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Post by whiskeyriver on Oct 13, 2015 10:54:15 GMT -6
Wow those are cool old tools @stevekas! Also an apt description for lots of people on this forum. Myself included. Especially when I turn 38 on Saturday. YEEESH. |
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Post by variable on Oct 13, 2015 10:56:40 GMT -6
Wow those are cool old tools @stevekas! Also an apt description for lots of people on this forum. Myself included. Especially when I turn 38 on Saturday. YEEESH. Whippersnapper.  |
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Post by Deleted on Oct 15, 2015 21:09:47 GMT -6
Cry me a flippin whiskeyriver. I'm 45. Dumb things I did in my younger years that put a hurt on my body are coming back to haunt me now. I remember so many crashes, falls etc now....shoulder pops....oh yeah, dirt bike crash in '83....knee sounds like a creaking rocking chair when I run uphill...mass quantities of skateboard falls....neck pain...car wreck or the time I jumped into a pool from a roof as a kid and figured out 6 feet isn't all that much water. Working out keeps the wolves at bay but I laugh at the scar free 20 somthings at the gym with their run of the mill over training pain whining and lack of chronic injuries. Wussies. Bitterness and chronic pain anger push me through my workouts now. Kidding. Sort of.... My dad is 87. He says shut the hell up or just laughs depending on his mood any time I complain about any sort of age related issue. |
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Post by DigDug on Oct 15, 2015 21:59:10 GMT -6
@stevekas
Received your Wicked Awesome belts today!!!
So beautiful and well made.
Thank You.
I'll post up some thoughts and pics tomorrow.
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Post by ickes on Oct 15, 2015 23:11:51 GMT -6
Cry me a flippin whiskeyriver. I'm 45. Dumb things I did in my younger years that put a hurt on my body are coming back to haunt me now. I remember so many crashes, falls etc now....shoulder pops....oh yeah, dirt bike crash in '83....knee sounds like a creaking rocking chair when I run uphill...mass quantities of skateboard falls....neck pain...car wreck or the time I jumped into a pool from a roof as a kid and figured out 6 feet isn't all that much water. Working out keeps the wolves at bay but I laugh at the scar free 20 somthings at the gym with their run of the mill over training pain whining and lack of chronic injuries. Wussies. Bitterness and chronic pain anger push me through my workouts now. Kidding. Sort of.... My dad is 87. He says shut the hell up or just laughs depending on his mood any time I complain about any sort of age related issue. Now get off my lawn!! |
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Post by Deleted on Oct 16, 2015 0:08:54 GMT -6
@stevekas Received your Wicked Awesome belts today!!! So beautiful and well made. Thank You. I'll post up some thoughts and pics tomorrow. Glad you like them DigDug and thanks for the kind words! |
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Post by Deleted on Oct 16, 2015 0:10:09 GMT -6
Cry me a flippin whiskeyriver. I'm 45. Dumb things I did in my younger years that put a hurt on my body are coming back to haunt me now. I remember so many crashes, falls etc now....shoulder pops....oh yeah, dirt bike crash in '83....knee sounds like a creaking rocking chair when I run uphill...mass quantities of skateboard falls....neck pain...car wreck or the time I jumped into a pool from a roof as a kid and figured out 6 feet isn't all that much water. Working out keeps the wolves at bay but I laugh at the scar free 20 somthings at the gym with their run of the mill over training pain whining and lack of chronic injuries. Wussies. Bitterness and chronic pain anger push me through my workouts now. Kidding. Sort of.... My dad is 87. He says shut the hell up or just laughs depending on his mood any time I complain about any sort of age related issue. Now get off my lawn!! Seriously, I ALMOST finished my post with that. You read my mind! |
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Post by Deleted on Oct 29, 2015 23:28:17 GMT -6
Custom Valet made for a member here....picked out a special piece of leather with a ranch brand mark straight from the cows ass end for the inner liner.  |
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Post by gaseousclay on Oct 30, 2015 8:12:58 GMT -6
@stevekas, have you thought of just throwing your stuff up on Etsy? Seems to work for a lot of other guys in the leather community (like Guarded Goods, One Star Leather, etc).
Been thinking of trying my hand at leather working myself. I've compiled a list of tools to start but the idea of making something by hand is very appealing to me.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 30, 2015 10:11:18 GMT -6
@stevekas, have you thought of just throwing your stuff up on Etsy? Seems to work for a lot of other guys in the leather community (like Guarded Goods, One Star Leather, etc). Been thinking of trying my hand at leather working myself. I've compiled a list of tools to start but the idea of making something by hand is very appealing to me. Actually, I just put up the Horween belt up and I'm going to go back to Etsy full time (you can search Marshdown and find us/it) so you're on point. The website is out of the picture for the near future, it wan't generating any more revenue than Etsy. I'll write up a bit more and post later but in the mean time, please hit me up through our shop, www.etsy.com/shop/MarshdownGoods?ref=search_shop_redirect |
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Post by brentkuz on Oct 30, 2015 16:09:31 GMT -6
I have a super secret project item Steve's working on now. It's mind blowing.
