Selling Flies!!!

[riffleriversteelheadslayer 0]

I tie comercially as well but on a bit different market then Matt I tie for the local fly shops around my area which sometimes includes tying around 30 dozen of the same fly in less then a week so like the others have mentioned are you going to be able to sit through an 8 hour shift tying the same pattern notice I used the word shift a good test of what your able to do is pick a pattern that will most likjely be one of your top sellers and sit down and tie as many of them as you can in 4 hours then look at each one and decide if it is something you would want your name associated with or if it is something you think you should tie over after you have gone through them all and seperated them accordingly count the ones you would be willing to sell a good ratio for a comercial is 6 sell to 1 not sell if you can hit that on every pattern you intend to sell your doing good I sell 15 different patterns mostly dry flies catskill style I can tie 2 dozen an hour so for every hour I tie there is 4 flies that don't get sold due to offset wing pinched hackle bumpy body messed up tail or something like that I sell my dries for $12 a dozen after mateials are taken out I make about $10 an hour now if your just starting out I'm sure your not going to be buying anything in bulk or wholesale prices so your cost is going to be considerably higher but if your going ahead with your endeavor I vote for On the Mark Custom Flies

[Flytyer14 0]

Thanks for all the input everyone!

[day5 0]

No I do not charge per hour. But a spider grub costs me 47 cents in materials. So if I can tie 6 an hour @ 3 dollars cost per 6 and I want to make 10 at the least per hour. I need to charge at least 3 dollars per fly that's 2.50 margin over 50ish cents cost and I make 10 to 13 an hour. Dose that make sense? For you ist may not but for me time at the vise is time away form the family. I just need to make enough to pay for trips and ...... important fly fishing stuff

[ChuckingFluff 0]

name. How about "on the mark custom flies"?

 

Now that sounds like a winner.

[Flytyer14 0]

I went with that.

[ChuckingFluff 0]

I went with that.

 

That's great Mark. Don't forget now that your a business you'll need an accountant a lawyer and some business insurance.

 

ps. don't forget about the tax man.

 

Good luck

[FishyboY 0]

in my experience of tying flies to sell it is pretty hard. I do a few side orders for people nothing big. i want to keep it simple and fun. and i really don't try to make much money off of it.

 

1st thing- soon you will understand why they are tied across the ocean.

 

2nd- It is expensive to start up you need lots of money. Like for me a start-up was around 400ish. half of it was a new vise. but others was materials. Most people who buy from me want hackled dry flies which means more money because you have to buy hackle saddles. You should be purchasing nice hackles which are expensive. Dont get into this unless you have the money first. If money is a trouble save up for a bit and then go into it. There is nothing worse then telling someone you cant do it because you don't have any money.

 

3rd- dont skimp on materials. people hate it and notice it and it ends in a bad rap for you.

 

4th- similar to 3 but it is with hooks. Buy nice hooks. buy the same hooks constantly. Nice stuff like Mustads and Tiemcos that result in more hookups- if your hooks break and dont hold fish it results in bad wrap for you.

 

5th- Fly shops buy flies overseas because it is cheaper and can be better (sometimes) What they buy from local tiers are local patterns that cant be tied overseas. When they do that they often look for people that are known in the area.

 

6th- Get known by people. I tie at shows and events but rarely ever tell people that i tie to sell. If they get in a nice conversation with me and we really get along and they mention that they would buy some flies then i go from there. But i usually wait for people to ask me if they want some and then decide if i want to do it.

 

7th- Company name. I dont worry about it. It is a way to get big which i dont want to. I want to tie for a handful of people and have fun with it while providing them good flies.

 

8th- dont get burnt out. i know it sounds like it will never happen but if you try to do to many orders at once you might get burnt out.

 

9th- Let your name travel by word of mouth. tell like 2 people you tie flies for money and then let it go from there.

 

10th- Expect it to take time to get orders. don't be surprised if you get like 3 orders a year. It started that way for me.

 

11th- Expect big orders. most people order by dozen from me. my first order was #12 adams 1dz. #14 adams 1dz. #16 adams 1dz. #18 adams 1dz. #14 Elk Hair Caddis 1dz. #16 Elk Hair Caddis 1 dz. #10 Spark-L Hopper 1dz. #12 Spark-L Hopper 1dz.

[jared sartini 0]

good luck man! things may be a bit slow at first, (at least they were for me) but keep at it! May i suggest pandora?

 

[Flytyer14 0]

I will be tying for friends so I won't need an accountant or a lawyer or anything like that. And since they will be small orders from my friends i don't think they will mind if they aren't perfect or have substituted materials. I didn't think a little business card would blow up into this

[foambug 0]

i admire any one willing to take that kind of risk ..i mean i stick with the swaps ..just because i am still about learning ...all great things start with a notion a idea ...it may git slow ...it may boom ...but in either case it will be your endevor ...an you will git the applause or the critics ...just remember you cant please every one ..the customer is always rite ...an sometimes flyfisherpeople are just a pain in the azz....good luck !!!!oh a name ....how about....... "the hairy hackle"

[ChuckingFluff 0]

I will be tying for friends so I won't need an accountant or a lawyer or anything like that. And since they will be small orders from my friends i don't think they will mind if they aren't perfect or have substituted materials. I didn't think a little business card would blow up into this

 

Mark I'm just messing with ya. Keep us posted when you make your first sale or trade.

