Places to Sell Crafts
Having a Trunk Show
"Let the beauty we love be what we do." Rumi
If you're looking for places to sell crafts, having a trunk show can be a good option. A trunk show is very similar to a home party, except instead of selling crafts in someone's home, you take your sales on the road.
Probably the most common example of places to sell crafts through a trunk show would be a show held in a workplace. However, you don't have to be limited to the workplace. If you do some creative brainstorming about where your target market congregates, you could come up with some great trunk show venue ideas.
In the case of having a trunk show in a workplace, your host would get permission from his or her supervisor to have the trunk show at that location and let coworkers know about the trunk show in order to build excitement and interest. Normally the show would run over a lunch period or some other natural beak in the day to avoid interfering with day to day business. In return for organizing the event, your host will typically receive some type of incentive such as a free gift or a percentage off her purchases.
When you're looking for places to sell crafts, typically, the easiest way to find a host for a workplace sale trunk show is through networking. You may be able to get permission to host a trunk show at your own workplace if you have a regular 'day job.' Alternatively, you could ask a friend to host one at his or her workplace. Potential hosts need to feel comfortable that you will be professional if they are going to invite you into their workplace, so people who already know and trust you are your best candidates for workplace trunk show hosts.
Places to Sell Crafts
Benefits of Having a Trunk Show
There are a lot of great reasons why having a trunk show can be a practical strategy for making money with crafts.
It can be easier for your host to have a party at her workplace than to host a home party. She won't have the pressures that are connected with hosting a home party like cleaning her house, preparing refreshments and ensuring all of her guests are comfortable.
Mid-sized to large companies can be good places to sell crafts. You may have many more potential customers than you would at a home party.
At a work based show, people are already there at work, so those who might not normally attend a home party may check out and purchase your art or crafts. Some people are just less inclined than others to attend home parties, but that doesn't mean they are not part of your secondary target market.
Of all of the places to sell crafts, having a craft trunk show is fairly low risk in terms of the time and money you'll need to invest to make it a success. You won't need to amass the large inventory that is normally required at juried art shows, and your selling costs will be limited to hostess incentives and any incentives or donation (see below for more on this) you may offer to the hosting company.
Because this type of sales strategy is fairly low risk in terms of time and money invested, if you're just starting your craft home business, selling at a few trunk shows can be a good way get to know your target market. Particularly in the early days of your craft business, you can watch at a trunk show to get a sense of who does and doesn't buy your items. It's easier to learn these lessons at a low risk sales venue than at a more expensive and time consuming large show.
Typically at a craft trunk show, there will be no other artists selling items at the same time. That means no competition for you!
Places to Sell Crafts
Considerations for Having a Trunk Show
Depending on the items you sell, transporting large and heavy pieces may not be practical. In the case of a workplace trunk show, the more streamlined and less intrusive you can make your setup, the happier the employer is going to be. In this situation, if you also have smaller items that you sell, you could consider limiting yourself to bringing those items to the trunk show, and also bring a brochure or photo album with your larger pieces so you can promote those as well.
Some places to sell crafts have very targeted customers. This may or may not be the case at a trunk show. If a workplace is very diverse, then only a portion will fall into your target market or your secondary target market. With the home party model, people attend the party because they're interested in buying your crafts. People at a workplace trunk show aren't there specifically for your crafts, so it will be important to help your host build some buzz and interest in your crafts before the trunk show.
Places to Sell Crafts
Strategies for Having a Trunk Show
Help your host create some excitement about the show. Provide her with an email including your company logo, photos of some of your work, your website address if you have one, and the details of the trunk show. As long as it's acceptable to the employer, your host could then send the email to her coworkers a couple of days before the trunk show to get them excited about the event.
Build your long term business connections and ensure that the employer is happy that he or she allowed you to have your trunk show in their workplace. Be certain that your show doesn't interfere with work time and productivity. Also, as noted earlier, keep you display fairly streamlined so it's noticeable, but not too intrusive (setting up your E-Z Up canopy at the workplace probably won't win you many points in the mind of the supervisor!)
You never know what future opportunities may come from a relationship you build with this employer. He or she may need several corporate gifts in the future, and your product may be the perfect fit and the first thing that comes to mind if you've built a good relationship during your show.
Before the show, a brochure or photo album of your work with a note listing the details of the upcoming trunk show can be a useful tool for your host to circulate or leave around the workplace to build interest in your craft trunk show.
Some artists and professional crafters donate a percentage of sales either to the company if it is a charitable organization, or to a charity of the company's choice. This gesture builds a positive image for your company. It gives the supervisor an added incentive to allow the trunk show to be hosted at the company. It also gives customers an added incentive to buy your crafts if they know that money will be donated to a cause that they support.
Consider having a theme for your show that fits either with the nature of the host company or with the time of year. If it's early spring, you could have a 'brighten your home' or 'brighten your wardrobe' (depending on what you sell) for spring theme.
Try to target locations that have a good concentration of people who fall into your target market. Although employers may try to have a diverse workplace, the reality is that certain professions can be dominated by people who fit specific demographics.
For example, as a career counselor, I have always found my workplaces to be very female dominated. Employers are thrilled to be able to hire a qualified male career counselor, but the majority of people in the field (at least where I live and work) are women. So if you know that your target audience is primarily women, you may have great results in a female dominated workplace.
On the other hand, you might consider your secondary target market. If you make jewelry or soaps or candles or gourmet chocolate, your secondary target market may be men who are buying gifts for women. In that case, you might consider exploring places to sell crafts that are frequented by that segment of your market. A show at a male dominated workplace, right before Valentine's Day that's promoted as 'buy a gift for your sweetie' could be a big success.
If your work is fairly easily portable, having a craft trunk show can be a good opportunity to sell your crafts. It's a relatively low risk, opportunity to get you crafts in front of a lot of people with no competition from other artists. Take the time to assess the venue, plan well, and help your host create interest in your sales event and you will be on your way to a profitable craft trunk show.Check here for more
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