Three Places to Find Foods, Gifts, and More
Amy asks:
“How can I find products in my state? I don’t think there are many manufacturers here, but I don’t know how to check.”
There are three ways to find products in your state.
1. Visit your state’s department of agriculture Web site.
State sites usually have a search engine box on all pages. Put the words “specialty foods” in the box and press the search button to see if anything appears. In addition, look around the site to see if wholesale food links are present.
2. Research the existence of a state specialty food association.
Not all states have one, but yours may. For example, if you live in Tennessee, type the phrase, “Tennessee specialty food association” in a search engine, and put quotes around the words just as you see here.
You may be pleasantly surprised to find a site that leads you to members’ names, addresses, and Web sites.
3. I created a gift basket wholesale supplies site to make it easy for gift basket designers and related professionals to locate products. Check for state resources, which are in alphabetized orderat the top of each page.
Do I Sell My Baskets on Consignment or at Wholesale Cost?
Marcelle asks,
“I would like to display some of my baskets with local businesses to see if they would sell. What would be the best approach to this, and if I were to sell some of my baskets, what method of payment from the consumer would be best since by business has not been formally established yet.”
When I entered this business in 1990, the most-popular way of selling gift baskets with local businesses was through consignment. This entailed:
1) showing the shop owner/manager gift baskets that would be sold in the shop,
2) crafting an agreement that protected the gift baskets while out of your care, and
3) collecting payment at month’s end (or whatever time frame was chosen) for the baskets that sold.
Today, many designers sell their gift baskets outright to shop owners. They do so by:
1) Creating about six different gift basket designs to offer to another retailer. Buying nested baskets are often good for this type of designing, which you’ll learn about on this page.
2) Determining a wholesale price for selling them to shop owners, which is a price that not only allows you to make a profit when selling them outright but also lets the shop mark them up again before placing them on the sales floor.
So, the method you choose to display your gift baskets with local businesses is up to you. If you can sell outright to a retailer and not have to come back to fix gift baskets that have been mangled by their customers, that’s usually the better deal.
I understand that this option is not always open, so if selling on consignment, create an agreement that gives you the largest profit percentage possible. Check on your baskets regularly, and in time you’ll learn which ones sell faster so that those designs are the only ones offered to their customers.
What Goes into a Child’s Gift Basket?
Cheryl asks:
“In my business I have never had the opportunity to create a easter basket of children ages 3-5 what you put in these type of basket?”
Although Easter has passed, the types of items that make children (and parents) happy are also the type that are appreciated in summer baskets.
The main focus for either theme is to select gifts that are oversized so they cannot be swallowed and to select foods or snacks that are nutritious rather than sugar filled.
Juices, drink cups, puzzles made with large pieces, bouncing balls (choose ones that cannot be picked apart like the rubber type), oversized building blocks, toy camera, and plush animals come to mind first.
You’ll find other food and gift items that are child friendly in catalogs and sample gift baskets found in trade magazines.
An instructional note enclosed with the gift for the parent that provides tips on discarding the outside wrapping and other safety information will be appreciated by the customer and recipient.
