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Wish me luck! Anyway, what types of sentiments should I use? I have birthday, get well, mothers day, thank you so far. How many cards should I take the first time?
Congrats!! Good luck! Exciting! Let us know how it goes!
Make sympathy, congratulations, anniversary, good luck, miss you...and then I might make some blanks. Include masculine. What kind of shop? Like do tourists go through because then you might want to do some that look like the area? Do they sell GCs? Maybe some that can hold those?
As many as you can and they will pick what they like imho. They might take more than they have room for so they can refill as they sell. (fingers crossed)
Good luck to you! I always thought it would be nice to include a couple of different sentiments with an adhesive strip that could be removed, such as red line or scoretape. If the card was a general card the person who purchased the card could choose their sentiment and then attach it on the inside of the card.
I make a lot of graduation cards and it seems birthday cards and thinking of you cards are always needed. Let us know how it works for you.
That’s great! I have done that off and on as well and gift card holders are a smart addition. Happy birthday, congratulations, sympathy are good general stock. Thinking of you is a favourite because it can cover several occasions
You can also type up your name and phone number and enclose in each one, maybe with the invitation to contact you for special orders, if you are interested in increasing your business. Good luck!
I'd add Retirement, New Home, New Job, and when it gets close to your Mothers and Fathers Day- add some in with Step Dad & Step Mom. Over here they are almost non existent, in fact that's exactly what got me started cardmaking!
what kind of a store is it? ( what is the kind of person who frequents the store?)
how much space do you have?
I think all of the ideas you have received are really good ones. I have a basket at work on the desk closest to the door where people pay for their jobs. and although 99% of the jobs are brought in by men, 99% of the cards I sell there are to women. so, I tend to sell a lot of things that are "humor" and or seasonal, thank-you, sympathy, and birthdays. ( as far as what I sell the most of)
what I have sold to men are Sympathy ( my insurance agent), Happy Anniversary, Happy Birthday and Merry Christmas.
oh, and one of the guys always has his cards personalized with his children and grands names for either Birthday's or Christmas.
She said she could provide a place to put them, or I could. So I was wondering what would be the most eye catching. I would love to find a vintage train case to put them in. Something like that.
I sell cards at two locations - a home decor store and a country store. Wedding, birthdays, and new home cards sell at the home decor store. At the country store, I can't keep birthday cards in stock for all ages. At the home decor store, I also sell 3x3 cards for gift bags - these sell well, too. I have never made money selling cards, but it gives me a place to off load my stash. I enjoy making cards and could not possibly mail them all. Having a place to sell them is nice.
I would add Thinking of you and just because cards. A "hot" seller for me right now are anything coffee related. Friendship ones, too! The clear plastic protects the cards and look fresh longer!!
The home decor store has them in a basket by the register. The country store found a card rack somewhere. I have considered a file holder that would sit on a desk; found at Home Goods, etc office supply section...these are tiered.
Last edited by suenscs; 04-25-2018 at 07:13 AM..
Reason: another thought.
First off, congratulations--I hope you do really well with sales! I would suggest packaging each card/envelope in a clear sleeve/bag/envelope, just to protect them from finger smudges, etc. You can get them at clearbags.com, but I found the last time I looked that the shipping was more than the envelopes I wanted to order! So I got some off eBay. Hobby Lobby also sells them, I since discovered, if you want to go that route instead (think coupon!). If there is a sentiment on the inside, you can print the wording on a piece of copy paper, and put it in the back of the clear envelope (print side facing out, of course), so people don't have to open them to see what's printed inside. If the card is blank inside, you can also make a note to that effect and put it in the back of the clear envelope. Good luck!
thanks for all the well wishes! I put them in clear bags, and dropped them off yesterday. There are other cards for sell there, too. Even if mine dont sell, I have fun making them.
Wondering if gift card holders would sell? Esp with graduation, weddings, etc coming up.
Hi.....good luck. I've been selling my cards for 10 years. I think the best thing I can tell you is that the cards I sell the most of, by far, are general birthday. my second biggest category is blank cards. Good luck to you!
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Jo
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...sure it�s got a catchy beat, but can you stamp to it?
life is something that happens only when you run out of cardstock
thanks for all the well wishes! I put them in clear bags, and dropped them off yesterday. There are other cards for sell there, too. Even if mine dont sell, I have fun making them.
Wondering if gift card holders would sell? Esp with graduation, weddings, etc coming up.
In a word, yes. They sell all year round. You can have some that are "general" - Just for you, no sentiment, some kind of punny something, a coffee themed one...
Near to graduation, it's easy to put a grad cap on one, put balloons and happy birthday on some, congratulations for a wedding or anniversary on others, Happy Mother's Day/Father's Day on some....you get the idea.
You will quickly find out which cards you sell are favorites - keep a larger stock of those around. I tend to keep keep 18-24 cards around, but I also do 3-4 farmers markets a week during the summer. That's a different level of business. I'd keep that kind of stock for gift card holders, because I would bet those will sell.
I don't know how you are pricing yours: I price any interactive card at $7, all my other cards are $5. I also run a special - buy 3, and the 4th is free. It cuts down on profit, but it sure encourages buying that 3rd card. I also add in a new card (changing stock and availability) once a week during my busy season. My $5 cards are always at least 2 layers, and usually 3, with heat embossing, hand coloring, die cuts, etc.
The other thing I encourage you to do, because it is easier than adding an (inside you will find, sheet) is to have a sample card (label it as such) out of the package so that customers can open it up, feel the paper, see how the layers are, etc., to get a real "feel" for quality, raised ink, all the pieces, etc. It makes a difference. Those get worn, but it's worth it.
So that's my $.02 worth...unadjusted for inflation. HTH
Joni
__________________ The future is uncertain, because love changes everything!
You’ve gotten good advice here. I sold cards for 12 years, and it was important to protect them from handling by having them in clear display envelopes which I ordered by the hundreds (cheaper that way) from clearbags.com. They are a good company with prompt shipping.
I used printer paper (printed 4 to a page and then cut in fourths) with the phrase “Inside Message:” and then I stamped the sentiment on one of those sheets as I was making each card. These were tucked into the back of the clear envelope along with the card and a mailing envelope. Some said “Inside left blank for your message.” I found that spinner racks which displayed the entire front surface of the card were better than people having to sort through a stack. The more they could see at a glance, the better. In one location I used a tall spinner rack which sat on the floor, and in another location I used a tabletop spinner rack because they were displayed on a counter. So it depends on how much and what kind of space the store allots to you.
My categories were Anniversary, Birthday, Just Because (thinking of you, just a note, humorous), Get Well, Baby, Baptism, First Communiion, New Home, Retirement, Sympathy, Wedding, Thank You, and the various holidays and Graduation as they came up during the year. Some were gift card holders. What I sold most frequently were Birthday, Sympathy, and holidays, as well as small gift enclosure cards (2.5 X 3.5 inches with envelopes, also available from Clearbags) for all of those occasions. You’ll find what sells most frequently at your location.
Good luck to you!
I am making cards for a shop to sell!
