Preparing for Christmas sales – find a new place to sell

In our final look at making the most of the run up to Christmas for your jewellery business, we take a look at a couple of ways to find new customers

If you haven’t been doing well at fairs or feel that the places you sell are saturated by jewellery makers, this time of year might be a good time to think about other selling options – as well as prehaps researching  other Christmas markets for next year.

One way to attract differentn customers is to organise a selling event of your own. For example, team up with other hand-makers to try a Christmas “trunk show” or Gift Party.

The key thing here is to identify other  whose work complements yours – you don’t want work with someone who makes jewellery just like yours –and who you get on with. Also think about working with a couple of other people rather than a large number who will need organising.

Trunk show

One way to hold an independant selling event is to have a trunk show – so called because the idea is you arrive and open your trunk of wares.

Find a friendly local venue where you can show your work for an evening or during the day at a weekend and have people drop in to browse and buy.Local pubs or larger coffee shops may be a good place to start – they want to get people through the door, so may give you a space for free.

Then have flyers printed up for friends and family to share, as well as promoting the event to your mailing list. If a few makers take part, you can promote it as a solution to Christmas shopping – include phrases like “exclusive handmade Christmas gifts” on your flyers.

Then on the day you set up your tables (remember this is likely to be a small space so plan a compact but lovely display), with business cards and a clipboard to take contact details as well as your jewellery, and be prepared to meet new customers. And because you have teamed up with other makers your should all be bringing in different customers.

Image: Andy Noren, Creative Commons

Jewellery or gift party

A party is similar but you should only have a couple of makers.

These usually happen in someone’s home where the host invites people who they think will be interested in your jewellery and who can spend time looking at your work over nibbles and drinks. Be prepared to chat more about ehat you do and think in advance if you are willing to take commissions.

Note that generally the party host receives a percentage of the profits and gift (usually a handmade item from your range).

However you plan to sell your jewellery this autumn we wish you the best of luck and don’t forget we run a range of classes to help you with your jewellery business.