I read about a JBF consignment sale in our area and decided to give it a shot. I didn't have enough time to really prepare for it and I had no idea what I was getting into! I just started making bows and I had never sold one before! But after some great advice from you ladies, I bought a floor spinner rack and decided to go for it. I ran out of time and I was not happy with my setup but all in all, I think I did ok. I was told that there was going to be another "bow lady" there so I decided to go more with bar bows and other clippies, hoping that she would make regular bows.
I set my stuff up, feeling really insecure. They had a midweek drop off and I came and stocked some new things. I got a chance to then check out the competition....what a bummer.
She was selling mainly clippies! Now hers were mainly printed (American Craft type) ribbon and embellished, but still. I was bummed. Plus she had hers on a pegboard display and no visible tags, so her display was more professional and more inviting. I put all of mine in bags and hung them with hang tags(annoying expense). I used the bags for several reasons - to keep them clean, to deter theft and loss, and to deter the switching of tags/prices.
Well I volunteered to help with the clean up for 4 hours at the end of the sale in order to have my consignment fee waived and to pick my remaining items up early. I was happy to see that I had sold quite a few things. I used their program to bar code my stuff so I have a online list of inventory that tells me what sold, when it sold, and what didn't sell. They are still entering in some of the tags that weren't scannable but so far, I only have 2 items unaccounted for.
Here's what I sold, keeping in mind it was a week long sale - butterfly clips @ $3 (underpriced and sold out); flower clips @ $4 (sold all but 1); bar bow sets of 2 @ $3; woven headbands @ $5, some korkers from $4-$6; and a few 3 inch basic and pinwheel bows @3.50. Total sales was $312.50
but my 70% is $218.75. It's kind of hard to swallow such a cut, but I just wanted to recoup some of the massive amount of money I have spent on ribbon!!
So it was definitely a learning experience and I will definitely do it again. I don't want to look at net profit at this stage, but I will say that 95% of my ribbon was UB!
I also have a much better plan for the next sale in July! Thanks to you ladies, I realized (after the sale) just how easy it is to print bowcards on regular index cards; it makes such a difference in the presentation! I also spent time making a better sign. And since I know what the competition tends to make, I plan on making more bows and ribbon sculptures. I actually just dropped off some stuff for a JBF sale about 25 miles from here but I don't expect much because it is in a much smaller town and only lasts 3 days. Unfortunately I didn't take pictures of my improved display; I was somewhat distracted by the competition showing up. I still haven't gotten a good look at her stuff, only what remained after the sale.
All in all, it was a good experience. They will have 2 more sales in my town this year(July & October) and I will be more prepared for them. I loved printing price tags b/c I could type in the description on them (gotta love copy/paste) and they will be requiring printed bar code tags in the future.
I just wanted to profusely thank everyone on these boards for their advice, encouragement, and inspiration!
I couldn't have done it without you! And if you've made it this far, I hope I helped you in some way!