The Stoned Craftsmen
"A niche Etsy shop selling solid wood CNC-crafted rolling trays designed to look elegant rather than stereotypical, earning $1,200-$2,000/month with seasonal spikes."
Marketing Channels
Etsy marketplace
Primary sales channel; creator relies on Etsy's organic search and algorithm for discovery. Price increases hurt algorithm positioning.
Shopify (own store)
Tried for 6 months at $40/mo but abandoned due to difficulty driving paid traffic — social media platforms restrict paraphernalia advertising
Wholesale to dispensaries/headshops
Attempted wholesale to local dispensaries and headshops but wholesale price was too high; unwilling to offshore manufacturing to lower costs
Celebrity brand collaborations
Had talks with major brands in the cannabis space but wholesale price gap was too large; one brand explicitly said the gap was too big, another ghosted
Growth Levers
- Explore craft shows and direct-to-consumer events where similar trays sell at 2x the Etsy price without algorithm constraints
- Invest in the planned drum sander ($1,500) to further optimize manufacturing and reduce per-unit costs for wholesale viability
- Continue CNC optimization to reduce manual labor from the current 20% sanding to near-zero
- Consider premium product lines (custom engraving, exotic woods) to justify higher price points without disrupting the Etsy algorithm
- Explore alternative online marketplaces beyond Etsy that may be more tolerant of cannabis accessories
First Customer Strategy
Started selling on Etsy in 2023 where the marketplace's built-in traffic provided immediate discovery. Sales came almost immediately at $1,200-$2,000/month, driven by differentiated design (elegant solid wood trays that 'grandma wouldn't mind seeing') at a competitive price point compared to competitors.
Pricing Insight
Products are priced competitively on Etsy but increasing prices hurts the Etsy algorithm. At craft shows, similar but lower-quality trays sell for double the Etsy price, suggesting the creator is underpricing but is constrained by platform dynamics. Wholesale pricing is too high for dispensary/headshop partners and celebrity brand collaborators.
New Market Opportunities
- Fountain pen trays / desk accessories Another maker is considering selling fountain pen trays — the same CNC woodworking skills and manufacturing process could apply to adjacent luxury desk accessory markets
- CNC woodworking as a service Multiple commenters asked about CNC equipment and process, suggesting demand for CNC woodworking knowledge or small-batch manufacturing services
Key Takeaways
- • Platform dependency (Etsy) is a double-edged sword: easy initial traffic but algorithm changes can zero out revenue overnight (July/August $0 months)
- • Design differentiation in a saturated market works — making products that don't look 'stereotypical' opens up a broader customer base
- • Social media advertising restrictions on paraphernalia make paid customer acquisition extremely difficult, forcing reliance on marketplace organic traffic
- • Wholesale pricing constraints can block B2B growth entirely — if you can't offshore to lower costs and won't compromise quality, wholesale may not be viable
- • Continuous manufacturing optimization (50% CNC to 80% CNC over 20 months) is essential for maintaining margins in a physical goods business
- • Craft show pricing at 2x Etsy prices reveals a significant channel arbitrage opportunity that the creator hasn't fully exploited
Sentiment Analysis
2 Pos / 3 NeuNotable Quotes
"A quick look on Etsy and it seemed super saturated, do you push through the noise somehow? — PUSH_AX"
"The niche I went into was making rolling trays I wouldn't mind my grandma seeing, because they don't look like the cheap steel Rick and Morty trays that they sell at head shops. — jermaustin1"
"When I started selling them, 50% was CNC, 40% was me and a bandsaw, 10% was me and a sander. After 20 months of optimizations, its now 80% CNC, 20% sander. — jermaustin1"
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