falseawareness

I'm exploring the idea of a pottery business and I'm curious how people sell their work? I haven't dug too deep, but it seems to me the costs of running and online store or selling at fairs is about the same. It just depends on what sort of work you like more. Are the cost of having a brick and mortar store or selling consignment comparable? Do any of you do wholesale, and how does that compare? I've done some reading and I'm specifically asking about money costs, but also interested in time, energy, emotional labor cost. Thanks.

It's my impression that most potters who work full time do it alone, well not quite because y'all seem eager to share and explore together. I'm so curious about potters experiences of working together. How did you manage you work day/work load? Did you work other people of equal skill/experience or was it more of a teachers/apprentices type situation? How did you organize every day technical details? i.e. this is ready for bisque fire, glaze fire, needs more work, focus on this detail. How did you manage feedback?

Not sure if this is the right forum....but I am curious where people look for used equipment. I live in-between Charlottesville and Richmond VA if that's helpful.

Yeah I imagine it will be a slow start. I live out at Twin Oaks community, in Louisa, Va and we were selling hammocks at fairs up until recently when we lost our shop to a wildfire. This pottery opportunity has come up and we have a few people with experience on the farm either through selling hammocks at fairs or making pottery in the past. I just gotta say I am so grateful for all the advice and information sharing out there. I'm hoping I can develop things slowly and potentially be earning us some money down the road. Right now i'm just trying to sort out if it's a realistic idea or not.

How many items would you sell at a fair you considered good? Can you estimate what your sales would be like based of attendance numbers? Or do people use other methods?

Hi all, I've recently been offered the contents of a retired professional potters studio. This includes hundreds of slip molds, recipes, and all the nessesary starting equipment. I'm drawing up plans for a slip casting production studio focusing on mugs, planters, and bowls, imagining we can cast products, get creative with decorating, and build our other clay skills as we go. I imagine using fairs and online for retail and also looking for local wholesale opportunities. and possibly offering workshops years down the road. I have lots of willing labor, but I'm unclear about how much we can expect to sell or if this is the best way to put lots of different molds to use. Ideas? Comments?