Shownotes
How To Get Started With Wholesale
Listen to the full episode to discover:- How to establish your retail presence
- When is the right time to get into wholesale?
- The essential basics you need to nail before you try wholesale
- The right type of business that supports wholesale pricing
- How to educate the retailer on selling your products
- Which products are right for wholesale?
- The importance of making things easy for retailers
- And lots more!
Tune in now to learn exactly how you can get started with wholesale now - even if your business is new or small!
Resources Mentioned
Amber's Contact Links
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Gift biz unwrapped episode 387.
Speaker:There were a number of people that were using Etsy wholesale
Speaker:that said,
Speaker:well, now what Attention gifters bakers,
Speaker:crafters, and makers pursuing your dream can be fun.
Speaker:Whether you have an established business or looking to start one.
Speaker:Now you are in the right place.
Speaker:This is gift biz unwrapped,
Speaker:helping you turn your skill into a flourishing business.
Speaker:Join us for an episode,
Speaker:packed full of invaluable guidance,
Speaker:resources, and the support you need to grow.
Speaker:Your gift biz.
Speaker:Here is your host gift biz gal Sue Mohe.
Speaker:Hi there.
Speaker:It's Sue and thanks for joining me here today.
Speaker:Are you new to the show?
Speaker:Welcome. I'm so glad you're joining us before we dive into
Speaker:today's topic.
Speaker:I wanna make sure you're aware of a new podcast format.
Speaker:I'm introducing.
Speaker:That's going to serve you in a whole new way.
Speaker:It's called a boost.
Speaker:This is your chance to listen in while I address a
Speaker:current issue faced by one of your fellow handmade product makers.
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:too often,
Speaker:we stall in one area of our business where if we
Speaker:could just get past the block,
Speaker:it would open the path to new business growth.
Speaker:That's what this is all about.
Speaker:To give a boost and clear the way for the next
Speaker:big move at the end of the show,
Speaker:I'll tell you how you can sign up for your own
Speaker:free gift biz boost for now.
Speaker:Let's get to the topic of the day.
Speaker:Our discussion is going to open your eyes to new possibilities
Speaker:for your business.
Speaker:As you know,
Speaker:doubt got from the title we're talking wholesale,
Speaker:but in a different way than any discussions we've had before,
Speaker:you may have thought your business is too small or too
Speaker:new to consider the selling option,
Speaker:not necessarily.
Speaker:So, in fact,
Speaker:what you'll learn today is a way to get your business
Speaker:into the wholesale arena with guidance and structure designed for you.
Speaker:The smaller handmade product makers specifically because the holidays are approaching
Speaker:so quickly.
Speaker:I bump this interview up to get the information into your
Speaker:hands in time for you to take action on it for
Speaker:this holiday season,
Speaker:huge potential await.
Speaker:So without further delay,
Speaker:let's dive in Today.
Speaker:It's my pleasure to introduce you to Amber Christian.
Speaker:Amber is the new owner of stackable and handmade seller magazine.
Speaker:She comes from a technology background having spent over 20 years
Speaker:implementing technology solutions,
Speaker:given that she brings her finance supply chain and technology insights
Speaker:and expertise to our handmade product community.
Speaker:In fact,
Speaker:her entire career has been spent bridging the gap between different
Speaker:industries and functions,
Speaker:and she sees lots of potential within the whole landscape of
Speaker:handmade. She's been told by many that she has an innate
Speaker:ability to make boring topics,
Speaker:pretty fun,
Speaker:but guess what?
Speaker:We have no boring topics to cover today.
Speaker:Everything that we're doing is super exciting and without further ado,
Speaker:Amber, welcome to the gift biz on wrapped podcast.
Speaker:Thank you so much for having me.
Speaker:I am excited for us to get into things today,
Speaker:Me too.
Speaker:And there's a lot for me to learn about what you're
Speaker:gonna be doing too.
Speaker:This is kind of like exposing to the world,
Speaker:your plans with these two junctures.
Speaker:I Know it should Be fun.
Speaker:I know,
Speaker:but we're gonna delay for half a second in that I
Speaker:have this question I have to ask you because I do
Speaker:with every single guest and I do this,
Speaker:Amber, just to get a different view of who you are.