[jared sartini 0]

9th- Let your name travel by word of mouth. tell like 2 people you tie flies for money and then let it go from there.

 

10th- Expect it to take time to get orders. don't be surprised if you get like 3 orders a year. It started that way for me.

 

Fishyboy,

I disagree with you only in one aspect. Not spreading the word about your flies is not going to help business any. If you only tell 2 people that you sell flies, then you probably won't get very many orders. And if those 2 people don't spread the word, your business will end there if you don't spread the word. I get it that you don't want to over promote yourself or anything, but you have to at least get the word out. And if you're talking to someone who fishes, or whose husband/brother/best friend/whoever fly fishes, tell them: "Let me know if (you/your brother) needs flies." Usually, they'll say, "Do you sell flies?" and you can go from there.

 

1 more piece of advice: Get on craigslist!

 

But great advice fishyboy, very good points.

[utyer 0]

I think fishyboy has a bunch of good advise. You are going to have commit some serious money into this project before you even start to think about rounding up customers.

 

I have read in some of your recent posts, that your current vise won't even hold a hook, and your dropping out of swaps because you can't find 12 hooks of the same style and size. It doesn't sound like your ready to start seeking customers just yet.

 

If your going to start trying to sell, your going to have to get ready Your first purchase will be a good vise, and I know you have been looking for one. When your trying to get 6 or 10 dozen flies tied in a timely maner, you need a decent vise. When someone does give you an order, you will need to start tying right away. You will need hooks and materials before you start taking orders. You need a good supply of hooks, in a full range of sizes. Hundred count boxes are the best way to stock up and be ready, and the 100 packs are most expensive way, but you will need hooks. At about $20.00 a pack, you would need an assortment of 3000 hooks, which would cost about $600. You will need a good assortment of other materials as well. Dry fly quality hackle is expensive, but a basic necessity for a custom fly tyer. You will need to start with brown, grizzly, ginger, blue dun, and cream. These will run you about $200, in just 4 colors. Thread, while not expensive, will be needed in several sizes, and colors. You will also need dubbing (both dry fly, and nymph blends,) in several types, and a full range of colors. Deer hair, coastal deer hair, elk hair in both light and dark shades, moose body hair, calf tail, just to begin with. Your initial investment can easily run over $1000, and thats before you sell a single fly. Are you ready for that kind of investment? If you are, then your going to want to start getting your investment back by beating the bushes and getting some orders.

 

That may sound like a good thing at first but, once you start taking orders, don't expect to do anything else until your orders get filled. No customer wants to hear that you were too busy (and it doesn't matter what you were busy with,) to finish their order when and as expected. There will be no fishing, no homework, no swaps, no sleep, until your done with any orders.

 

You would be better off, to fill your boxes with patterns you can tie now, and sell ONLY those as you can.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Kirk Dietrich 0]

Mark, the name On the Mark Flies sounds good.

You have a lot of good advice here and from what I've read several different versions of how a fly tying business should be run. They are all correct for those individuals but are not necessarily hard and fast rules.

Based on what I've read from you about where you're at and what your initial intentions are, I think myself and flyboy have the most in common and in-line with how you'll operate.

So, don't be discouraged by these talks about big dollars in getting started and being buried in orders for dozens and dozens of flies. I was just a few years older than you but I worked in restaurants part time, so I did have a few dollars, but not nearly enough to stock up on materials. Hell, I didn't even have my own tying vise!

A friend of mine's father had a vise he was no longer using and lent it to me. Next, I bought some basic hooks and materials for my own fly tying. Then I had a few people ask if I could tie some flies for them. If I didn't have the materials I needed on hand, I would buy just the materials I needed for the flies in that order, if it meant borrowing a few dollars. With each order, 100% of my tying income went to purchasing more materials until I no longer had the problem, however, I rarely wasted money on materials I didn't need for a specific fly I wanted to tie for myself or others.

As far as orders, it wasn't a do or die thing to start immediately or deliver in a week. Unless a client was going on a trip that he needed the flies for or expressed a specific deadline, which I usually asked about at the onset of the order, I would take my time. ( I know, cringe, shudder, shame on me.) It worked fine for my life style and style of tying and my customers didn't mind. I, like you, was not looking to make a living at it as many of the previous advisers, which are entirely correct in their advice if you are planning on doing a substantial income from this; however, way over-kill for a small meager endeavor such as you are embarking upon.

To make a long story short, I eventually began tying for shops along the Gulf South and wound up employing a couple of women to help fill orders, I also had Orvis pick up some of my flies where I get a small royalty and now I just tie for selected destination fishermen. The wholesale store business was way to much for me so I let that go.

I'm fortunate to have a regular job and income from tying is for my extracurricular sporting activities and other extras for my family. In fact, my 11 year old daughter has been helping me on and off since she was nine years old with some simple patterns to the tune of her making a few hundred dollars. Not bad for a 10 year old!

 

Good Luck,

Kirk

[Al Beatty 0]

Hi Mark,

 

Business name could be "Benchmark Flies."

 

Don't ignor the advise about taxes, etc. I started our tying business thinking about only selling to friends and ended up a few years later with a nasty tax audit. If you are going to "skip taxes" then don't name anything and stay OFF the radar! Good luck & ...

 

Tight Lines - Gretchen & Al Beatty

www.btsflyfishing.com