Comments on: Ironing Board Loves Computer

By: AliciaPaulson

AliciaPaulson — Thu, 08 Jun 2006 01:43:16 +0000

Corinne,
I can’t speak with authority to all of your points — many of those things I would think you will have to work out with your retailers; there are no hard and fast rules. We don’t expect our vendors to have displays, but again, I can’t speak in a general way about it — I expect that many vendors do not have displays for their merchandise, so you kind of need to figure out what works for you and for the stores you are trying to approach. And I would say that if someone has not shown interest in your product for whatever reason, it’s probably in your best interest to move on.
Thanks, and good luck,
Alicia

By: rena

rena — Wed, 07 Jun 2006 19:49:55 +0000

Great post as always! Here are a few more comments based on what I know from owning a shop…

1. Store visits – generally a bad idea. Even if it looks dead in the shop and a great time to approach, we are always doing something…thinking about reorders, thinking about marketing, making a list of things to do, paying bills (ugh), et cetera. I rather like my peaceful time to myself on a slow day! If you happen to visit one of your dream stores and you are in from out of town, you can say hi and leave them a postcard with image and contact info. That’s about all I can manage to deal with generally…

2. Email contents – short and sweet is the best. Emails with 20 large image attachments are not good! I would say – link to your URL, *one* plain vanilla nice image of your product on white, maybe *one* image of your product in its setting (to give the idea of mood, relative size, color) and that’s it. A general wholesale price list/policy (ie “$12-30 per item, $150 minimum, first order paid by credit card upon shipping”) is fine. Put the rest on your website! This is enough to let me know if I should investigate further.

3. Followup calls – this may just be me because I have a very short memory but if you call about something you mailed two weeks ago, I am not going to remember you. I get probably 5 product submissions a day, so after two weeks, if I have not contacted you I won’t remember who you are. I am VERY SORRY about this and always feel sheepish when someone calls and I can’t remember their line. Again don’t feel bad, it just wasn’t a fit for that shop at that particular time, that’s all. A followup email is easier for me, and that way you can always sneak in an image to jog my memory.

By: Corinne

Corinne — Wed, 07 Jun 2006 13:20:19 +0000

Alicia – THANK YOU!!! When you consider future posts, would you consider answering these questions too: 1. How much time is acceptable to have product ready – how far in advance will a store buy your product? Can I say I need two weeks to get them something or will I lose them? 2. What about displays – I just went to the NY Stationery Show and many of the [big] vendors offer to provide retailers with display products if a purchase is big enough…this would be impossible for me (selling $4 cards)…will this hurt me? Do small shops like yours expect to provide display for items like cards, earrings, bookmarks…smallish things? 3. If you refuse to sell on consignment and a store says, “no thank you”, is it ok to approach them again after say two seasons of your product selling well or is that stalking? ;) Thank you so much for the previous posts – I’ve read them numerous times alreay!!!

By: iHanna

iHanna — Tue, 06 Jun 2006 18:39:08 +0000

Great post, thank you! I will try this out, soon. I hope that you can talk more about :
“attach an easy-to-decipher pricelist with minimums and policies (terms, turnaround times, contact information)”

and describe what that is, how it could/should look like and so on. Minimums? Policies? Terms? What terms should I have? I haven’t got a clue! :-)

By: Tami

Tami — Tue, 06 Jun 2006 15:28:39 +0000

I love your business posts .. very informative. Unfortunately when I was in college (and didn’t know any better) I made some softie bunnies and went door-to-door to some gift shops in Santa Barbara – SANS appointments. Finally one store manager decided to give it a try but only if I would remake them in the colors she specified. I had two prices ready, one for single units and one for three units. She bought the three and that was it. No more orders. And I don’t think that I really made that much money in the end. But it was an interesting experience. Imagine what would have happened all those years ago if I were prepared. Thank you for sharing!

By: ElisaLou

ElisaLou — Mon, 05 Jun 2006 19:58:19 +0000

Wow, thanks for this great advice. I am on the fence about wholesale. I
have been approached a few times but I can’t seem to bring myself to the point of putting my goods in stores. My website does well on it’s own, and I LOVE the idea of people being able to actually afford my products. I would have to raise my prices if I started the wholesale deal. I would love to hear more about the pros and cons of selling in boutiques.

By: Jen

Jen — Mon, 05 Jun 2006 19:31:49 +0000

Thanks for the info – I’m almost ready to approach stores, and I was debating how to start that “initial” contact – phone, email, in person? This helps a lot.

By: Michelle

Michelle — Mon, 05 Jun 2006 18:45:36 +0000

Thank you so much for sharing this info! I’m so relieved to hear someone recommend initiating contact by email or mail rather than walking into the store to push your wares. Everyone tells you to just march in there and chat the buyer up (being aware of making sure it’s a good time for them, etc.). But still–I’d rather not put myself or anyone else on the spot.

By: kathi

kathi — Mon, 05 Jun 2006 18:26:41 +0000

i love these posts on selling. i’ve been thinking of “approaching” potential buyers and it’s great to know what’s right/wrong. definitely helps with the confidence factor when i’m actually ready to dive into selling. thanks!