would there be a market for high end custom desks in the gaming secotor?

[ridfer]

Hello,

 

I am an aspiring furniture designer/carpenter. I've followed a study for this for 3 years but i dropped out cuz of personal problems. In this time though i designed and built the desk below, which i will use as an example.

Now i'm just wondering what kinda work i should do for the rest of my life, looking like i'm going into the pc service business.

However every time i show a picture of my desk/setup to people they all say i should do that for a job.

So i was thinking i could check here if there is any interest in it.

 

Now i would have no idea how expensive a desk like this is gonna be but you can expect above €2500 - 3000. the price really depends on the furniture maker who builds it. if i'm gonna do this i won't be making them, mainly because of transport reasons. Instead i will search for a furniture maker in the area of the customer and let it be build there. (if i where to do all myself i would ask around 2000 for it)

 

It would be really awesome if i could make a living designing premium custom gaming desks (so this means every desk will be customly designed and custom made)

And with all the cheap ikea desks i see with the 8000 dollar systems on top of it ... i feel like there is a market for it. i kinda find it suprising how it is not yet a thing? 

 

 

 

 

[ShadySocks]

Maybe make a kickstarter?

[vanished]

There was another guy on here a long time ago with a similar idea, basically had really beautiful, fancy hand crafted wooden desks.  I think there would be a market but it would be extremely small.  The majority of gamers are young and don't have much money, and what they have they usually sink into performance components, not looks.  Even older people with money to spend on this are gonna have so many other products competing for their cash that this won't sell to the majority.

[Guest lilbman]

I doubt it.

 

It would be a very niche market and you wouldn't make enough to live off of, even if it you didn't make gaming oriented desks.  Anything 'custom' has a very niche market IMO.

 

 

After reading what I wrote, I realized I watch way too much Shark Tank

[ShadySocks]

Maybe you can figure out how the extreme custom builders like JPModified get their customers.

[dizmo]

1 hour ago, Ryan_Vickers said:

There was another guy on here a long time ago with a similar idea, basically had really beautiful, fancy hand crafted wooden desks.  I think there would be a market but it would be extremely small.  The majority of gamers are young and don't have much money, and what they have they usually sink into performance components, not looks.  Even older people with money to spend on this are gonna have so many other products competing for their cash that this won't sell to the majority.

On this forum, maybe The average age of a video gamer is 35, right in their prime earning years.

[vanished]

14 minutes ago, dizmo said:

On this forum, maybe The average age of a video gamer is 35, right in their prime earning years.

True Prime spending years though too... mortgage, kids, vehicles, and a lot of other furniture in the house already.  To spend 4000 euros on a desk for a PC that probably cost half that is not something that will appeal to many.

 

That said, if you could make them quickly enough, say, one per month, and assuming most of that cost is your labour and not materials, you should be able to make a decent living out of it, even if you do sell very few of them.

[ridfer]

1 hour ago, ShadySocks said:

Maybe you can figure out how the extreme custom builders like JPModified get their customers.

these would be the people i would be looking at them indeed

 

[mr moose]

I think you need to talk to some interior designers, The people who will pay for this level of furnishing typically move with whats in style (color, material, size etc).  Also be prepared to talk the talk when talking directly to clients.  Top end buyers aren't interested in people who lack confidence, don't know their product or who's making it etc.  Basically know your shit before you open your mouth.

[dizmo]

1 minute ago, Ryan_Vickers said:

True Prime spending years though too... mortgage, kids, vehicles, and a lot of other furniture in the house already.  To spend 4000 euros on a desk for a PC that probably cost half that is not something that will appeal to many.

 

That said, if you could make them quickly enough, say, one per month, and assuming most of that cost is your labour and not materials, you should be able to make a decent living out of it, even if you do sell very few of them.

Haha, you're assuming people have kids Very few of my friends do. Granted that's not really relevant to the masses, but still. I hadn't noticed the 4000 euro part TBH...that's just insane. I was thinking $2,000, which is reasonable. I've been managing to hold off buying a $1,200 liquor cabinet that looks like a turn of the century German light bulb tester.

 

 

I think it's a great idea, but a very, very niche one, one best left for say a weekend hobby more than a full time this-pays-my-bills career. Logistics are a nightmare as far as shipping something that heavy goes, and shipping it properly so that there's no damage. I think high end desks are fine, but as far as something costing $5,000 USD? That's luxury territory, not just high end. At that point, you could easily contract out to a carpenter and have them build you something of similar quality. A high end desk, you'd probably want to price at around $1,500 - $2,000. Some people are paying around that now for a standing/sitting desk. I have friends that make $150k+ a year that wouldn't spend that kind of money on a desk. Then again, if you're looking to sell maybe 25 a year, it doesn't need a huge market. There is a niche market for everything. *shrug*

Really, when it comes down to it, you have to try it. Take the risk.

 

I think the biggest issue you're going to have, is the fact you're just doing the design work. Which really is the easiest part. I could make a list of what I wanted, and a carpenter could whip something up quite easily. There's nothing proprietary about what you're doing.

[mr moose]

1 hour ago, dizmo said:

Really, when it comes down to it, you have to try it. Take the risk.

 

 

What is it they say?  There is no such thing as a successful person who didn't try.

[divito]

Unless you're going to start going through design patents and stuff, it's going to be very dependent on your market and how much work you're willing to do. If you're going to design and build, and you're in a decent area, it could be a worthwhile project. But as people have mentioned, it will be niche, and as you've realized, shipping your creations would be counter-productive.

I'm trying to think of a way to keep some propriety to it, but there's not much unless you're just a great designer/carpenter. And going off your desk, you have some definite skills.

If I were in your position and had those skills, I'd look at building a couple more example desks, and open a website showing the design and the final products, and hope to have people interested enough to come to you for a custom desk. Depending on your city and such, you'll be looking into travel to meet with clients, and have to be flexible in your target prices and maintaining a decent margin.

[BagelMonster]

Damn, that desk looks really good. But I don't think many people will pay that much for a desk. Maybe you can do some cheaper designs and not use super premium materials first, launch a kickstarter and get some traction going before making these super high end desks. Though logistics is going to be a huge problem  Good luck though, you're really talented!