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Post by devastitis on Oct 30, 2015 16:52:32 GMT -6
I have a super secret project item Steve's working on now. It's mind blowing. Spill the beans!! |
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Post by brentkuz on Oct 30, 2015 16:53:33 GMT -6
I have a super secret project item Steve's working on now. It's mind blowing. Spill the beans!! It's really not that super secret I just wanted you guys to think I was cool. Biker styled long wallet. |
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Post by Deleted on Oct 30, 2015 16:54:44 GMT -6
It's a CXL car cover.
No, seriously.
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Post by devastitis on Oct 30, 2015 17:03:59 GMT -6
It's a CXL car cover. No, seriously. Oh my..how much does something like that even cost.. |
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Post by brentkuz on Oct 30, 2015 17:06:14 GMT -6
It's a CXL car cover. No, seriously. Funny I've been looking for a decent outdoor car cover for the vette. |
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Post by Deleted on Nov 4, 2015 13:33:53 GMT -6
TL;DR, like Marsdowngoods on IG. Thanks.
Hey guys, we're on IG now.....just look up marshdowngoods.
We're basically going grass roots again. The website was fun but on a cost vs overhead basis, it was a bit of a black hole compared to local promotion, forum based sales and the old Etsy site. We will have a site again but we aren't in a hurry.
That last sentence sums up a lot of our new mindset here at Marshdown (other than getting orders out- we do try our best to keep lead times down). Not in a hurry. We're going to scale back to what we know works and be very judicious about adding new product. I've been a bit too quick to promise that "we're working on x or y new product" and while we are working on lots of different products, I've decided it's just going to take as long as it takes to get them right. I get a bit ambitious at times....it's the engineer in me.
This doesn't mean you shouldn't hit me up for custom work. That's always a part of our model, it's fun and it's a great guage of what people are looking for. I'm working a couple of custom jobs right now and they're lots of fun. PMs are always welcome.
Basically we're going to slowly build up the Etsy site with what has actually sold well or with products that fill a niche we want to get into. We've got a plan, growth included, It's going to grow at our pace, which might be slow one month and balls out fast the next. Depends on lots of factors. I personally am not a fan of the "transparency" trend as a marketing tool at all. I believe in telling people what we make, what we make it from, how much it costs and if there's a story or two involved that seem interesting, you'll hear it. I'll never disclose our finacial model, full marketing strategy or profit margin. It leads to a lot of discussion by people with no skin (or hide - see what I did there) in the game. I'm not sure how that became perceived as a good idea in the minds of some business owners, but, it's not. BTW this isn't a rant (sorry if it seems thatvway)....it's more of a statement of charter.
As many of you know, I recently left my 10 lbs of shit in a 5 lb bag engineering job behind. I'm not dropping out of corporate life altogether and neither is my partner, but the salary slave gig had to go, it was sucking all the life out of me. Living 2 miles from the ocean and getting in the water to surf or swim once a month? Chump life. Done with that. My old director is probably still working 7 days a week and stressing out about it 12 hours a day. Good for him if he's happy. Not the way we here at Marshdown want to live (or go out for that matter).
In closing, thanks to all of you for your support from the very beginning. You guys convinced us we could do this, you voted by buying product. We offer you humble and sincere thanks. We're not going away, just learning to focus based on what works and what doesn't. We'll continue to do our best so keep an eye on us and drop a line now and then. You can always buy somthing as well if you're in the mood.