Speaker:Bio is one thing,
Speaker:but having you describe your motivational candle really gives us a
Speaker:different glimpse of you.
Speaker:So tell us what your motivational candle would look like by
Speaker:a color and then maybe a quote or a saying or
Speaker:a mantra.
Speaker:Something like that.
Speaker:My motivational candle is blue,
Speaker:which for those that may not see if we don't ever
Speaker:release any video with this,
Speaker:I'm wearing blue today.
Speaker:Cuz that is my motivational color.
Speaker:I like things that sparkle that are really nice rich tones.
Speaker:So my motivational candle's gonna start out with being blue.
Speaker:It's probably gonna have a Teddy Roosevelt quote about the man
Speaker:or woman in the arena.
Speaker:The person that's actually in there fighting the good fight and
Speaker:you can go Google famous Teddy Roosevelt quotes about the man
Speaker:in the arena.
Speaker:If you want to know this specific one.
Speaker:So that would actually be written on my candle.
Speaker:And I would tell you there's a particular scent that would
Speaker:go along with my candle too.
Speaker:And yes,
Speaker:I know I thought about this a lot.
Speaker:I'm Like,
Speaker:oh, this Is a really fun question.
Speaker:I love it.
Speaker:Now I'm trying to guess what scent it would be,
Speaker:but I'm gonna let you do the reveal.
Speaker:So go for it.
Speaker:It is a citrus scent.
Speaker:Oh, I wasn't expecting that.
Speaker:Yes. It's something that just makes your brain just spark alive
Speaker:and gives you all kinds of creative thoughts and just opens
Speaker:up your capacity to see things in new ways.
Speaker:So I have a sparkly blue candle with a Teddy Roosevelt
Speaker:quote that smells like citrus.
Speaker:So unique to you.
Speaker:I love it.
Speaker:And Amber,
Speaker:I don't know how many shows that you've listened to,
Speaker:but it's so interesting because makers have all these creative designs
Speaker:that they add to these candles,
Speaker:which makes it really fun for all of us to hear
Speaker:from other people.
Speaker:Yes, but yours is a very unique combination.
Speaker:I love it so much.
Speaker:I was not expecting you to say citrus at all,
Speaker:but like citrus reminds me of the sun and blue reminds
Speaker:me of the sky and in the arena reminds me of
Speaker:being open and available and it's perfect.
Speaker:Absolutely. Thank you.
Speaker:Now don't ask me to actually make that candle cause I
Speaker:have no idea I would do that.
Speaker:Don't worry.
Speaker:We don't have to go go that far.
Speaker:Okay. So we have a lot to cover today.
Speaker:I think what I'd like to do is start with handmade
Speaker:seller and just talk a little bit about what you're gonna
Speaker:be doing with that.
Speaker:And I think I'd rather start a step further back,
Speaker:which is how did you discover and decide on this opportunity
Speaker:for yourself?
Speaker:Yes. So in the last seven months I have actually bought
Speaker:two companies in the handmade industry.
Speaker:Overachiever. I know It feels like it.
Speaker:Sometimes That's a good label.
Speaker:It is.
Speaker:I'll take it.
Speaker:Hey listen.
Speaker:When an opportunity presents itself,
Speaker:you've got to jump on it or it can escape you.
Speaker:Yes. What you're gonna tell me,
Speaker:but it might not have been your preference to do them
Speaker:both at once,
Speaker:but if you didn't take those opportunities when they were there
Speaker:might not have been available when you were ready,
Speaker:so you're gonna make it work.
Speaker:That's Exactly how I ended up with two companies in a
Speaker:short period of time.
Speaker:Yeah. So I originally purchased stackable last January and stackable is
Speaker:a wholesale marketplace for artisan entrepreneurs to sell their products to
Speaker:independent retailers.
Speaker:So as you think about how you start to break into
Speaker:wholesale, lot of new people in wholesale,
Speaker:then along the way,
Speaker:as I was writing some articles about the wholesale industry,
Speaker:I ended up meeting Danny from handmade seller and she had
Speaker:run this digital publication.
Speaker:It used to be produced 12 times a year,
Speaker:but she had run it up to the end of last
Speaker:year. And then she found herself at a new chapter in
Speaker:life. Right.
Speaker:This happens to lots of us.
