Are my unresponsives too expensive? They are generally around $85-$90 shipped.
A yoyo retailer in Australia asked me if I would make a run of something to sell them, but when I told them the wholesale price which was about (37 USD) they said that people wouldn’t want to buy them for the retail price that would reflect it (approx $74 USD). It made me think that I may just charge too much.
Thoughts?
I think $80-90 is fine. We have fixed axles like the TMBR Carlson selling for $65, unresponsive wooden yo-yos are harder to make properly so a little more $$ makes sense to me.
We’ve also sold the Diverse Animals hand turned plastics in the past. They ranged from $65-70, but plastic is easier to turn smoothly than wood. So again, I think a higher price for a wooden unresponsive makes sense.
To me a product is worth a mix between what you put into it (materials, time), and how much people will value the skill set/originality necessary to create it (your shop, your learned turning abilities). If people buy them already at $80-$90, and you can show the retailer, they should be jumping on it since it’ll actually be a price drop to everyone else.
I didn’t know they hand turned them. That’s cool!
Simple answer: No
hard work pays off
Things can be “too expensive” in different ways. It may be too expensive in the sense that no one would buy it at that price, or that if you price it lower, you will actually make more money, having the volume off set the lower individual sale price.
The retailer is probably “right” in the sense that a non-flashy minimal packaging and marketing yoyo sitting on a shelf or website isn’t going to sell at 74 usd. Most people purchase from you not because of any hype or marketing you do, but from what i read in these forums, purely words of mouth from actual owners on how fantastic they are. A retailer can’t convey that message and assurance on quality to a shopper or browser on their website.
I don’t think it speaks to your yoyo’s being over priced. Your own experience with satisfied customers should speak for itself. But it does mean that if you want to sell your yoyos at retail, you either do more marketing, or churn out yoyos that can be sold profitably at a lower price point.
I think they’re priced fine. You make art glen.
Yeah the retailer is likely thinking that a consumer will not recognize the artisan-level work you do and just pass it up for something cheaper. YYE does a great job in promoting and providing a good background for things like that so people know you put some sweat into it.
If that retailer thinks $75 is too much for the playable art you create, then they may not be the right platform for your sales. Have you thought of just making a small site on your own? I know it’s pretty simple in the U.S. but I also know Australia has drastically different tax laws. Etsy is nice as well to get up and running quickly.
Edit: My motives here are a little selfish, as I would love to see you with some stock so I can pull the trigger on a Spinworthy once I have the cash, lol.
Could I ask how many yoyos you’ve made that are out in the world right now?
My initial thought is, while your product is worth the price, it’s tough for a new brand to come in with no previous presence in the market charging premium prices. It’s very tough. I was in the musical instrument industry for years and I saw it there all the time. Amazing guitars, amps or effects would come out and they rivaled any of the top brands, but the guitar market (much like the yoyo market) is brand and image driven. So those companies would sadly fade away after a bit.
What would probably help the most would be to get as many of your yoyos out there as you can. My suggestion would be to dial in what models you want to make and sell. Then build a “Street Team”. Find some people that are regular at contests, multiple contests, send each of them 1 of each yoyo you make. This way they can represent you at the contests, let people try your yoyos. Trying them and seeing them first hand is going to be the biggest help. Getting them into the hands of big name players that will talk about them would be even better.
Thinking about all the big brands this is the way they all started. Make their yoyos, bring them to contests and let as many as people try them out. It’s very tough to break in to an established market, but keep at it, you make a great product from what I’ve seen.
I like Aaron’s idea. If you send me a spin worthy I will bring it to worlds with me in august 
Is $80-90 a lot for a wood yo-yo? Probably. Is it unreasonable? No. You’re doing them yourself. Thats no small endeavor. I have one myself and it’s certainly a beauty.
That’s why you can buy a mass produced pocket knife for $10 but people will pay up to $3-4,000 for handmade custom pieces. Sometimes $20,000 if you got serious chops.
Point is, it’s an inpatient market. Customers don’t want to wait for their purchases and stores don’t want to wait for a return on their investment. Like everyone said, they probably are afraid of the handmade aspect, as they assume it’ll fly over most peoples heads and thus the yo-yo sits because people can’t appreciate the time it took to make it.
I would say no.
Would you be comfortable charging less for your unresponsives?
I’ll have a couple spinworthy throws with me at WYYC for folks to try out!
Great! I’m gonna try and find you. I’m looking into purchasing one after worlds.
Looking forward to it! do you have a Harbinger?
Honestly no, I dont think so. I bought a Harbinger from you and thought the price to be very fair. The new plastics you have been making are very intriguing to me and I would definitely buy them, but alas my yoyo budget has been exceeded for the time being. I also admit to waiting a little longer to see your plastics get more and more refined. Your newest organic plastic you have been posting about, I would without a doubt spend $90 to get. Hand turned and personally tested yoyos are imo worth a premium. It’s a niche market inside a niche market though, so I wouldn’t expect high volume sales. I like what you do now, but I understand the desire to expand.
Good luck with your yoyos, and please don’t throw in the towel. I definitely want a few more spinworthy yoyos. The Harbinger is without a doubt my go to wooden fixie. Blows my O.U.T. and Fallen 44 yoyos out of the water, no contest.
The cheaper the better, but they take so long to make, and are often pretty difficult. Much less than that probably wouldn’t be worth the trouble.
This is true. Each one I make is better than the last.
They all play well, though. So far, no-one who has one of my plastics is disappointed.
I think [pure speculation here] that the market is over-saturated. Your prices are really good, but there are sooooooo many yoyos on the market, and even clogging up the BST. There have been multiple back to back epic releases just in the last few weeks [Vayder, TiShee, Ti888, just to name a few].
Yoyo people are generally pretty broke [lol]
I’m in the same boat as others, my yoyo budget is badly blown. I’ve been watching your designs evolve. I figure sooner or later you’re going to post something that I just won’t be able to resist. I was really really tempted by the last ones you put up. I have no qualms paying what you ask, there is no doubt it would be a very fine yoyo.