Regards,
Steve
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Post by davelewis on Nov 4, 2015 15:05:58 GMT -6
It's really not that super secret I just wanted you guys to think I was cool. Biker styled long wallet. I knew you were cool before the new wallet, lol |
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Post by gaseousclay on Nov 5, 2015 8:14:09 GMT -6
I personally am not a fan of the "transparency" trend as a marketing tool at all. I believe in telling people what we make, what we make it from, how much it costs and if there's a story or two involved that seem interesting, you'll hear it. I'll never disclose our finacial model, full marketing strategy or profit margin. It leads to a lot of discussion by people with no skin (or hide - see what I did there) in the game. I'm not sure how that became perceived as a good idea in the minds of some business owners, but, it's not. BTW this isn't a rant (sorry if it seems thatvway)....it's more of a statement of charter. agree on the transparency thing. As a company, I don't think you should have to explain your business model or prices to anyone. Customers will either buy your stuff or they won't. I think the best thing you can do is to just focus on what you're making and try to put out the best product possible. I dislike the transparency meme because of the way some companies make it seem like you the customer are being ripped off. This is not the case. Prices are going to vary from company to company and people need to realize that if you want a quality, hand-made product then you have to pay for it, but you also have to take due dilligence and do your research before you buy. As an aside,the more I read up on leatherworking the more discriminating I become. There are now certain things I look for to gauge the skill and care taken to make something and thus, how much i'm willing to pay. For example, the shell cordovan 2-pocket wallet I bought last year from a company, who shall remain nameless, sold me an inferior item that looked like it was cobbled together by an amateur. At the time, I didn't know any better and didn't think it was a big deal, but now I look at the wallet and all I see is a piece of scrap leather that I wasted $120 on. The edges weren't beveled/burnished/sealed and the stitching was poorly done. so it now sits in its original box as a reminder that not all companies, even the reputable ones, put out high quality goods. anyway, good luck with your venture and let us know how it goes. |
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Post by Deleted on Nov 5, 2015 19:00:58 GMT -6
Thanks gaseousclay. Basically, we aren't going away, we're just going to reshape a bit. Anything we've made in the past is still available. It's interesting in the leathergoods world, some people want very "rustic" looking stuff, some want very refined stuff, to the point the the finer details will wear away/become obscured with any significant use. Some companies make stuff in a rustic way becasue they don't know any better, others do it on purpose. Think denim and the variety of that's out there, the price points and what the product really is. It's all over the map. The thing that my GF/partner and I have been talking about recently is "well, we've sold some stuff and people like it, we like making it but what do we want this brand to BE"? There are about 1 million companies making leather wallets right now. 2 million are making hand made belts. I truly think we're in the decline of some parts of this market, especially the mega dollar wallet. Heard anything about Barret Alley lateley? Somthing blasphemous (at least here on a mostly men's forum) - women's accessories are where it's at. For every guy who has 5 different leather travel bags, there are 100 women with a closet full of high dollar handbags. I personally like making men's stuff becasue I like cool things, but women's stuff is almost more fun in that you can be a lot more creative with it. We're working on women's items but we are quite a long way off and again, not hurrying. We will always have a strong men's line but I do see us marketing to both teams eventually. Anyway, thanks for the well wishes. We aren't going away though so feel free to drop a line and see what we're up to. I'll put offers up in this thread like I used to and still participate in the forum, I just might be off making a really sleek women's clutch at the same time |
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Post by wdw on Nov 5, 2015 21:09:34 GMT -6
Steve, I hear you about the women's handbags, but in my own small world some women will happily pay big bucks for a brand name of no special quality rather than save a lot and buy unknown at clearly superior quality. My two daughters are like that, and the older one has a few handbags of $1,500-$2,500 (Mulberry, Prada, YSL) where the quality is nothing special at all.
My wife ditched her Mulberrys and buys handbags from a local one man band, who uses much better leathers and allows customisation, for a quarter of the price of my daughter's. Even though the quality is far superior, my daughter absolutely refuses to buy any because of the lack of brand image. And she's certainly not the only person we know who's shallow like that.
Anyway, good luck with your venture.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 5, 2015 22:16:38 GMT -6
Very good point, wdw, definitely not lost on me. I've looked at my GF's handbag collection and she's got some "big name" items that are mediocre quality at best and also a few super quality pieces that cost less than half the price of the brand names and the build quality is over the top good. She's got a messenger style bag she bought in Greece while she was living in Europe in the '00s and the thing is built to a super level of craftsmanship and she grabbed it at an open market during a rushed trip for very little money. Another balancing act to figure out for sure. Women's clothing has a definite "royalty" class of brands (Prada etc) that can do no wrong it seems, as long as the label is there it's "good". Living here in Orange County, California, I see folks every day who confuse "expensive" with "good" (although some truly good things are also very expensive). So many people here include the cost of an item in the description when they tell you about their latest acquisition. I've always found that to be weird. More to your point, I'd rather sell well made bags to women like your wife even if the profit margin isn't quite so high. |
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Post by gaseousclay on Nov 6, 2015 8:36:15 GMT -6