Speaker:She's like,
Speaker:okay, I think I'm done with this part of my journey.
Speaker:And she actually started her artisan business.
Speaker:So that's what she was doing full time.
Speaker:And she needed someone that would love and carry on that
Speaker:mission and would wanna be part of that industry.
Speaker:So as I had gotten talking to her,
Speaker:she said,
Speaker:well, you are already in this industry.
Speaker:Clearly you love it from our conversations.
Speaker:You're really enjoying what you're working on and the solutions you're
Speaker:bringing. So one thing led to another and I just asked,
Speaker:Hey, what are you gonna do with it?
Speaker:And she said,
Speaker:well, I don't know yet.
Speaker:And I said,
Speaker:can I buy it pretty soon?
Speaker:I bought it.
Speaker:Oh, that's amazing.
Speaker:And when was that?
Speaker:When did you say,
Speaker:Oh, July,
Speaker:this is brand new July,
Speaker:like a couple months ago.
Speaker:Yeah, like a month ago,
Speaker:July 20,
Speaker:22, Like the last month.
Speaker:Okay. So share with us maybe some things that you're ready
Speaker:to reveal.
Speaker:All right.
Speaker:So what a couple of your ideas or thoughts are for
Speaker:the magazine when you think it'll be available again and most
Speaker:importantly, how we can get our hands on it once it
Speaker:is available again.
Speaker:So let's cover those three things.
Speaker:Yes. So let's start with all of the back issues that
Speaker:were produced before are available for free on the handmade seller
Speaker:site. So you can go to handmade seller.com
Speaker:and you can pull up all of the old issues so
Speaker:you can sign up,
Speaker:get access to them,
Speaker:which is great.
Speaker:And then that'll put you on the list so that as
Speaker:I, I start to reveal everything else that's coming out,
Speaker:you'll start getting more and more communications from me.
Speaker:But the goal is actually to start producing it again this
Speaker:fall and we're going to go to a quarterly publication with
Speaker:it and it will remain free.
Speaker:And so it's going to be a little bit of a
Speaker:different model than what we'd had before.
Speaker:And so now I'm working on evolving what that business model
Speaker:looks like for handmade seller.
Speaker:So yes,
Speaker:it'll be quarterly.
Speaker:And we're also going to launch a podcast to go along
Speaker:with it.
Speaker:And I have a sneaky suspicion.
Speaker:A bunch of your listeners are gonna be pretty interested in
Speaker:that as well,
Speaker:because it's about how we can actually help them get in
Speaker:front of retailers.
Speaker:Oh, wonderful.
Speaker:So there'll be lots coming this Fall.
Speaker:Okay. So the best thing to do for us then is
Speaker:get on handmade sellers,
Speaker:email list,
Speaker:which I already am.
Speaker:So I'm good to go there.
Speaker:And then things will be revealed as they're ready for us
Speaker:to know.
Speaker:Would that be a good way to say it?
Speaker:Absolutely. Yes.
Speaker:I have so many fun things coming,
Speaker:but we'll slowed them.
Speaker:Yes, yes,
Speaker:Yes. Okay.
Speaker:One action step for that.
Speaker:That's easy.
Speaker:Go to handmade seller.com.
Speaker:You can grab any free back issues that you want and
Speaker:it's all online.
Speaker:So you're not gonna have anything coming to your house,
Speaker:no extra paper,
Speaker:anything like that.
Speaker:So probably immediate access to those back publications then too.
Speaker:That's correct.
Speaker:Immediate access.
Speaker:Yes. Beautiful.
Speaker:I'm loving everything.
Speaker:I'm hearing Amber.
Speaker:You're like an age old dropping down on all of us
Speaker:today and then we'll automatically be on your list and then
Speaker:we just watch our emails to see what comes next.
Speaker:Absolutely. Perfect.
Speaker:All right.
Speaker:Wonderful. So let's be done with that because the real topic
Speaker:and opportunity that our listeners have with you right now is
Speaker:with stackable.
Speaker:Right? Absolutely.
Speaker:Share with us again,
Speaker:in a little bit more detail than you already have,
Speaker:how you came onto this opportunity.
Speaker:And then let's dive in specifically to what this is and
Speaker:how it could affect our listeners.
