Please email for other sizes
You have a range of designs you make to order: a dining table, a bench, a sideboard, a bed. Customers love the designs but want them in their size, in oak or walnut, oiled or lacquered. Your online shop lists three sizes in oak and says 'please email for other sizes and timbers'. Most people who need something different do email, and each one needs a price worked out.
Some people do not email. They leave, and buy something they can price and order on the spot elsewhere.
Why a shop cannot handle your range
Online shops are built for products with a few fixed variants. Made-to-order furniture has continuous options: length in any size within a range, several timbers, several finishes, optional extras.
- Variants multiply beyond what a shop can list.
- Price depends on dimensions, not just the option chosen.
- Some combinations do not work structurally or aesthetically, and the shop cannot stop them.
- Lead times depend on the options and your order book.
- Orders arrive with a variant name, not a workshop spec.
What the email gap costs
Every 'email for a price' is a customer who might not bother. The ones who do take your time to price. Pricing by email is inconsistent. Orders that do come in still need the spec confirmed. And your made-to-order range, which should be the easier, more repeatable part of the business, behaves like bespoke work.
A configurator priced from your rules
- We capture how you price the range: base price per design, how price changes with length and width, timber and finish uplifts, and extras such as drawers or breadboard ends.
- Limits are set per design: minimum and maximum sizes, combinations you do not offer, and rules like leg positions changing above a certain length.
- The configurator on your website lets customers choose each option and see the price update, with a simple preview or photos of real pieces in each timber and finish.
- A lead time is shown based on your order book, not a fixed promise.
- Customers can order with a deposit through Stripe or your shop's checkout, or request a formal quote if they prefer.
- The order reaches the workshop as a full spec, ready for the cutting list and hardware list.
| Step | Standard shop | Configurator |
|---|---|---|
| Custom size | Email us | Chosen within your limits |
| Price | Worked out by hand | Calculated from your rules |
| Invalid combinations | Found later | Prevented at order |
| Lead time | Fixed text | From your order book |
| Workshop spec | Retyped | Created from the order |
The configurator can sit inside Shopify, WooCommerce or your existing site, so you do not have to change your shop.
A range that sells itself
Customers who want a size or timber you did not list can order it without waiting. Prices are consistent. The workshop receives a clear spec. You spend less time on pricing emails and more on making. And the orders data shows which sizes, timbers and finishes people choose, which helps you plan timber buying and decide what to feature.
It is worth being careful about which options you offer online. A configurator makes it easy to sell combinations, so we build your limits in from the start: sizes where a table needs a centre leg, timbers you only buy in certain thicknesses, finishes that do not suit a particular design. What the customer can order is what you are happy to make, and anything else becomes a conversation.
Is your range stuck behind email?
- Your website asks people to email for other sizes or timbers.
- You price made-to-order pieces by hand.
- Orders arrive needing the spec confirmed.
- Customers have ordered combinations you would rather not make.
- You suspect people leave rather than ask.