Moving Into Wholesaling
Valuable Perspective from Three Pros
Many craftspeople think they cannot wholesale because of pricing problems while others worry about their inability to fill orders if response from buyers is greater than anticipated. Will they have to hire outside help, and if so, will they lose artistic control of their products? Once they decide to wholesale, should they start by selling directly to shops or do a major wholesale craft show?
Some craftspeople begin selling with the idea that they will eventually wholesale their work while others simply “fall into wholesaling” when a retailer approaches them at a crafts fair and asks if they can sell wholesale. What wholesaling does for many craft show sellers is give them income in the months of no craft shows, especially the period between January to May. If wholesaling to the first few customers proves profitable, many sellers then expand by doing the Rosen shows in New York and Boston.
“WHOLESALING IS WHERE IT’S AT, financially speaking,” says calligrapher Michael Noyes. “The benefit to wholesaling is that you multiply the sales force. I used to wonder why a craftsperson would pay twice the booth fee simply for the privilege of selling at half price. The answer is simple: At a retail show, selling of one’s product is happening in one location by only one or two people. However, by selling wholesale, each additional sale means your product will be sold by an additional sales staff in an additional location.”
Emily Pearlman has been wholesaling her pottery since 1987, having sold at retail craft fairs for seven years before that. Her involvement in a co-op gallery brought her to the attention of her first wholesale buyers, shop owners who were sales reps as well. “They helped me develop my line, and I’ve never regretted making the switch,” she says. “I love having just about everything sold every time I open the kiln. Retail shows were getting to be a drag. If I made blue mugs, people wanted green. If I brought pitchers, they wanted platters. And they were always trying to get me to lower prices or give a discount because they bought two of something.”
SOME PROFESSIONALS whose first love is designing may decide to focus on designing and marketing while leaving much of the a final production work to employees. This is the route taken by Dodie Eisenhauer of Village Design. “After selling at craft fairs for awhile, I broke into wholesaling by taking my line of screen wire products to a wholesale gift show in Dallas,” she says. “I came home with $4,000 worth of orders for my angels, baskets, bows, flowers and ornaments–a lot of business for someone who had previously sold only through craft fairs.” On her website, which accepts wholesale orders only, Dodie keeps her accounts informed of where she will be exhibiting next. In addition, her products are available online through WholesaleCrafts.com, where qualified wholesale buyers set up an account so they can buy from registered sellers.
By studying the web sites of the above sellers (all of whom are featured in Barbara’s Make It Profitable book), you can gain a fast education on how to present yourself to wholesale buyers. (Don’t even THINK about entering a trade show until you’re comfortable selling to a few wholesale shops.)
WITHOUT QUESTION, wholesaling requires a more professional attitude, a greater appreciation for the worth of your products, and a businesslike approach to marketing. You may have to hire employees, take workshops to learn more about how to manage and market your business, make out-of-town sales trips, exhibit at trade shows and so on. It is at this point that hobby sellers are separated from the professionals, where many either back away or go forward in a totally new direction.
Many successful art/craft sellers in different fields have shared their experience and special tips in Barbara’s books. More information on wholesaling art and craft products will be found in Make It Profitable, Creative Cash, and Homemade Money: Bringing in the Bucks.
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Comments
Love this article. I used to wholesale my clay products several years ago, but got burned out (probably was selling them too cheaply). I’m thinking of re-vamping some of my ideas. I would like to wholesale again. I’m so glad I found your blog, I think you are the expert in making money with crafts. Thanks again! debbie
Thanks for this article. I have been doing art and craft shows and this year moving in the direction of wholesaling getting my first couple of bites from other local retailers/boutique owners after having my products in one shop now that caters to only state made art/craft/food items. Having good feedback from interested buyers mentioning that the presentation of my wholesale packet is very impressive leading to appointments and requests for samples is great. However, I feel learning more about what others are doing and how they have become successful doing wholesaling helps me know if I am going in the right direction. Thanks for the article…
Michelle