Advice on selling to retail

[socialgiraffe]

Hi All

Wondering if those of you who sell to shops/retail can offer some advice...

I have been speaking to a photographer friend of mine about designing a mug for my local area that could be sold to help local causes. I now live in a very highly populated tourist area and think there are lots of things that might work. I have done some research and the current crop of souvenirs on offer are pretty low end tat. We are thinking of something nicer to offer.

Ideally I would want the finished item to sell for around £5.99 ish and am hoping that many stores might take it on free. Its a small community and if I can pitch it right it is something that they will buy into.

However, if I can not persuade shops to sell it for free then what sort of price should I be looking at to sell it to them for?

Obviously I am not expecting trade secrets so if you want to offer % prices or just base it on my retail price that would be great. I never sell to retail so any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Also, do you sell them "packaged" and if so what sort of packaging. I normally only sell as boxes of 36 so am unsure on what to do about that.

[vibcol]

Not used them on customer stock yet, but seen samples of the Listawood bespoke photo presentation boxes and they look pretty nice, though they will add to costs significantly.http://www.listawood.com/item.php?id=MU ... pgnum=Unit Price x 360:£0.98 £352.80Proofing: £0.00 SetUp: £37.50 Ink Mixing: £0.00 Carriage: £31.00 Total: £421.30

[logobear]

how will retailers account for cash - even if a worthy cause, they still have to account for vat ......
If its a gift then the packaging is a big draw - but costs an extra quid - and does only get chucked!

How will YOU present your side of the offer?
Maybe you get £2, retailer gets £2 , and cause gets £2 - or are you hoping to profit ?

[socialgiraffe]

VIBCOL, you might want to look at The Magic Touch Printable boxes. If you have an A3 Sublimation printer they will probably work out a bit cheaper.

LOGOBEAR, good point about the VAT for shops which I have not thought about, personally I do not want to take any money from it and am happy to donate the mugs free of charge, it could potentially lead to other sales, but right now its about giving back to my community.

[Andrew]

If you put them into retail for £3.99 (with or without vat) to sell at £5.99 that gives them £1 profit and extra to clear the vat aspect. You can then invoice them only when sold so there is no cash upfront and restock if they are happy.

An acetate box with printed insert can be done around 30p plus vat. We do this for many customers for retail.

[froggy]

IMO retail will want a minimum of 40% on return after VAT. £5.99 retail price so a cost of max £3.00 +VAT quantity discount breaks on top.

[Andrew]

IMO retail will want a minimum of 40% on return after VAT. £5.99 retail price so a cost of max £3.00 +VAT quantity discount breaks on top.

I think he is looking at it as a fundraiser/charity type scenario so hoping retailers would be a bit easier on the profit side.

[froggy]

I think he is looking at it as a fundraiser/charity type scenario so hoping retailers would be a bit easier on the profit side.

Well many retailers are struggling at the moment, another way of looking at this scenario would be how a charity organisation would look at a potential supplier. I wouldn't be too surprised if they wanted better terms than the ones I suggested above. With sale or return, 90-120 days terms etc etc.

I admire the OP's ethics, but these charity people are becoming more and more ruthless. I personally would look at donating a percentage of money raised and run it on solid commercial principles