Speaker:Absolutely. So last year I came across an opportunity to buy
Speaker:this marketplace.
Speaker:So what stackable was,
Speaker:it was created by a maker.
Speaker:She was a jewelry maker.
Speaker:And at the time that Etsy's wholesale business was shut down
Speaker:several years ago.
Speaker:There were a number of people that were on that platform
Speaker:that were using Etsy wholesale that said,
Speaker:well, now what,
Speaker:like, where do I go next?
Speaker:And where do I go?
Speaker:That is friendly for the smaller entrepreneurs.
Speaker:Maybe I'm not selling at huge scale.
Speaker:I'm not actually trying to sell enormous scale or maybe that's
Speaker:daunting. So I don't,
Speaker:maybe I don't want huge marketplaces.
Speaker:So this marketplace was created and it's a lot of people
Speaker:that are just getting into wholesale or just trying to build
Speaker:up their wholesale businesses.
Speaker:Oh, that's really interesting.
Speaker:So it's a spot very specific or will really cater to
Speaker:a brand new wholesaler.
Speaker:Yes, Love it.
Speaker:Okay. All right.
Speaker:And in fact,
Speaker:a lot of people are just kind of learning the ropes
Speaker:and oh,
Speaker:what's it like to actually set up a shop on one
Speaker:of these and oh,
Speaker:what kind of photographs do I need?
Speaker:What kind of product descriptions do I need?
Speaker:So this is a good place to learn.
Speaker:It's your kinda your baby steps.
Speaker:And so that's actually the bulk of people are brand new
Speaker:coming to wholesale.
Speaker:And then we do have other makers that are on several
Speaker:different platforms.
Speaker:Each platform has different strengths and weaknesses and is trying to
Speaker:accomplish different things.
Speaker:So it's actually common that some folks that are a little
Speaker:further along will actually be on multiple marketplaces and stackable is
Speaker:one Of them.
Speaker:Perfect. So let me just back this up for a second,
Speaker:Amber, because we already speak that language.
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:when we're talking direct to consumer,
Speaker:there's been a lot of conversation about,
Speaker:well, you should do in person shows and then you should
Speaker:have a website and then you could also online be selling
Speaker:on Etsy or other places,
Speaker:too, multiple locations for direct to consumer,
Speaker:we'll introduce you to new audiences,
Speaker:new opportunities that are not just duplicating the same thing.
Speaker:Right? Right.
Speaker:So now you're saying this exact same concept,
Speaker:but you're putting it over on the wholesale end.
Speaker:Absolutely. Yes,
Speaker:Yes, Yes.
Speaker:And so where we're a little different for stackable,
Speaker:right? So I come from a technology and small business background
Speaker:and I know how hard it is to run a small
Speaker:business. And I know that one immediate one off sale on
Speaker:a wholesale marketplace doesn't really solve how I run my business
Speaker:in a sustainable fashion.
Speaker:It doesn't necessarily help me build my relationships for repeat business,
Speaker:et cetera.
Speaker:So what we're trying to do with stackable is connect with
Speaker:the smaller,
Speaker:more independent retailers that want to support handmade.
Speaker:There is a whole growing movement on the retail side to
Speaker:support handmade.
Speaker:And so where I'm sitting with this marketplace is trying to
Speaker:also educate makers,
Speaker:educate retailers in growing that whole handmade space.
Speaker:That's really the mission that I'm after as opposed to handmade
Speaker:being one of everything else,
Speaker:they wholesale,
Speaker:we specialize,
Speaker:it's all handmade.
Speaker:So that makes it different.
Speaker:And we actually vet and everybody has to actually apply on
Speaker:our site.
Speaker:You can't just sign up and sell.
Speaker:You have to apply.
Speaker:We look at your products,
Speaker:we think it's mass produced.
Speaker:We reject it.
Speaker:We don't let those folks in.
Speaker:So it,
Speaker:again, it was seeing super,
Speaker:super focused on that handmade industry and in then helping people
Speaker:grow their businesses.
Speaker:So part of the trick is sales and making your product.
Speaker:That's one thing,
Speaker:another part of it too,
Speaker:is as you know,
Speaker:how do you start to grow that business over time?
Speaker:Oh, I have to do marketing for my business.
