How To Make and Sell a DIY Squat Rack

10 min read

Making a homemade squat rack is a great way to amp up your at-home workouts. Plus, building and selling DIY workout equipment can be a fantastic way to make money online.

In this guide, we’ll show you two DIY squat rack designs and help you start an online store. We’ve also included advice on marketing your squat rack business to help you connect with customers.

How To Build a DIY Squat Rack

There are a lot of squat rack designs out there, but each system shares a few fundamental features:

A rack or series of notches for your barbell
Support systems for the barbell’s weight
Safety structures to keep the user safe

Let’s talk about that last one. When you make a DIY squat rack, your first priority should be safety. When you or your customers use this equipment, the setup needs to safely support a barbell and be sturdy enough to stay standing during an exercise session. Keep that in mind as we go over these two DIY squat rack ideas.

Design number One: the wooden squat rack

This DIY squat rack design involves cutting notches into a set of wooden planks, then constructing a support system that holds up the entire setup. While the actual design process will depend on your goals, here’s a general idea of what you’ll need to get started:

Two, 16-foot 2x4s (wood planks)
Wood screws
A drill
A jigsaw
Wood glue

Building the squat rack

This homemade squat rack will include two vertical planks of wood supported by a wooden stand. The vertical planks will have notches spaced every few inches, letting the user place their barbell in the stand at a variety of heights.

Although the construction process will vary, you can expect to secure your support system with screws and wood glue, then attach the vertical planks with the same tools. You’ll also probably need a jigsaw to cut notches in the vertical planks.

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Who should use this design?

This DIY wooden squat rack design will give you the most true-to-gym experience of any homemade option — and the building process reflects that. Since this design requires some carpentry skills, it’s best for more advanced DIY builders.

Design number Two: the bucket squat rack

Our second homemade squat rack idea uses two buckets, concrete, and some wood planks for an easy and low-cost design. Track down these items to get started:

Two 5 gallon buckets
Six 7-foot 2x4s
Wood glue
Wood screws
Ready-mix concrete

Building the rack

This DIY squat rack design involves creating two parallel stands for your barbell which are firmly set in concrete. First, take two of the 2x4s and cut about four inches off their ends. Next, glue an uncut 2×4 to each side of the shorter planks. Allow the glue to dry, then secure the planks with screws. The end result is a wooden pillar with a dip or notch at the top where you can place your barbell.

Now all that’s left to do is get your concrete ready in the five-gallon buckets and set the wooden pillars in place. Once the concrete is dry, you’re good to go.

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Who should use this design?

Since this DIY squat rack idea doesn’t require advanced carpentry skills, it’s a fantastic option if you’re new to DIY projects. This design idea also requires less wood than the first option, so it’s a good pick if you’re looking for something that’s low-cost.

How To Sell Your DIY Squat Racks Online

Now that you’ve got some DIY squat rack ideas, it’s time to think about selling them. But how do you get started? We’ll break it down into three steps.

Step One: pick a platform

You can’t sell online if you don’t know where to post your products. Thankfully, picking a platform to sell your DIY squat racks isn’t as complicated as you might think.

First, you should consider the fees. Since you’re just getting started with your business, it’s really discouraging to pay for expensive memberships when you haven’t even made a sale yet. That’s why it’s important to use a sales platform that lets you start selling for free.

At Ecwid, we want you to succeed, so we made it easy to launch an online store without paying anything.

Next, you need a platform that lets you manage who buys your DIY squat racks. Why? Well, squat racks are big — and that makes them hard to ship. With some online store platforms, you’re forced to ship your products to whoever buys them. But that just doesn’t always work.

So instead of getting stuck with impossible-to-ship orders, choose a platform that lets you sell to local buyers. Ecwid is a good choice for this as well. With a few clicks, you can set up local pickup and delivery so only nearby customers can order your homemade squat racks.

(Really good at shipping big stuff? Don’t worry. With Ecwid, you can enable shipping and local pickup.)

Step Two: post your products

This one is probably obvious, but we’ve got some helpful tips to make your product listings stand out.

1. Take good pictures

Online shoppers rely on pictures to understand what they’re buying. So what does a “good” picture include? Two things: bright lighting and simple backgrounds. If you don’t have good lighting inside, try heading outdoors and let the sun do the work for you. If you can’t decide on a background, go for something simple like a white wall.

2. Provide a clear description

Your product descriptions need to be honest and give the customer a clear understanding of what they’re purchasing. Avoid making claims you can’t back up, but don’t be shy about telling readers how good your product is. You made it, after all!

3. Show off those reviews

Once you’ve gained a few happy customers, it’s a fantastic idea to show off your reviews. Ecwid lets you collect customer reviews with a variety of simple tools, so this is an easy way to improve your product listings.

Step Three: market your store

Your website is up and running, you’ve got some products listed — now it’s time to market. Marketing for online businesses can take two routes: in-person ads and online ads.

First, in-person ads. Like we already discussed, it’s probably a good idea to focus on selling big items like DIY squat racks to local buyers. That means in-person marketing could be a great tool for your business. Try attending local fitness expos or markets that sell homemade products. While you chat with other attendees or set up your booth, remember to provide info about your online store so potential customers have easy access to your products.

Selling to local markets requires more than in-person ads, though. With digital marketing, you can target certain locations and specific types of shoppers. Combining this with your in-person efforts is a great way to boost traffic to your new site.

With Ecwid, you’ll have access to a simple dashboard where you can get started with Google Ads campaigns, Facebook marketing tools, and other online advertising systems that are perfect for growing your business.

Time To Get Started!

If you’re ready to start your new DIY squat rack business, it’s a great time to get started. Online retail is set to get even bigger in the coming years, so joining the market now is a smart move.

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Aug 13, 2021

About the author

Max has been working in the ecommerce industry for the last six years helping brands to establish and level-up content marketing and SEO. Despite that, he has experience with entrepreneurship. He is a fiction writer in his free time.