The Art Business Institute shares a wonderful article on Tips for Working with Wholesale Buyers. The eight tips below are an excellent guide for understanding where buyers are coming from, what they are thinking and how to work with them effectively when presenting your products. As a ten year + sales rep, I can...
Selling through consignment, wholesaling or drop shipping is three of the ways you can sell your products to various retail outlets. But what does each of them mean and how do they work for your business? Andreea Ayers has compiled a list of pros and cons for all three selling methods which should help...
As the end of the year is quickly approaching, it made sense to post one of Heather Allard, better known as The Mogul Mom, top posts from 2011! Heather outlines 7 critical steps for every producer to follow when trying to wholesale your products. She is right on target with her advice! If...
Talking about products and taking an order are two distinct different functions. Most sales people give professional presentations, but forget ask for the order! If you don’t ask the buyer if they would like to order product X today, most likely, they will not call you to place it later. Gift sales are often...
When working with new producers, I notice there are many questions around margins and mark-up. Many people are confused, and use the terms interchangeably, but there is a difference. Mark-up is how much a retailer “marks up” a product from the wholesale cost. For example, if a retailer keystones, she or he is doubling,...
The gift industry is segmented into two primary buying seasons: The winter/spring buying season (for purchase of summertime and travel industry inventory) The summer/fall buying season (for purchase of holiday inventory) As a result, you will see lots of activity in the industry centered around these two periods. For example, large wholesale gifts tradeshows...
If you asked me what the most important step is to selling to gift shops, I would tell you follow up! Simple as that sounds, I found (now that I am a store manager again) that the follow up system you use can make or break a potential sale. Most buyers are very busy...
New producers often start with one or two products that sell successfully at craft fairs or flea markets. A customer or store buyer may show interest in the product which gets the producer thinking about wholesaling. But how does that transfer into the wholesale arena? One or two products often constitute a crafter peddling...
