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Need ideas for selling cards in the office
I'm thinking about start selling cards (and maybe simple gifts) in my office. Would you have any ideas or advice for me please?
I've got lots of questions for you! What sells best in your experience? Do you think I should make more of the quick and easy cards to start with? Is it worth making sets of, say, 4 or 5 cards? How do you package your cards or gifts? How do you present your items (in a basket, box, etc)? Apart from birthdays, which occasions are the most popular? If you have any card/gift designs which sell well and wouldn't mind sharing with us, please post them here!!! Any more tips welcome! Many thanks! |
I've never sold in an office, usually at craft fairs and such, but think you maybe could do better in an office for a while , at least. Selling at a faire costs usually around $40 a table and it takes a huge amount of traffic to make up that loss.
Do you have displays? I got mine from a store going out of business. The people I know who sell in offices left their display in the breakroom and if someone wanted something they searched her out. What sells varries widely by the crowd coming in. I sold many kinds, not just SU and one day I had a lady buy 10 fairy cards. The rest of my sales that day were bookmarks. I found the bookmarks saved me more than once. People were willing to spend a buck on a bookmark when they weren't willing to spend $3 on a card. Good luck to you! |
Hi, good luck! Here is what works for me. I have a photo storage box and have ten categories depending on where the box will sit. It could be in office, gift shop, florist...etc. Now, I have ten cards in each category and when I go back each week I charge based on what is gone. When I did this in the past I had inventory lists, and CD with photos of each style so I knew what worked there. EAch week I would go back, and fill them up again. It worked out super! I charged $2 per card, and they added 50 cents to 1.00 on top of that for the price depending on the location and market. Remember to use stamps that allow you to sell, by an angel policy. I had in the beginning a problem as I didnt know what that was until I started with TAC. I didnt know I couldnt sell with some companies images. Its just good to check.
Annette Brisse Director with TAC/The Angel Company Everything in our catalogue can be used to stamp for profit. [email protected] |
My hubby takes a box of my cards into the office every now and then. I've found birthday cards are the biggest seller and also blank cards sell well. I always have Get Well, New Home, Thank Yous, wedding and baby cards etc. in the box but only include a small number.
A couple of people asked if I could customise cards - by including a name or age etc. Once I did this a couple of times it became quite popular. People will often ask Owen if I can make a special card - he asks for some details, relays the info to me and I get cracking on it! I now have a regular customer who emails me her requirements - she sends me 3 months of requests at a time. People seem to like that you can make a special card refelecting someone's interests or including the age and name. I'd say you should consider showing you can offer these types of cards too - and see if there's interest and then take it from there. WISHING YOU GOOD LUCK! |
I'm a teacher, and I have a basket set up in the workroom. There is a little bit of everything in there, but my blank sells best other than birthday. Be sure to add some for any holiday that is close. Mother's Day should be a big seller!
Good Luck! |
I sold cards at my work last year. I would say I sold the most Mother's Day cards, next would be wedding/baby, after that would be birthday, then others last. I think Valentine's Day might sell well, but I don't know because I didn't sell around that time of year. For some reason the people in my office didn't want to spend the money on birthday cards (I charged $3 a card) - but would be completely willing to spend $3-5 on Mother's day, wedding, and baby cards and buy multiple cards for those occassions. In fact, summer is wedding season - so if you're going to start now I would say to definitely have some wedding ones to sell.
I actually had my cards in a mini binder, but I think if I ever did it again I would go with a basket. I think it'll look better and be more appealing. I think make both quick and easy and a little bit more elaborate (you don't have to go over the top). I found that people had such differing tastes in what they liked. Some liked more elegant, flowery stuff and others liked more simple stuff. If you have a variety of styles you might have more people find something that they like. I didn't do packages of cards so I can't really say if they would sell well for you. I personally don't think they would sell well in my office. I've heard different elsewhere; it might be the type of person that is buying. HTH. |
Thanks for these great ideas, girls!
Jan I found that carft fairs were not really profitable, as you need to sell a lot of items to make it worthwhile. What does your display look like? What is it made of? angelette1 I'll definitely make an inventory list like you to find out what sells or doesn't sell. Having 10 cards in each category also seems like a good idea. FubsbyRuth It's great your hubby helps you sell your cards. Lucky girl! Sallen I hadn't thought about blank cards before, as everyone I know is always looking for a particular occasion. I'll make sure I make some blanks too. mpchipmunk I think baskets are a pretty way to display cards. We can also decorate the basket to make it really special! |
If you wanted to sell additional stationery items with the cards I think gift card holders would be good. Everyone gives gift cards and a pretty package for a specific occassion would be nice. Money/gift certificate holders would be nice too. I've seen many nice ones in the gallery.
At a recent trip to Border's I saw these fun bookmarks that you clip onto a page. I don't have an example, but they are along the same idea of the giant clip that you alter and use to keep your page in a book. The ones I saw were large animal figures that were laminated, and the potion along their feet or paws were cut so that the book page is sipped underneat. When the book is closed, the figure is seen sitting onto of the book. Pretty cute! Linda |
I put a variety of cards from birthday, to get well, to whichever holiday is current out in a basket. I do this a lot to raise money for relay for life. I usually put out an envelope to let them drop their money in. Fortunately, I work with a trustworthy bunch so this is not a problem. I usually have a count of how many I have in the basket. I don't worry too much about what sells, because I don't usually make the same card twice. The ones I like the best I take a picture of and put here on SCS so it is in my gallery for future reference if I need to repeat that card. Hope this helps.
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Oh, and I usually sell them for $2 as single cards. I have found the packages don't sell too well for me!
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Linda
I'll definitely make some money/gift cards and bookmarks. I sometimes make larger cards (usually for birthdays) and I place a matching bookmark in a pocket, which is then glued to the front of the card. People seems to appreciate it. Liz $2 for single cards seems a good price. Thanks for your tips. |
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