Behind the Booth: Part Three - Inventory

What to make, How much to make, and How I Price My Product.

I still ask these questions before every show.  (I also keep a running constant inventory of my product lines, to help make these numbers easier to predict.)

But there are a few guidelines I use to make these determinations, and since I'm sharing tricks and tips, I'll go over a few of them.  

What To Make:

Every time I go on Pintrest, I find at least a dozen new projects that I think would be great in my booth.  Every show, I get asked "Why don't you make x?"  I used to try to jump on every helpful suggestion, which has left me with a lot of product that won't sell anytime soon.  I've started telling my helpful suggesters that I will happily make them a commission anything, but I probably won't add it to my standard fare.  Depending on how I like it when it's done.  So why did I decide on Elephants and Owls instead of Hedgehogs and Foxes?  

Well, most of the initial decisions were based on a Pottery Barn Kids catalog the first year.  I knew that a big part of my product line was going to be stuffed animals, so I went through the catalog and made a quick spreadsheet of all the animals I spotted - whether as stuffed animals, sheet and quilt sets, etc.  Elephants and Owls tied for the lion's share of the instances, with giraffes and hippos being not far behind.  But there were only half a dozen foxes, and one hedgehog.  Butterflies were big too, so many of my fabrics have butterflies on them, whether subtle or ostentatiously.  From there it was taking a risk.  Then I made a plan to add at least one new stuffed animal design every year.  And I don't remake things that don't sell well.  For example.  My elephants come in many different sizes, from softball, to volleyball, to medicine ball, to ride-able.  After three years, I found the medicine ball size doesn't sell.  Sometimes I get the odd commission for one, but they don't go on their own.  So I stopped making them.  

Coaster Sets - Hard to photograph, don't sell well for a year or two and then Wham! Can't keep up with demand...

As far as the other items I make - Mug Rugs, Growth Charts, Kleenex Cozies, etc. - those items were made originally as experiments, and the ones that sell I keep making.   Most of these were suggestions from friends, family, or things I stumbled upon that I thought might sell well if given half a chance.  Generally speaking, I'll make one or two of something, determine what I think I have to sell it for, and then decide if I can make money on it and if I think it will sell.  

Lately I've been working on some potholder patterns.  I like potholders, I think it's fun to make them pretty, but I've never considered them for selling before, because of the time involved - I always thought it would be hard to make money on them.  But I've figured out a fun pattern that I think I can whip up in an hour, making a $20-30 finished product much more feasible.  

How Much to Make:

A much harder question.  Inevitably you'll make too much or not enough of everything.  No matter how many you bring, if you have the hot item of the year you won't have enough, and if you don't then you'll be sitting on the same batch forever.  I usually consider how many I want to carry around at shows for the next year before I determine a number.  

Considering my potholders for example.  If they don't sell, I can give them away as gifts or use them myself, but I won't be able to get rid of 300 that way.  So I'll probably make no more than 20 to try at the first show I bring them to.  If they don't sell, I'll either figure out a better display or I'll change the prices for the next show.  I'll carry them from show to show for 2 years before I decide they aren't going to sell - my coaster sets are like this - and then suddenly I'll sell half the pile and need to make more.  That I will consequently carry around for 2 years before they sell in a burst again. 

As a general rule of thumb, until I'd done a few shows to get a feel for how the sales trends work, I planned on bringing the following based on pricing.  

$5 or <, I bring 40 to the first show

$6 - $15, I bring 20

$16 - $30, I make 10

$30 - $50, I make 5

and anything over $50 I make 2, one in a neutral and one in a bright pattern.

But be flexible!  If you make more, you might sell more.  Just keep track at each show how much of something you sell, and you'll have a rough idea of what kinds of numbers to bring for the next time.  

Remember, you can always take orders for things in different color schemes, sizes, etc.  But!  Most customers won't ask for this, so put up a sign if you're taking custom orders or open to doing custom work.  They won't just ask!  

I like your mug rugs, but I'd really like a frog for my friend who collects them...do you do frogs?  I can do anything!  What's your phone number?

How to Price Your Items:

There are many schools of thought on this, and I know many people have different opinions on how to make this work for you.  I use  a pretty simple formula for my pricing, and it works for me, but I'll admit I make some adjustments here and there.  

The formula I start with is: (Materials Cost x 3) + (Time in Hours x 10) x 1.25 = Selling Price (Round to nearest dollar).  Also, remember some items are much easier and faster to make in batches, so if you can make 12 in 6 hours, but making 1 takes an hour and a half, use the 12 in 6 hours.  You're not likely to do less than that at a time, anyway.  Basically it accounts for the cost of the materials plus the ones I don't track (thread, for example), the cost of my time at $10 per hour, and a 25% profit built in.  That doesn't always mean that's the price I leave things, though.  I have been known to up the price of something (or lower) if need be, to make sure that my items sell.  It works out in the end, anyway.  For example, my medium elephants filled in on this formula are ($5 x 3) + (1 x $10) x 1.25 = $31.25, so I sell them at $30.  However, my little bird ornaments are 12 items x ($5 x 3) + (2 x $10) x 1.25 = $43.75/12 = $3.65 but I sell them at $8.00 ea.  That builds in  a little profit for things like the mug rugs, which I sell at $12, but should really sell at $20 based on my formula.  At $20 they never sell, at $15 I sell one once in a while, but at $12 I can't keep them in the booth.  And with offset from my birds and other small items, I do just fine on my bottom line. 

Hand embroidered pillows never sold, so this one went to a charity auction - and went for almost 4 times what I was asking for it in my booth.  You just never know!

Next time I think we'll do Behind the Booth: Part 4 - How to Succeed at Craft Shows.