So I thought I'd build a tabletop art easel

[Kizar_Sozay]

Went to Amazon to get some ideas.  Rather than an idea I found one for $13.50.  I couldn't buy the materials even using mostly shop scrap for what I can get this one delivered.  What's a woodworker to do except swallow his pride?  Even if it falls apart, I've got a template to build one out of better materials.  Tabletop folding art easel
[url=https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B002Y6CWCM/ref=ox_sc_act_title_4?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ACD4013XBS5C9][/url]

[CLETUS]

The good news is that you won't have to worry about your grandkids fighting over who gets grandpappy's easel when you cack.

[Kizar_Sozay]

expect it will be on display in the Smithsonian, the Met or Getty by then.  It will be like Archie Bunker's chair.  People will reverently approach and whisper under their breath, "HE actually sat there."

No flash photos please.  Try not to crowd.

[Danny in Houston]

How on God's green earth can someone make a profit from $13.50 delivered for that item?  Beyond amazing.

[Steve N]

What kind of wood is that thing. I'm guessing Rubber Tree AKA plastic




Cletus has it right, nobody gonna fight over your stuff when you croak.

I imagine you know to do this is just between you and your masculinity, but to publicly announce it on a woodwoking forum is a massive deduction of Man card points. I'ma thinking if you started with 62 Gazillion, yer down to about 3. If you had less, well your now a gurl

[Danny in Houston]

Lot's of descendants would fight over this one.  Thomas Jefferson used it to draft the Declaration of Independence.

Thomas Jefferson Laptop

This uncommon desk, made entirely of mahogany, was made to Jefferson's specifications by the prominent Philadelphia cabinetmaker, Benjamin Randolph, with whom Jefferson lodged when he first came to Philadelphia in July 1775 and when he returned in May 1776.[5] Although a payment was recorded for Randolph's workmen for three boxes in September, the purchase of a writing box or lap desk was not noted in Jefferson's memorandum Books. Jefferson's drawings for the desk do not survive. The desk consists of a rectangular box with a drawer containing compartments for storing writing implements and paper. A hinged writing board is attached to the upper surface of the box.

[Steve N]

A toothpick with that kind of Provenance would fetch a pretty penny, can only guess at a $ value, and I'm sure someone with pockets much deeper than mine could imagine wanting it, and then you have a real pretty penny.

[Harold O.]

How on God's green earth can someone make a profit from $13.50 delivered for that item?  Beyond amazing.

Recently read where COSTCO makes next to nothing on retail sales. Most of their profit comes from membership fees (which costs them nothing). COSTCO is well known for beating up their vendors on pricing, etc. No clue on how it works for items like this and Amazon.

I get customers in my shop wondering why it costs so much for me to make something for them. They are politely told that if they simply want a table to go to Walmart or Ikea and spend $100 for nice, serviceable table that will treat them well for several years. But if they want something handmade by someone they know and will develop its own story to tell in later years, step right up and let's get going. But, yes, [we] cannot compete.

SIDE NOTE: There was an episode of Little House On The Prairie I saw as a kid that always stuck with me. The episode started in modern times with a couple buying a small table or chair at a flea market. They noticed some initials carved into the bottom and wondered what the story was. Then we get back to 1880s and see Michael Landon making several of these and placing his mark on them. Some big shot guy with a [modern[ wood shop steals the design, mass produces them and chases ML out of the shop. Flash back to the modern couple and they buy the table with Landon's mark (oblivious to the story).

[EricU]

I made a portable easel.  They sell really crappy ones for $30, so it's hard to justify making.  Mine is really nice, but it's hard to get it right on the first try.   So there was tweaking

[jteneyck]

Price goes down as volume goes up.  You'd likely be surprised how cheap those probably are to make if you make a few thousand of them.  Add that item to one of many so the machine costs are fully absorbed, scrap is reduced to near zero, and the maker gets volume discounts on their raw materials, and the price goes down even more.  No one stays in business very long losing money, except Tesla and dot com companies, so I'm pretty sure whoever is making them is making money. 

John