As we head into the trade show season, even if you aren’t selling your crafts wholesale , you should plan to walk at least one show.  If you can only attend one, I wouldn’t recommend you make it a craft show. I know that sounds like a contradiction since you are in the business of crafts but there are a number of reasons to know what’s going on in the general gift wholesale trade. First of course is staying current with trends. Even if you do vintage crafts or very traditional work, it’s still important to keep up with the trends. You also need to know if someone is knocking off your work, having it produced overseas and selling it for a fraction of what you sell it for. The likelihood of of getting the copycat to cease making it is questionable and you obviously aren’t going to lower your prices to compete but you should know that customers are seeing similar work at import prices.  You may be able to tweak your line just enough to make it obviously handmade and you definitely will want to have other additional lines that aren’t being seen in mainstream shops.

If you are considering wholesaling your work, visit several different trade shows and as you walk the aisles, notice which booths are busy, who is writing orders.  What do the artists who are writing the most orders have in common?  Do you see work similar to yours?  Notice everything that is in the same category or  medium as your work. Look for crafters whose work appeals to the same target market as yours but is complimentary. You may be able to learn a lot just from the way they are merchandising.  

It would be beneficial to you to develop a relationship with some of the vendors. Veteran tradeshow exhibitors can teach you all the things they learned the hard way and save you from making costly mistakes. But be considerate of their space and time. Remember their purpose is to write orders and you need to not block the display or take up their time. Wait until a slow time when they have no one in the booth and even then, be sure to free them up the moment someone is approaching  booth.  New vendors are always surprised at how generous with tips and helpful the veteran exhibitors are to newbies. 

Notice the merchandising. Not just the visual display but the price point variance. Do the most popular exhibitors have several different price points?  What percentage of  the line is in each price point?

As you’re viewing the merchandise, try to  look at it from a retailer’s perspective. When buyers shop a trade show, even when they know the handmade market, they aren’t considering how much time it took to create. They are thinking “how much will I have to sell this for to get my markup and will my customers pay that much. To the buyer, it has nothing to do with what they think it’s worth or what you think it’s worth but what the customer is willing to pay-the perceived retail value. 

The retail buyer is also thinking about how your line will fit into her physical space, what will be needed to display it best and what other lines of theirs it compliments. This is where connecting with exhibitors with complimentary pieces will benefit you both. You might even work out a trade. For example, you make wooden wall racks for children’s room, you might want to buddy up with someone who makes handcrafted children’ apparel . They can use your pieces to display their work and you can use theirs as props for yours. Of course you’ll have one another’s card and booth number to guide them and your buddy will do the same. carry a notepad and use it, or a tape recorder to note your impressions -you won’t be allowed to photograph anyone’ s craft. If camera’s were allowed,  you’d see the same works knocked off and imported at the next show.I ‘ll be taking more about wholesale shows as we get into summer.  What trade shows are you planning to attend this summer? Are you considering eventually selling wholesale?  What questions do you have about wholesale that veteran wholesale crafters can answer for you? As always, you’re invited to share your comments and feedback.

I appreciate that a sole proprietor of a small shop in Kansas may not want to spend the money to go to one of the semi annual wholesale handmade in America shows,though, I’d argue that smart sourcing is money well spent. Even so, a savvy retailer doesn’t need to leave her home town to find some of the best metal smiths in the US. She only has to peruse one of the online American-made sites that are strictly for the craft trade. 

(a great one is wholesalecrafts.com) 

The fact that so many boutique owners don’t know this tells me there is even more of an opportunity for you, as artists and crafts people, to get your authentic work in the hands of the buyer and show her how your quality is better and that it hurts her integrity to sell chinese imports in an American western shop. So,find a shop where your product is compatible, and make sure the owner/buyer knows you work. If you make wearables, wear them ALWAYS, give them as gifts and ask everyone close to you to wear your work whenever they might be around the people who have the buying influence. And make sure everyone has plenty of your contact cards in their pocket. There’s a right and a wrong way to approach a shop you’d like to place your work in. The first impression will make or break your likelihood of getting your work into the galleries of your choice  so be sure to download your free craft marketing tips from http://www.craftbizblog.com. We’ll also expand on this topic so, stay tuned for more info on our summer teleclass series.

We all know that you can make the most gorgeous product but if it isn’t marketed correctly, it won’t sell. Likewise, it doesn’t matter how great your marketing is if you don’t have something people want to buy.  I know, this is common sense, but there is much more to having a marketable product than its’ being beautiful or functional.  I decided it was time to take a look at what these crafters are making.  Maybe there was a common product factor among those who were not making money with their craft.  Bingo! Those who were reporting slow or no sales mostly had lovely crafts but their products all had one thing in common.

They were handmade versions of what the importers are selling for a fraction of the price. And yes, I can absolutely empathize with these crafts people. In addition to material costs, they are spending hours beading,  hand knotting and sewing up a storm so they can’t possibly compete with what the importers are paying laborers in a third world country to knock out similar products. I also understand the American consumer well enough to know that they aren’t likely to pay several times more for something they perceive as the same item they can buy at the big box stores. Now, you and I know it’s NOT the same product, and I’ve spent years supporting and promoting hand made crafts.  I’ve also spent enough time in retail to know that even buyers of handmade are savvy consumers and are only willing to shell out more money for something green or handmade if they perceive the product as different enough to be worth the increase in price. So, what’s the solution? 

I’m not advocating your pricing your work like an import, which would be paying yourself about a nickel an hour, and I”m also not suggesting you have your work produced oversees.  (The latter is an option if you have a design that someone is willing to pay you to license but that is another topic.) 

I’m suggesting you take some time to shop around and do some homework. 

Clients are always surprised when they are starting a business selling handmade and I suggest they attend a mainstream wholesale trade show.  It is important to stay current with trends, but that isn’t the main reason  to attend a gift show. (no, it isn’t where you would purchase and it isn’t to get ideas or inspiration.)  What you’ll find is that even in the so-called handmade section of these gift shows, most of the items are imports. (There are separate venues for strictly handmade in America.) I suggest you walk one of the wholesale gift shows -there are many this summer. You do have a resale license, don’t you? )  Look for several things:

Most importantly, are there items that look similar to yours (to the untrained eye, of course)  priced such that retailers could at least keystone (double) and sell for significantly less than you price your work? 

Is someone knocking off your work? That’s an issue for your attorney-I am only telling you what you need to be aware of. 

Can you tweak your work so that discriminating buyers recognize the value of paying more than they would for the the import? 

Do you have your personally “story” , a photo of yourself and something about how your work is crafted on your hangtag? Can you sign your work-if it is jewelry, for example, this can be done with a custom silver  logo tag. These can be ordered through a charm company inexpensively. If you are a textile artist, embroider your signature. Do as much as possible to make it obvious that your work is hand crafted. If you sell online, your bio page should be very personal including your story and images of you doing the craft. If you show your work in shops or galleries,  be sure that the staff is well versed on who you are and your method. At craft fairs, trade shows or trunk shows, if there is space, either do demos or have photos or videos of yourself  making your craft.

As always, I just can’t stop giving you info. but that should get you started on making your craft stand out and increasing your sales.   More tips coming soon…