custom made holsters?

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Axis II

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Hi guys! I'm asking this for a friend to help him get on the right track. He has been making custom leather IWB/OWB holsters reinforced with kydex for friends and family and we keep telling him he needs to sell them but he doesn't think there is a market. He just finished this one for a friend and all the leather has been hand stitched, formed to the gun, kydex reinforcement.

Our question is it a waste of time and $ doing this or is there a market for them and how would a guy get into it? He thinks everyone and their brother is making custom holsters so he doesn't think he has a chance. He charged about $60 for this one and he has several he has made for his 1911 that's lasted about 9yrs and still looks good. I would think this would be a $100 holster.

Any info is welcome.
 

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I think he could sell them. However, there have been several holster makers that were very popular over the past dozen years or so that have come and gone over that time.

All it takes is one good review on a forum or two and his orders could go through the roof. On the other hand a couple of disgruntled customers posting on various forums could torpedo his efforts. Being a leather/kydex artist is one thing. Being a good business man is another.
 
JTQ said:
I think he could sell them. However, there have been several holster makers that were very popular over the past dozen years or so that have come and gone over that time.

All it takes is one good review on a forum or two and his orders could go through the roof. On the other hand a couple of disgruntled customers posting on various forums could torpedo his efforts. Being a leather/kydex artist is one thing. Being a good business man is another.
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So far he has made several for friends and family and everyone seems very happy but he needs the firearm to mold the kydex so I told him buy a couple of blue guns in the popular makes but he doesn't think the money is there to be buying blue guns for molds. .
 
I look at it like I do making grips. You might be able to make some money at it but as a hobby, not a business. There are are about a jillion holster makers or grip makers out there to compete with.
 
I do kydex holsters as a hobby and have looked into turning it into a business. it's a really tough market to break into. He is right, a lot of people are making "custom" leather and kydex holsters, so he'll need something to set his apart from all the other sellers.

A few problems I've noted is that no one is going to pay $60-80-100 for a holster from a no-name builder. You have to start at lower prices and then slowly increase as you get brand recognition.

Then on the business side, the raw material cost is relatively low, but your friend is right. If you buy enough blue guns (I would actually recommend pre-blocked mold guns) to make holsters for most of the common makes, you'll be several hundred if not a thousand dollars into just those. And they're consumables, not durable goods. So they will need to be replaced occasionally. Also look at the other consumable materials cost.

Also look into how long it takes him to make a holster and what he sees as a fair hourly rate for his time. If it takes him 3 hours to make a holster at say, $10/hour, and maybe $10 in materials, his product cost is $40. (Note I do kydex and it doesn't take me 3 hours per holster when I'm doing several, but I don't know how long it would take to do a leather holster). Can he sell the holster for enough to cover not only his direct product cost, but also his website/time spent marketing and other business costs and fees? How much is left over for actual profit?

Everybody thinks about failure of a business, but is he prepared for success? What happens if he gets 200 orders in a month? What is his production capacity? (does he have a full time job and other things that require his time?)

There's lots of factors in deciding if it's worth it to go into business. Bottom line, if he doesn't think it will be a profitable business, it never will be.
 
Go on fleabay and take a look at the kydex holster market. See the zillions of folks making holsters?

Go on fleabay and take a look at the GOOD leather holster market. See the .... wait, what? There aren't as many?

I don't often see good reinforced leather holsters often. Yes, they are out there. Yes, you can make good money, if you can find someone to sell them to. I make my own holsters, most of the time. Are my holsters decent? Yes, my holsters are decent. Why are my holsters decent? Because I build them exactly as I want. And I throw lots of time at them. I would starve to death trying to run an ebay store with my holsters though. I might make a little bit of money, and I may someday sell some holsters. But at the moment? Nope. I think your friend is probably right. He might be really really good at making holsters. But he isn't going to make more than a few sales a month without spending a ton of time, and money on equipment.

If he wanted to do it, what I would have to do (because my hobbies get aggressive sometimes and take more time than I have to give them!) is limit myself to a specific number of hours a week to work on holsters. I'd start with guns I already had molds for, even if they aren't popular (if they aren't popular, there aren't that many holsters out there for them). Put those on fleabay/gunbroker/amazon/whatever and see where I am in a couple of months. If I'm ahead enough... I would start getting more blue guns, or... use it as an excuse to buy examples of more real guns. Slower, but...
 
Telekinesis said:
I do kydex holsters as a hobby and have looked into turning it into a business. it's a really tough market to break into. He is right, a lot of people are making "custom" leather and kydex holsters, so he'll need something to set his apart from all the other sellers.

A few problems I've noted is that no one is going to pay $60-80-100 for a holster from a no-name builder. You have to start at lower prices and then slowly increase as you get brand recognition.

Then on the business side, the raw material cost is relatively low, but your friend is right. If you buy enough blue guns (I would actually recommend pre-blocked mold guns) to make holsters for most of the common makes, you'll be several hundred if not a thousand dollars into just those. And they're consumables, not durable goods. So they will need to be replaced occasionally. Also look at the other consumable materials cost.

