I want to do an economic study of the careers of luthiers

[Jacob Hagerty]

I’ve been building mandolins full time since 2015. I am self taught and have no history of luthier work or woodworking for that matter. It started out as a hobby that became my full time job. I sold my first mandolin (#4) in 2017 for $4500. Barely covering the cost of materials, and nowhere near enough left over to call profit. It was a labor of love for many years and still is. Over the years I have increased production by upgrading tools and reinvesting back into the business. Demand increased and I raised prices. I now get twice as much, for a higher quality product that takes less time to produce. I have a pretty decent waiting list and reputation that is constantly growing. As a musician I was always told I could make 10s of dollars, when I started building mandolins fellow luthiers told me I would make 5s of dollars…they were right. It’s a labor of love. I have owned a business for over 20 years which has allowed me to have the time and resources needed to dedicate my time to my craft. I don’t advertise I don’t set up booths at shows. The mandolins sell themselves. I offer payment plans for my customers to be able to get into a $10,000 mandolin who normally wouldn’t be able to afford it. I do custom work as well as my standard models. I don’t take on repairs unless it’s a close friend. I have no choice but to keep raising my prices as demand grows. I watched many mandolin luthiers sell mandolins which would immediately be turned around and sold at a higher price, cause the demand was so high but they felt they needed to honor their waitlist price. Shoot me an email if you would like to chat.
Hagertymandolins@gmail.com