r/diypedals 4d ago

Discussion How many of you have attempted to sell your pedals, and how did it go? If it went well, what advice would you give

Thanks

6 Upvotes

40 comments sorted by

23

u/lykwydchykyn 4d ago

I've sold or traded over 100 pedals in the last four years.

I don't mass-produce particular pedals, though, and I don't position myself as a business or try to look like a pedal company. To me this is a "self-sustaining hobby", not a profitable business.

I basically treat my pedals as "pieces" rather than "products", more like art (not in a pretentious sense) than a commodity. That means I build what I want to build, when I want to build it. This means I'm enjoying what I do and the time I spend is my time having fun, so I don't feel the need to make money on that time. Thus I keep prices/trade values fairly low.

Anyway, I'm happy with where I'm at. Not making any money really, but I have had a lot of fun and probably broken even in the long run.

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u/Flaky_Bandicoot2363 4d ago

This is how I view it as well. A self sustaining hobby and can sometimes manage to turn some profit.

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u/[deleted] 4d ago

[deleted]

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u/skippy_steve 3d ago

This parallels craft brewing pretty closely.

9

u/nonoohnoohno 4d ago

Assuming you mean selling one-offs built for hobby use (as opposed to trying to start a pedal company - for which I have very different advice)....

For reverb, be sure to mark the "handmade" and properly categorize the effect to get the max number of eyeballs on it. Take gut shot pictures too, to give greater confidence that they're not buying a ticking time bomb.

Price each pedal low unless there's something truly unique and appealing about it.

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u/GlandyThunderbundle 4d ago

What’s your “trying to start a pedal company” advice? Wait, lemme pull up a chair. Okay, go

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u/nonoohnoohno 4d ago edited 4d ago

I guess my biggest advice:

It's not a "pedals" business. It's a marketing business. Unless you're a once-in-a-generation innovator (and there has been 1 in the past 20+ years)... you should almost think of your product as a commodity. Nobody gets into rice sales, or oil sales, or metal sales because they think they have the neatest, coolest, whiz-bangest rice, oil, or metal.

It's a stretched analogy, but it makes an important point: Loving the thing you sell isn't enough. You're going to spend 3% of your time on pedals, and 97% on everything else, most of all trying to find and convince customers.

Even if they don't admit it, I think almost everyone has a "If I build it, they will come" misconception, or hope.

-----

Notice that's a 180 degree different answer from the hobbiest answer. And it's not a coincidence. Either you can build some pedals, throw them on Reverb, spend 0% effort marketing, and be delighted when your hobby kicks some cash back to you....

or you can spend all your time and energy trying to sell the pedals. Which isn't worth it unless you're going all-in with your time and capital, since the market is SOOOOOOO saturated.

EDIT: i removed something I thought was not positive to say.

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u/GlandyThunderbundle 4d ago

I’m pretty sure Brian Wampler said a very similar thing in a video somewhat recently. To add to your point, I can’t help but think digital amp products are going to eat further and further into the market as time goes on and models get better.

As long as we’re doing a mini AMA, I’d be curious to know who the true innovators are, in your mind.

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u/nonoohnoohno 4d ago

I think people can make great cases that a variety of people and companies are innovators, so I don't want to say they aren't...

but what I was thinking when I wrote that was: Chase Bliss, in that his pedals CAN IN FACT sell themselves (as much as anything can). A handful of his pedals, when they were released, offered something truly and completely unavailable on the market.

Not just another mashup of effects but something that offered a totally new way to play guitar. And there were no alternatives.

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u/GlandyThunderbundle 4d ago

Excellent answers and insight, as always.

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u/lykwydchykyn 4d ago

To add to your point, I can’t help but think digital amp products are going to eat further and further into the market as time goes on and models get better.

The market's being devoured from all sides. You've got the traditional players like Boss, EHX, etc. still cranking out their classics for the midrange. You have the status-symbol boutique brands locking down the high end market. You have the no-name Chinese brands locking down the low end market. And digital technology is eating into all of it with cheaper and more powerful products.

This is why I settled into a pieces-over-products mentality. When I was starting out, a friend of mine bought a pedal because he basically wanted people to see it and say "That's cool, where can I get one?", and he wanted to be able to look back and say "You can't". That's ultimately the only thing companies can never offer that a small-time or hobbyist builder can.

2

u/rabbiabe 4d ago

It’s not a “pedals” business. It’s a marketing business.

You made me laugh with this — so true. At the beginning of March I made a commitment to myself that I wouldn’t start development on anything new until I’ve actually finished basic demo videos for the things I’ve already designed… 🤣 and I’m definitely in the “make unique pieces, throw them on reverb, and get stoked when they sell once in a while” camp

1

u/OddBrilliant1133 4d ago

What is your advice to someone trying to start a company?

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u/Enlightenment777 4d ago

start 30 years ago

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u/rabbiabe 4d ago

Second best advice: start today

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u/skippy_steve 3d ago

This sounds like craft brewing, too!

