (I don't know the process.)
Bob gives a reasonable approach - you buy complete electrical assemblies and build around them.
Thanks to everybody for the help. I still need some way to access buyers I think I'll check into the liability part first. I don't want to burn down somebody's house. Again thanks for your help.
I'm curious about the whole UL thing. I used to re-wire old floor lamps to resell, so making lamps is a natural thing to consider, but I don't know what the deal is with regard to the electrical components and the lamp(s) being OK to sell.forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)Another proud member of the "I Rocked With ToolDoc Club" .... :>)
It costs thousands to have a device run through the UL process, so it's not cost effective for a small run. If you use components that are UL listed (switches, sockets, cord, etc.)then at least if you get sued because the lamp catches fire you have a defense. Most electrical components these days are UL listed, but there are still some out there that aren't.
Worked for a place that did custom ceiling lamps amongst other custom metalwork. We were only registered for hardwired ceiling lamps and small table type lamps. We had a special tester you have send in each year for recalibration. Pretty expensive to sign up for UL approval. Not sure how much but the word was we were not going to renew based on the small volume of lamps we did from previous years. Definitely a liability issue in regards to fire and such.. If one of your lamps was suspected as the source of the fire I think it could get pretty expensive.
You may need to get a Retail tax ID/license to collect payment and sales tax for your lamps. I once made 50 copies of a plant stand design and 10 of a craftsman-style hanging lamp design for sale at an arts-and-crafts fair. I had to pay for the booth and set up a display, stay at the booth and sell for the entire time the fair was open, collect and report and pay the sales tax back to the state, and then figure out what to do with the stuff I hadn't sold. 50 plant stands sold. One lamp did. Would you like to buy a nice lamp? I was sure glad I'd brought plant stands to sell.
My point? You might be better off just taking a nice picture and placing an ad with it in your local newspaper (preferrably when they create a Home Improvement section or themed issue). Thousand of people will see the ad, and they WON'T see all the other products competing against it like they would in a builder's store, or a craft fair, or the consignment shop. Be sure responders can reach you on their first try, and you may be shocked at how many calls come in. Include in the ad that the lamps are signed, numbered, and of limited quantity/production and you might double what you thought you could sell them for.
Hope that helps. Good luck.
4DThinker
Edited 3/17/2004 11:22 pm ET by 4DTHINKER
Hammerelbow,
My wife and I in the process of doing exactly what you propose. Our lamps are mission/craftsman/prarrie style ( 2 different designs) with stained glass shades. Our outlets will be several of the high-end glass shops, decorators and furniture stores that carry Stickley and similar high-end furnichure. I have "shopped" both models around and have several agreements in place. For the decorators, we are preparing a nice brochure to mail out. Eventually, we will establish a web site but you can only do so much so fast. We will probably buy some display ads in our metropolitian paper after we see how actual sales are, or are not, going. Good luck.
Doug
I would advise great caution when it comes to manufacturing lamps.In the Uk it is even dodgy to sell used electrical appliences in a yard sale.In some parts of Canada you can get the lamps inspected and a special sticker applied to each lamp inspected.This cost was ,some years ago over $100 for the first 1/2 hr and the same for each hour of the inspectors time!Lee Valley were selling the hardware and I remember some gymnastics over that (Maybe Rob L will read this)One thing you could consider is supplying the hardware not installed.On the commecial light tables I have built I provide all the parts and an idiot proof schematic and the client does it.
Check your email. BT
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