Also look into how long it takes him to make a holster and what he sees as a fair hourly rate for his time. If it takes him 3 hours to make a holster at say, $10/hour, and maybe $10 in materials, his product cost is $40. (Note I do kydex and it doesn't take me 3 hours per holster when I'm doing several, but I don't know how long it would take to do a leather holster). Can he sell the holster for enough to cover not only his direct product cost, but also his website/time spent marketing and other business costs and fees? How much is left over for actual profit?

Everybody thinks about failure of a business, but is he prepared for success? What happens if he gets 200 orders in a month? What is his production capacity? (does he have a full time job and other things that require his time?)

There's lots of factors in deciding if it's worth it to go into business. Bottom line, if he doesn't think it will be a profitable business, it never will be.
Click to expand...
The particular holster in the pic I posted he says he almost lost his rear end on it with materials. I think he charged the guy $50-60. He is probably getting smaller portions of leather and kydex when he needs them and not larger pieces with discounts would be my guess.
 
Mauser lover said:
Go on fleabay and take a look at the kydex holster market. See the zillions of folks making holsters?

Go on fleabay and take a look at the GOOD leather holster market. See the .... wait, what? There aren't as many?

I don't often see good reinforced leather holsters often. Yes, they are out there. Yes, you can make good money, if you can find someone to sell them to. I make my own holsters, most of the time. Are my holsters decent? Yes, my holsters are decent. Why are my holsters decent? Because I build them exactly as I want. And I throw lots of time at them. I would starve to death trying to run an ebay store with my holsters though. I might make a little bit of money, and I may someday sell some holsters. But at the moment? Nope. I think your friend is probably right. He might be really really good at making holsters. But he isn't going to make more than a few sales a month without spending a ton of time, and money on equipment.

If he wanted to do it, what I would have to do (because my hobbies get aggressive sometimes and take more time than I have to give them!) is limit myself to a specific number of hours a week to work on holsters. I'd start with guns I already had molds for, even if they aren't popular (if they aren't popular, there aren't that many holsters out there for them). Put those on fleabay/gunbroker/amazon/whatever and see where I am in a couple of months. If I'm ahead enough... I would start getting more blue guns, or... use it as an excuse to buy examples of more real guns. Slower, but...
Click to expand...
I told him this too. I said while your sitting in front of the TV with the kids sew up some leather. Its not like your dedicating specific time to it where you would consider the cost of your time.
 
For hobbies.... If I don't like doing it enough to do it for free, I don't do it. Another thing to consider. I seriously doubt I would like doing kydex enough when I got down to doing it in bulk.
 
A few problems I've noted is that no one is going to pay $60-80-100 for a holster from a no-name builder.
Click to expand...

Some would pay a lot more for custom. Look at what some of the custom rigs folks at SASS spend on a rig. Not to mention what a custom saddle costs.
 
ohihunter2014 said:
Hi guys! I'm asking this for a friend to help him get on the right track. He has been making custom leather IWB/OWB holsters reinforced with kydex for friends and family and we keep telling him he needs to sell them but he doesn't think there is a market. He just finished this one for a friend and all the leather has been hand stitched, formed to the gun, kydex reinforcement.

Our question is it a waste of time and $ doing this or is there a market for them and how would a guy get into it? He thinks everyone and their brother is making custom holsters so he doesn't think he has a chance. He charged about $60 for this one and he has several he has made for his 1911 that's lasted about 9yrs and still looks good. I would think this would be a $100 holster.

Any info is welcome.
Click to expand...

There are a ton of custom holsters. A friend of mine makes them and he can charge because he uses exotic materials and has set patterns (so no custom patterns) which keeps his making time to a known quantity. He does list some plain holsters for under $100 but really only sells exotics for $300+
 
jmorris said:
Some would pay a lot more for custom. Look at what some of the custom rigs folks at SASS spend on a rig. Not to mention what a custom saddle costs.[/QUO

I have to ask this. If YOU were going to have a custom SASS, a custom saddle, a pair of boots, or even a custom belt made would you go to someone you never heard of or a maker with a established reputation of turning out excellent work exactly like the customer requests? It takes a lot of time to establish a reputation. Also can you get enough orders for expensive custom work to survive on with all the big companies out there?[
Click to expand...
 
jmorris said:
Some would pay a lot more for custom. Look at what some of the custom rigs folks at SASS spend on a rig. Not to mention what a custom saddle costs.
Click to expand...
Sure, if I wasn't making my own holsters I'd pay $100-120 or so for a good holster too. I just don't think that a business can start out asking those prices for holsters right out of the gate.

If I was in the market for a new holster and was looking at a new company that no one knew about selling a holster for $100 versus a well known company with holsters with good reviews that cost $100, I would choose the well known company's product. It's a known quality item versus an unknown.

If the new company's holster was priced at $30 I'd be willing to give the new guy a try. At $50, I might if I really liked the work. At $75+ I'd probably go with the well known company.

