Newbie show exhibitor (but experiences professional crafter/artisan), Kristen Stein, recently conducted a booth at the Buyers Market of American Crafters in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She shares her experiences in a five part series of posts on her blog, A Painting Day with Kristen Stein. If you are interested in learning the ins and outs from...
Posts Tagged ‘ professional crafter ’
Suggestions for when Buyer don’t Buy
If, after reading through these points, you find your handcrafted item does not seem to measure up, don’t give up. You have several options: • Ask for feedback from the gift store buyers as to what would make your product work in their store. You might be surprised at the advice you may receive...
When Gift Buyers Don’t Buy
Sometimes gift shop buyers don’t buy products! No matter how great and unique your product is or no matter how professional your packaging and presentation is, there will be times when you won’t even be able to interest a buyer in talking to you. Besides the tremendous competition with other professional crafters to get...
Matching Your Product to the Gift Shops Motif
Another way to make your products more appealing to gift shop buyers is to make sure that your items fit the particular store’s motif. Like I have said before, gift shops are all different. Some specialize in a particular type of item or theme, such as western products, local items etc. Most gift shops...
Make a Professional First Impression
You can make and sell some of the hottest crafted item on the market, but if you or your presentation does not look professional, you are not likely to sell your products. Sounds harsh, but true! Gift buyers are approached my numerous producers and over the course of time, they will eliminate some of...
Appropriate Pricing for the Gift Industry
Over the years of selling gift products I have noticed on 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 items. First and most important, most gift store buyers ‘keystone’ or double the wholesale...
Gift Shop Buyers Want Unique Products
Gift stores, unlike big box stores (i.e. Wal-Mart, Costco, etc. or grocery stores, prefer new and unique products. They are not interested, necessarily, in a “proven product” that has great sales volume, but would rather buy locally-made items, the newest item on the market, or something they will not find in every store in...
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