As many of you know, I managed a woodcraft co-op store in the ’90s. I loved selling those beautiful handcrafted wooden products to customers who came in the store to admire the unique creations. I found working with the professional…
Category: Product Saleability
Creating Interest for Your Products
I love success stories! I’ll bet you do to! I especially like to share stories where a producer or artisan is creating interest in their product. Most new producers and artisans grow their business in the same manner: Sell at…
UPC Codes — Where Do You Get Them?
Last article we talked about if you need UPC Codes. Today, I will be sharing where you can get UPC codes. The ‘official’ site to buy UPC barcodes is GS1. The website list all the information you will need to…
UPC Codes — Do You Need Them?
One of my Idaho Gifts Wholesale vendors emailed me last week to ask about UPC codes — Did he need them? Where to get them? With all the changes going on in the marketplace — especially since we are digitizing…
Know Your Product Niche
One of the biggest mistake new product makers believe is that EVERYONE is their market! Well, even if you make toothpaste (that everyone uses), your niche is still not everyone! So one of the most important steps in marketing your…
What Makes a Good Wholesale Product?
After going through the responses I received from my survey, the area you wanted more information about is selling wholesale! So to accommodate those requests, I am starting a series of article I am calling ‘A Primer for Selling Wholesale’. …
Make Your Products Appealing to Retailers
Back in July 2009, I posted an article that has consistently been one of my top read posts: Gift Shop Buyers Want Unique Products. In the article I talked about how uniqueness is most important when selling to gift or…
Is Consignment a Good Idea?
Decided whether Consignment is a Good Idea for your products is a personal decision you need to make as a professional craftsman or artisan. Personally, I tell folks to avoid it, but is this good advice? Ironically, while researching the…
Appropriate Pricing for the Gift Industry
Over the years of selling gift products I have noticed one particular area that is critical to selling to gift shops: Appropriate pricing! Each gift shop can be different, but shops often follow certain criteria when purchasing and pricing gift…
What the IRS Says About Hobby vs. Business
Earlier this year, I post a few articles on when a hobby becomes a business. We explored different definitions from several different people from some of the artisan groups I am a member of on Facebook and LinkedIn. The comments…
Wholesaling One-of-a-Kind Products
Many professional crafters and artisans pride themselves on making one-of-a-kind creations. Beautiful thought if you plan only to sell retail, but how do you translate one-of-a-kind products into products for wholesaling? I did a bit of research and came up…
Will My Products Sell?
Last week I received an email for a producer asking me if I thought her product would sell. Since this is a question on most producer’s minds, I thought I would share our communications. Her note said: I have a…