The thing that my GF/partner and I have been talking about recently is "well, we've sold some stuff and people like it, we like making it but what do we want this brand to BE"? There are about 1 million companies making leather wallets right now. 2 million are making hand made belts. I truly think we're in the decline of some parts of this market, especially the mega dollar wallet. Heard anything about Barret Alley lateley? Somthing blasphemous (at least here on a mostly men's forum) - women's accessories are where it's at. For every guy who has 5 different leather travel bags, there are 100 women with a closet full of high dollar handbags. I personally like making men's stuff becasue I like cool things, but women's stuff is almost more fun in that you can be a lot more creative with it. We're working on women's items but we are quite a long way off and again, not hurrying. We will always have a strong men's line but I do see us marketing to both teams eventually. I think you're onto something with women's goods. A lot of companies lose sight of the buying population and of course, not all goods are for guys. From what I can see, the majority of leather goods companies out there seem to produce the same stuff for men: key fobs, wallets, lanyards, trucker wallets, belts, etc, etc. Nothing wrong with this and there's a ton of good stuff out there. but women's goods I almost never see, so you could be fulfilling an untapped market. as for what you want your brand to be, that's up to you. there's a ton of options open to you and as long as you believe in the product you're making that's all that matters. I've wanted to try to learn leather working basics but simply haven't had time. there's a Tandy store in town and i'll probably drop by sometime and pick up some needles, scrap leather, and a stitching pony just so I can learn saddle stitching. I like the idea of being able to make stuff for myself rather than for others. I see so many cool leather items out there and think, wow, $175 for that? If I learned leatherworking I could make stuff myself for a fraction of the cost. |
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Post by snecseruza on Nov 8, 2015 0:13:51 GMT -6
I personally am not a fan of the "transparency" trend as a marketing tool at all. I believe in telling people what we make, what we make it from, how much it costs and if there's a story or two involved that seem interesting, you'll hear it. I'll never disclose our finacial model, full marketing strategy or profit margin. It leads to a lot of discussion by people with no skin (or hide - see what I did there) in the game. I'm not sure how that became perceived as a good idea in the minds of some business owners, but, it's not. BTW this isn't a rant (sorry if it seems thatvway)....it's more of a statement of charter. As many of you know, I recently left my 10 lbs of shit in a 5 lb bag engineering job behind. I'm not dropping out of corporate life altogether and neither is my partner, but the salary slave gig had to go, it was sucking all the life out of me. Living 2 miles from the ocean and getting in the water to surf or swim once a month? Chump life. Done with that. My old director is probably still working 7 days a week and stressing out about it 12 hours a day. Good for him if he's happy. Not the way we here at Marshdown want to live (or go out for that matter). Ahh man... I'm so with you on the "transparency" thing. This goes for retail goods, as well as really pretty much any other business model. I own and operate a full service HVAC business, and it really chaps my hide and gets under my skin when people want to rip apart my entire business because they feel they know how much x should cost because y and z. Folks don't understand the level of experience or skill required of a certain craft, nor the entirety of what makes the product or service possible when it comes to everything behind the scenes. Here's a thought: customers expect and pay for a quality product or service, and the business delivers. Support china-made goods or an underqualified scabby crackpot if you're trying to save a buck... But I agree, you didn't rant and I don't really mean to either; but I'm currently suppressing myself from unleashing an epic rant on the subject  Congratulations on leaving the chump life behind! I'm hoping in another decade or so I can do the same  Sorry for blowing up your thread, felt like a good time to vent because I couldn't agree more. Good luck on your present and future ventures, stevekas. I'm still enjoying my cardholder and belt... will get those pics up I promised albeit a couple months late. Though... FWIW... I dropped some lbs and think I need a new custom belt for my skinnier self. I'll be getting in touch with you, sir. |
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Post by Deleted on Nov 8, 2015 15:27:27 GMT -6
gaseousclay, go for it man. I will say this about Tandy, if you plan on spending more than 300-500 dollars there over a year (and it's hard not to if you want to get even a modest set of tools and a hide or two) join the membership/discount thing they have...I can't remember the name but it's easy to find on the site. They have a couple of levels and I did the cheapest level...sometimes they have blowouts (I bought 500 dollar skiver for 220 during one sale). They sell two models and the good one was massively on sale. I've also picked up a few high end hides at a discount. It's worth it. I know I sound like a shill but I almost never do the discount membership thing at any retailer. All that being said...join the leatherworker.com forum and don't buy too many tools from Tandy until you see what else is out there. There are lots of options and sometimes (for example, Round Knives) where it's better to buy an antique or buy one from a knife maker. snecseruza, dude, you have no idea ha ha....actually I'm positive you do. I've had a few conversations with folks (not here) who attempt to dissect my pricing structure and then wait for some long explanation from me from me about why this or that doesn't agree with their extensively considered opinion. They seem shocked when my answer is "Oh, OK, well now know how you feel, thanks. Hit me up if you want to buy somthing". It's funny, my dad is an engineer (apple doesn't fall far from the tree I guess) and he runs a small avionics company with my mom and one of my bros (also an engineer--jeez). It would be hilarious to watch my dad respond to someone dissecting his business model. The words would be R rated or better and he would probably throw in a personally aided ejection from his facility ala Al Bundy from back n the 80's on Married with Children. Transparency is just another marketing BS tactic and it will seem comically outdated in a few years after the next thing comes along. Congrats on the weight loss. I'm cutting weight right now as well. Drop me a line if you need a new skinny guy belt.
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