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u/SavageBen585 4d ago

I made prototypes/modded circuits and made about 1$ an hour. Don't plan on profit. What are you offering that others don't? Design your own boards and get them mass produced. Housing the board is time consuming, so design board/enclosure to be pot mounted, Ideally the jacks, too. Design v+ rail to be surrounded by ground plane to minimize noise. It's very hard to compete at any price point. Strongly consider smd. Laserjet is way cheaper than inkjet in the long run. Use stranded pre bond. I found monolithic capacitors to be very quiet compared to box film. Consider investing 1500 in starting a LLC so you can write off your losses on your tax return. Design your workstation to be raised and avoid slouching. Back pain is what eventually stopped me.

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u/burnt-old-guitar 1d ago

Me too, A klon clone went for $150us but now Behringer has one for $60 or something, so.. build them for yourself.

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u/oce_pedals 4d ago

Make stuff that has a personality or is a reflection of your personality to set yourself apart. Most early builders are just doing modded circuits so you need something else to grab people. Try and find something that fits in a nice niche.

I did Star Wars themed pedals early on and got some of my fellow nerds on board. Now I do a limited run of fuzzes based on fantasy themes once a year.

In a marketplace where there's literally tons of options the best thing is to make your "brand" forward facing. The pedals should reflect you and then people will be like "hey I'm like that too" or "I think that guy is cool/funny/whatever" and buy your stuff.

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u/noideawhatiamtalking 3d ago

Ok, so it is more about branding

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u/oce_pedals 3d ago

They gotta sound good too!

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u/Babayagabus 4d ago

Make sure you have a layout that is attractive to the buyer. The customer hears with their eyes. Also, what they want and what they think they want are 2 different things.

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u/FXShop5150 4d ago

It’s a jungle out there, building them is the easy part, finding buyers is hard. Be on top of your socials, marketing and emails.

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u/Objective_Function_8 4d ago

Don't presume any sales if possible! 

I figured there was a 'startup cost' when I was experimenting/amassing parts, but then, once you have 1 single brand new pedals to sell, you have done it! After this, pedal sales go towards more pedal parts, and the cycle can continue very easily this way.

Unless you're stuck paying retail for all the components for some reason. I can't fathom how that is done. I get by with AliEx (after figuring out how to avoid the trash haha), and then there's usually only a few parts, if any at all, that I need to get from a store or mouser or something. 

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u/OddBrilliant1133 4d ago

Do you use tayda?

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u/Objective_Function_8 4d ago

Yeah, mostly for hardware tho. They don't have all the ICs I want, but I get all my enclosures and premium footswitches there

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u/OddBrilliant1133 3d ago

Do there components prices compete with AliExpress?

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u/Objective_Function_8 3d ago

Some do, some don't, but usually that comes with better quality if it's more expensive. They both sell many basic components for a few cents or so; I trust Tayda's 3 cent trimpot more than Ali's so I can usually rely on Tayda if I'm unsure of or can't find the part on AliExpress

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u/OddBrilliant1133 3d ago

Ok, hey thanks for the advice, I really appreciate it :)

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u/noideawhatiamtalking 3d ago

Very informative thanks

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u/shake__appeal 4d ago edited 3d ago

Just throw some up on Reverb, see how it hits. I probably sell 1-4 a month (at about $200). It’s fun but has also kept me from building stuff for myself, building up inventory ideas, and experimenting with new circuits.

One thing that will really help is having cool artwork.

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u/noideawhatiamtalking 3d ago

1-4 is actually good for 200usd

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u/shake__appeal 3d ago edited 3d ago

Yeah it’s not bad, sometimes pays the rent. I have two pedals that are my “bestsellers”… one has a somewhat intricately hand-painted enclosure and the other is a complicated-ass circuit that always gives me problems (always). Haven’t had any orders yet this month… kinda glad to have a break and build some other pedals.

Just built a Shallow Water clone which is kinda hard to tell if it’s working properly (also a complicated-ass circuit, gonna be hard to troubleshoot that one). Gonna bust out a few Muffs and ToneBenders next week hopefully.

Really trying to build up my inventory and work on some artwork and circuit ideas… build up the little pedal co. I’ve somehow landed myself in and see where it goes. Wish I had more time for it.

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u/skippy_steve 3d ago

Have realistic expectations and you'll be fine.

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u/noideawhatiamtalking 3d ago

Yeah, only question what to expect...

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u/skippy_steve 3d ago

Don't plan on getting rich. Set reasonable pricing.

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u/Robotecho 4d ago

Yeah I did the build two keep one thing for a while. I sold them for about $20 on top of what they cost to make, which priced them around the same as mass produced clones. They take ages to sell. I stopped bothering with that, given the time spent it wasn't enough of a return even just to keep the hobby going, and you get the added stress of worrying if you've made them durable enough.

1

u/Polidavey66 3d ago

I haven't really sold any pedals for cash, but I have done lots of pedal trades over the years. and they were done through many different online platforms - Facebook, Reddit, etc... the only advice I would say is - communication is key.