Of course as the new company becomes known and gets a reputation for good quality work, the price they can charge can increase. I just don't think they can start asking the same price as an established brand and expect to get many customers.
 
Who would you go to for an expensive custom anything? Someone with an established reputation of doing excellent work exactly as the customer requests or someone you never heard of?
 
Telekinesis said:
Everybody thinks about failure of a business, but is he prepared for success? What happens if he gets 200 orders in a month? What is his production capacity? (does he have a full time job and other things that require his time?)
Click to expand...
As I alluded to above, I can probably think of a half dozen holster makers in the past 10 years or so, that went from unknown, to hot, to "I'm out of this because I can't (or don't want to) keep up with demand".
 
People often complain about a six month wait (I think that's as long as they've ever been, but they're much shorter now) for Milt Sparks holsters, but they reliably deliver them when promised. However, some makers have had delivery times measured in the multiple year time frame, and some haven't even made those promised delivery times. Oooh, that gets ugly on the gun forums.
 
I have to ask this. If YOU were going to have a custom SASS, a custom saddle, a pair of boots, or even a custom belt made would you go to someone you never heard of or a maker with a established reputation of turning out excellent work exactly like the customer requests?
Click to expand...

I have before, I generally like to see an example of the work though.

I have a friend that is a “no name” that does excellent leather work and has an enormous amount of professional equipment for someone that just does leather work as a hobby. Word of mouth travels very fast in this community. If you turn out crap, everyone knows it just as fast as if it is excellent.
 
It's my personal opinion only, but, for a gun I intend to keep, I would rather pay $135 plus shipping and wait 3-6 months for this model holster:
G26 Criterion (3) (800x600)[1].jpg
 
JTQ said:
As I alluded to above, I can probably think of a half dozen holster makers in the past 10 years or so, that went from unknown, to hot, to "I'm out of this because I can't (or don't want to) keep up with demand".
Click to expand...

Just curious, but if you had a great demand, then would it not be prudent to lower the demand with a higher price. A price that would also make it worth your time?
 
I'm a custom holster/leather maker. It's not something you make a lot of money at, more of a hobby that pays for itself (if you're lucky).

Only way to do it for a living is to work on a lot of volume or really custom work like saddles and specialty gun rigs and belts. I do mostly old west reproductions. Run of the mill EDC holsters and such have way too much competition to charge custom prices to make up for volume. People won't care if they are hand stitched and few are wanting any carving/stamping or special materials and features to make a high end custom.
 
The issue with him needing my gun is two fold - I don't have my gun, and then there is that nasty shipping both ways - at ~$75/each way, that $60 holster is now over $200
 
George P said:
The issue with him needing my gun is two fold - I don't have my gun, and then there is that nasty shipping both ways - at ~$75/each way, that $60 holster is now over $200
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That's why i told him get blue guns. :)
 
Sounds like a good gun show gig- invest in a few blue guns, make them like that that for the most common models, Glocks, 1911, M&P, etc. Have an example or two of custom work for less common guns at the table, and cards with contact info.
 
Cowhide Cliff said:
I'm a custom holster/leather maker. It's not something you make a lot of money at, more of a hobby that pays for itself (if you're lucky).

Only way to do it for a living is to work on a lot of volume or really custom work like saddles and specialty gun rigs and belts. I do mostly old west reproductions. Run of the mill EDC holsters and such have way too much competition to charge custom prices to make up for volume. People won't care if they are hand stitched and few are wanting any carving/stamping or special materials and features to make a high end custom.
Click to expand...

Many years ago I made custom carved western belts as a side job to have a little spending money because raising a family took about everything my regular job brought in and because I enjoyed doing leather work. I built one fully floral carved western roper saddle and swore of saddle making forever. I put the large tools I used in a jar and they have never been removed from that jar.

I'll still make a tooled belt as a gift once in a great while and I need to make myself a new one as I've lost some weight and all my belts have run out of holes. I make my own holsters and I have a new shooter that could stand a nice carved holster to carry it around in. I should gather up some leather and get busy.
 
When I am in the market for a holster I ask for recommendations of holsters for my gun and my intended carrying use then see which local stores sell the holsters that I am interested in. I like to touch a holster and try it on for size to see if it will remotely fit me and my intended purpose. I won't pay $100+ for a holster I can't see, touch and has no reviews.

What exactly is custom about the holsters he makes? Are they fit to a particular person for a particular gun? Or are they just hand made cookie cutter holsters? There are dozens of holsters for pretty much every popular model of firearm... I don't see a market for offering yet another holster for a Sig 226, Beretta 92, S&W Shield, etc. Do his holster offer something that all the other holsters designed around a particular gun don't offer?

I am a woodworker and make some pretty nice furniture... I would never think of trying to sell it, even as a hobby. If someone wants something nicer than Ikea press board furniture they will go to a furniture store.

I am sure he makes very nice holsters but I think he is right and understands that not many people are willing to pay for a custom holster when there are so many production holsters available.
 
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