Post #407551 by Paipo on Fri, Sep 12, 2008 4:14 PM

My pebbles are free - they don't come any cheaper than that! As for the workmanship - as I've previously stated, I make less per hour on my tiki pieces than my regular gig, so these items represent very good value for money. They are a labour of love, but I still need a return on my time as I make my living by making.

I dabbled with doing much cheaper carvings ($75-100) but they still require photographing, listing, emailing, paypal, packing and posting - it just doesn't work out being worth my while in the end.

As for the economy, I can guarantee it's worse here, but I haven't noticed any great downturn in sales from the US. If people can still afford to drop $600+ on a mass-produced restaurant menu things can't be that bad. Many of my regular customers are still buying and some newer folks are now becoming regular customers. Also, the market is global - I have sent carvings to TC folk in France and Germany recently....