Should You Run "Sales"?
Sunday July 22, 2007
Recently, we were visiting a craft show inside our local mall. One vender had an entire booth full of discounted/clearance crafts. From the professional signage stating that everything was on sale, it was apparent the vendor always had these sales. Now, I have nothing against mark-downs, however if you strictly deal in clearance items, you will hurt your sales at nicer events. Keep in mind that many promoters prohibit sales at their events. Be sure you know the type of crowd you will have at shows as well. Many times, you will not need to reduce your prices to have a good show. How do you feel about sales at craft events?
Comments
My husband and I own a Native American company and most of our products are handmade by us. We do carry afew items made by the elders on several different reservations also. We do mostly pow wows and educational events. We do not have SALES as such. If we find that we may have something that we want to promote, we have a pow wow SPECIAL. It usually will be an item that we want people to notice and to be educated on the how, when and why of the product.
My husband and I use sales to move some of our inventory we have had for a long time. It has been quite a sucessful tool for us.
To deal with promoters that don;t allow “sales”…put the items you have reduced in a basket or hanging in a special section. But a large colorful sign such as “$2″….it attracts people who also then might buy other things not “on sale!”
I have done shows for over 20 years and never put any thing on sale. If I have older products I just reduce my price making sure I cover my cost of materials. Any thing that is too old to “really” sale at a good price, I give to a crisis center and then I can claim them on taxes as a charity donation. I make teddy bears and dolls and the crisis center in town is always happy to see me at the end of each season shows.
I make beaded jewelry and depending upon the season and or styles, I may have a small basket full of clearance items. This clearance basket seems to draw people in and take a closer look at my other items. In most cases, not only did those people buy a few clearance items but they also bought my regular priced items. I say just don’t let the clearance/sale items take over.