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How To Market Your Own Crafted Products
You have a product. You’ve seen shops where it would go nicely. Now what? First, know your market. If you’ve never been a shopper in your area, how can you know what the market will bear? So if you haven’t paid much attention, in a while, then it’s time to go play tourist. The shop owners are keenly aware of the latest, popular tastes and desires. They know their market, better than anyone else. So where, do you think, you will ever get that information? From the shop owners. Don’t be afraid that you’ll be showing yourself off as the ‘wannabe’ in the neighborhood. On the contrary. When you spend some quality time with the shop owners, asking them pertinent questions about your own product, you are joining in the marketing scene. Simply ask. Most tourist and gift shops in tourist areas, stay open on the weekends. Most of them also, take Monday as their day off. Why? Because of shoppers. When you’ve found a shop, you want to get acquainted with, find out which day they are closed. You want to visit, the following day. Usually, your day to visit, is Tuesday or even Wednesday. Those are the quietest days of the week. Don’t try this on a Sat. You want to make friends, not enemies. All you have to do is step inside and ask for the owner. Then introduce yourself and quickly let them know, you don’t have samples with you, you just want to make plans for future products. Gab with them. Ask which hand crafted products moved the fastest. The shop owner isn’t interested in the highest profit per piece, they are interested in the most volume in sales. If they can sell a $5 item, 4 or 5 times each day, it’s better than that $100 item that only moves maybe twice a year. Think the way the shop owner thinks. Every square inch of display space, needs to pull its weight. Watching a product collect dust is disheartening, to say the least. That shop keeper is looking for that product that everybody wants, attracts attention to itself and practically sells itself. If you can provide that product, it doesn’t matter what China can make cheaper. One of the things a shop owner is wary of, is local artists. The reason? That local artist doesn’t understand there is a reason the shop has to double the price of the object. They have a heavy overhead to support. In most cases, the shop has to see a bigger profit from your product, than you see. You can make 10 or 100 of that same product, in the time it takes him/her to sell just one. So don’t be bitter about them making a profit off your labor. If that shop doesn’t survive, where will you sell your product? Unless, of course, you’re in the mood to open your own shop. So without actually saying it, let the owner know you know what wholesale means and that you agree with the shop owner, in what it takes to move that product. You might say something like this: I know I produce an item that would be great in this shop, but I wanted to make sure it could sell for enough for me to still make a profit at the wholesale rate. Right there, you’ve relieved the shop owner from the worry of arguments over your price. They’re going to ask just what it is you make. Be prepared to explain to them what you produce. Talk honestly with them. “It takes about $2 in materials and I can push them through with only about an hour of man hours, so I can actually produce it for $4, although I’d like to go for $6 so that I can see a profit. But, would it sell for $12? What do you think?” Then comes the walk through the store while they show you which products do move and at what prices. When and if, you see a product much like your own, say so. “This is what I was talking about. This is almost just like mine, except mine is……. What if I produced this item at a price of $?, would that by any chance cut the costs for you?” “Well, I’ll tell you what (smile), I’ll be back tomorrow with a sample and we can talk.” This actually works, folks. The shop owner is not a meanie living in their own little snoopy worlds. If they seem put off by you, it’s because of what I talked about. It’s because the local crafters, come to him/her asking for the retail price, not taking into account that the item will only sell for just so much. If you’ve done your homework, worked on the time it takes to produce the item, kept your cost down, you should be able to offer the product at a good wholesale price. So what does this tell you? Crochet is out! Knitting is out! You’ve got to be able to produce more than one, at the same time-painting assembly line style, assembly in assembly line style. You don’t fall in love with your product, you look at it with the question ‘time waster or money producer’. If it’s a time waster, don’t go talking to a shop owner about it. They can’t afford it. Article Directory: http://www.articledashboard.com Judy writes about crafting and the business of crafts on her own websites at judysbookshop.com/blog at the Crafter's Corner at judysbookshop.com/nuke and on many blogs. All these links, you can find on the main page. |
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