Wholesale Basics
If you missed our Craft Racket last night about wholesaling your handmade product check out the info. below.
Why Wholesale?
- more exposure for your company
- get your products in more storefronts and reach a larger audience
- create another stream of revenue for your company
- plan your production schedule and cash flow more easily
- take your business to the next level
Basics of what you’ll need to wholesale
- wholesale catalog and line sheets
- samples of your product
- order form
- invoice form
- item numbers for your products
- a list of stores that you’d like to approach
- enough manpower, time and inventory to fill the orders you get
- wholesale terms
Wholesale Terms
- order minimum
- reorder minimum
- keystone or MSRP (manufacturer’s suggested retail price)
- COD (cash on demand)
- net 30 (payment is due 30 days after order is shipped)
- accepted methods of payment (credit card, check, paypal)
- return/exchange policy
Books and other resources
- Craft Inc. by Meg Mateo Ilasco
- Craft Inc. Business Planner by Meg Mateo Ilasco
- Making a Living in Crafts by Donald A. Clark
- The Crafting an MBA Guide to Wholesale and Tradeshows, e-book by Megan Auman available for purchase at www.craftmba.com
Wholesale shows for the handmade marketplace
- -New York International Gift Fair—Handmade Division (winter and summer shows in NYC)
- Buyers Market of American Craft (winter show in Philadelphia and Summer show in Baltimore)-all products handmade in the US & Canada
- Beckman’s Handcrafted—shows in Chicago and San Francisco
- National Stationary Show in NYC
- San Francisco International Gift Fair
- Atlanta International Gift & Home Furnishings Market—Handmade Design
- American Craft Retailers Expo (ACRE)—Las Vegas and Orlando
- Surtex—NYC
- The National Needle Arts Assoc. (TNNA)
- American Craft Council
- *also see http://www.museumstoreassociation.org/events/trade.cfm
Wholesale websites
How to Get into the Craft Show of your Dreams
How to Get into the Craft Show of Your Dreams was just one of the many topics we’ve featured at our seasonal Craft Rackets. These events get area crafters together to talk about topics pertinent to starting, maintaining and expanding your craft business.
Once you’ve found a show you want to be in, you need to present yourself in such a way that you’re going to stand out and make the show organizers pick you. I hope that the following points will make it easier for you to get organized and get admitted to shows you want to join.
- Make sure you provide correct contact info. A mistyped email address or phone number may be the only thing that kept you from getting in that last show.
- Each show requires different things from its applicants so make sure to read thoroughly and provide everything you’re asked. If they ask you to email your responses or fill out an online form, don’t print it out for faxing or mailing. That’s likely to have your application land in a trash can instead. If you’re asked to email images of items you’ll be selling, don’t just send a link to your website. Make sure that you provide everything all at once, instead of trickling pieces in a little at a time. When organizers gets hundreds of applications within a short period of time, they don’t have time to email you to remind you to send in your pictures, ask for missing information, or organize what you’ve sent.
- Take good pictures. Whether you have to submit digital photographs, slides, or traditional prints you want to make sure that your pictures are the best that you can possibly take. You don’t have to be a professional photographer to get decent pictures. Make sure they’re not dark and blurry by taking your pictures in bright but not direct sunlight. Make sure that your background contrasts with your item (shiny metal on black instead of white, for example). Make sure that you’re filling as much of the frame as possible with your subject. Crop the image if you have to back up to get in focus. Don’t clutter your image with tons of extra items. Simple is better. And don’t take pictures at night with all the lights on. The pictures will still be dark, and yellow. Instead of waiting until you’re ready to apply for a show, take them now, or at least tomorrow. Be ready ahead of time.
- You’re going to be asked to describe your work. It’s hard to write about yourself, but this is just as important as taking good pictures. You need to write something that will let the reader feel like they know something about you and your work. Be as descriptive as possible and avoid calling your work original, creative, couture, high-fashion, top-notch, innovative, etc. Why? Because everyone uses these empty words to describe their work. Which means that your description doesn’t make your work stand out. And unless you only make one of each piece, don’t call your work one-of-a-kind.
–Cinnamon Cooper of Poise.cc
Tax season is among us…
So here are a few tax tips for the creative business from Craft Inc. Business Planner by Meg Mateo Ilasco
-Keep track of your business expenses: travel, office supplies, shipping costs etc. (and don’t forget about books, gallery visits, magazines or anything else you may use for research).
-If you work from home don’t forget that you can deduct a percentage of your home bills and rent for expenses. Just make sure that this space is exclusively used for your business, document it by taking some photos of your office space or studio, then measure how much space you use and figure out the percentage based on square footage.
-Come up with a consistent record keeping system and keep every single receipt.
-File receipts by category of expense not by month (if you are ever audited this is how they will want everything organized so its much easier to just do it now).
other helpful links…
Biz Ladies 09: Tax info for small businesses
free accounting software- Outright.com
Outright review by Crafting an MBA
The science of tracking profit by Crafting an MBA
For 2011 I am vowing to have better book keeping skills. Good luck everyone!
Katie Lime Moira K. Lime Jewelry www.moiraklime.com
Craft Racket – January 18th, 2011
Hello Chicago Crafters –
It’s nearly time for the Chicago Craft Mafia’s networking night, The Craft Racket, on Tuesday, January 18.
We hope you’ll join us for an evening of socializing, talking shop, and sharing a snack or two with your fellow crafters at Beans & Bagels on Montrose.
At this Craft Racket Katie Lime of Moira K. Lime Jewelry and Lindsay Obermeyer of LBO Studio / Enjolive will be sharing with you their trade show experiences. Points covered will include how to prepare for your first wholesale show, why you even want to consider wholesale, and the current trade shows that are relevant for the handmade.
Hope to see you at the Racket!
CRAFT RACKET – Winter, 2011
Tuesday, January 18] from 6 to 9 pm
Beans & Bagels
1812 W. Montrose
Chicago IL
(right under the Montrose stop on the Brown Line)
http://www.beansandbagels.com
Cost: FREE!
Please RSVP by emailing chicagocraftmafia@gmail.com or calling Rebeca/
Blue Buddha at 773.478.3767
Happy Crafting!
Resources
As we’re sure you know, the web is flooded with advice and how-to’s for starting, maintaining and expanding your business. Here are just a few of our favorites.
Smaller Box
An invaluable resource for everything you ever wanted to know about running your indie business. Topics covered include marketing, publicity, wholesaling, customer service, advertising, business development, web design and so much more.
Etsy’s Seller Handbook
Etsy’s own guide to selling handmade. Obviously geared toward success on their site, but has valuable information for any seller.
Crafting an MBA
Business school for crafters!
Duct Tape Marketing
Duct Tape Marketing is all about simple, effective, and cheap marketing for your business. While the book is very useful, the blog is also a fabulous resource!
Entrepreneur
Lots of great information on getting your business started from non-crafty types.
TED
Free and inspirational talks from professionals from all walks of life. Some are business related and most really just get you inspired and ready to go!
Summit of Awesome
Annual conference aimed at handcrafted business folks with tons of lectures, and workshops that run the gambit of what running a crafty business entails.