Selling Gift Baskets with No Foods

Embellished bags are beautiful gifts in basketsAnna asks:

“I want to make baskets with gifts rather than with just food. Can I make money with that?”

Absolutely. When I began my business in 1990, I started by including all gift items. The only edible product in my baskets was a handful of lollipops with my business name pre-printed on the candy.

I launched with all gifts because I wasn’t sure, at the time, if my city’s laws allowed me to store and sell pre-packaged foods from my home base.

Some of my most-popular items included:

  • Plush animals (these sold very well for Valentine’s Day and Mother’s Day)
  • Tea pots, tea cups and saucers (everyone loved the patterns)
  • Soaps and spa accessories (grooming products are still very popular)
  • Baby items (difficult to keep in stock because they sold fast)
  • Corporate desk gifts (paperweights, frames, and specialty Post-its were favorites)

    • As with food baskets, the marketing you choose to promote your all-gift baskets must be positioned to help you reach the intended audience.

    That’s what I did, and my baskets sold quickly.

    I constantly reminded customers that the gifts would last a lifetime. That’s what worked for me. Perhaps that same type of message will also work for you.

    How to Find State Products

    Gift basket products are located in all U.S. statesCynthia asks:

    “I can’t find manufacturers here in Arkansas that sell products for my baskets. I want to approach hotels and groups, and I need items that are made right here. Do companies exist in my state?”

    There are 38 companies I found in Arkansas using an easy online search, selling items from cookies to non-alcoholic beverages to candles and more. All of these products create fabulous gift baskets for the market you serve.

    You can decrease your search time in several ways:

    1. Yahoo.com’s “U.S. States” link groups wholesalers and suppliers selling packaged products. You’ll have to drill through several screens to find the listings. If I can find them, I know you can, too.

    2. Review the listings at GiftBasketWholesaleSupplies.com, or use the search page to find what you want. The same advice works at OrganicWholesaleSupplies.com if certified organic products are on your inventory list.

    3. The CD, How to Find Products In and Around Your State, uncovers numerous ways to locate product sources. You can listen to the CD while traveling to clients or running errands. Look for more information about the CD on this page in the “CD” section.

    You’re closer than you think to finding state manufacturers. I bet you’ll have several on your resource list by next week.

    Can I Add Branded Products to My Baskets?

    Joy asks:

    “Do we have to obtain consent from the various vendors in order to include their products in our baskets?”

    When you buy products from wholesale sources, those sources provide you with items that need no permission for basket inclusion.

    If you’re referring to products from vendors such as Hershey’s, Bath and Body Works, and Trader Joe’s, the answer is also “no.”

    The only time there might be a problem is if you open the goods and repackage them.

    Designers keep products sealed in its original packaging, touching the plastic, can, or jar and never directly touching the product unless your facility is licensed by your local board of health.

    Home-based facilities cannot get such licensing, while commercial spaces can apply for a food handler’s license.

    You are free to add anyone’s goods within your gift basket as long as it’s included the way it was packaged when you received it.

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