Speaker:My business has to start showing up different places.
Speaker:How do I do some of these different things?
Speaker:So what I'm working on with stackable is I actually send
Speaker:out periodically free promotional opportunities.
Speaker:So, you know,
Speaker:you're just starting out,
Speaker:you're in a budget you're and through some of my partners,
Speaker:you can get free advertising if your products are selected.
Speaker:So I'm adding some different things that are really more about
Speaker:those longer run solutions for running your business.
Speaker:So, Hey reminder,
Speaker:publication deadlines are this,
Speaker:submit your products and see if you can get 'em covered
Speaker:for free.
Speaker:Some of those kinds of,
Speaker:I consider those tools and can value ads to just being
Speaker:in our marketplace and our ecosystem of saying,
Speaker:I'm trying to help you build a business for the long
Speaker:run. Am I sensing some overlap here between stackable and handmade
Speaker:seller too?
Speaker:Of course.
Speaker:Absolutely. Just Wondering and It's made,
Speaker:made sense for that acquisition.
Speaker:Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker:Okay. So that's really interesting.
Speaker:So given the fact that makers,
Speaker:their focus has always been making,
Speaker:that's where it all started from.
Speaker:So all this business stuff,
Speaker:making website,
Speaker:going out at craft shows,
Speaker:I know a lot of people have gravitated to and now
Speaker:love, but it wasn't the first thing that brought them into
Speaker:the handmade industry and still promotion and marketing can be challenging,
Speaker:even if you like to do it,
Speaker:it's all the time part.
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:and even if now you have people helping you with your
Speaker:making process,
Speaker:production, shipping,
Speaker:fulfillment, whatever it is,
Speaker:you still also have to work through all those people.
Speaker:So there's a lot going on.
Speaker:And so you're offering some really valuable points within the business
Speaker:that can help really directly grow the business.
Speaker:It's a direct link like promotional visibility equals more sales.
Speaker:Exactly. And that's how you should think about what I'm developing
Speaker:around stackable,
Speaker:how I'm looking at the offerings.
Speaker:I am not trying to have hundreds of thousands of items
Speaker:on this marketplace.
Speaker:No, you want the marketplace to be a little smaller,
Speaker:more targeted,
Speaker:more focused about building those relationships and about those solutions.
Speaker:And so that's one of them.
Speaker:The other thing that we're in the process of developing is
Speaker:the ability for those that are on the paid side of
Speaker:our platform to do and participate in these open calls.
Speaker:And so we also remember,
Speaker:it's not just your unique product.
Speaker:The retailer has the,
Speaker:how do I be unique?
Speaker:How is my inventory unique?
Speaker:What can I do to differentiate myself?
Speaker:And this is where handmade is coming into play.
Speaker:And so I'm rolling out offerings to be able to say,
Speaker:well, what if you wanted to custom make a product for
Speaker:a shop?
Speaker:What if they wanted that?
Speaker:And then they get access to bid on.
Speaker:That could be very much like your regular product,
Speaker:but could be customized for a store.
Speaker:Well, that's gonna help you build a relationship.
Speaker:They'll come back more.
Speaker:And so this is part of the conversations I'm having with
Speaker:retailers to plant that sea because they didn't even know this
Speaker:was possible.
Speaker:They didn't even know people were open to doing these kinds
Speaker:of things.
Speaker:I'm like,
Speaker:oh, makers are open for business.
Speaker:And I will tell you,
Speaker:there are some people within my coaching programs and other listeners,
Speaker:even beyond that who are here who have gift shops or
Speaker:brick and mortar shops or creative outlets,
Speaker:different from only just handmade.
Speaker:And they're looking for things that are made in their area,
Speaker:right. Things that are made with local ingredients,
Speaker:things that can be branded to their businesses,
Speaker:potentially all of that.
Speaker:So if you are listening and you have a shop like
Speaker:that, both ears should be peaked,
Speaker:right? Like people who have shops already and then people who
Speaker:are makers,
Speaker:because there's opportunity here for both of you.
Speaker:And that is really exciting.
Speaker:Absolutely. And it's been amazing as I've talked with retailers,
Speaker:they look at me,
Speaker:you could do that.
Speaker:I have access to hundreds of makers.
Speaker:Of course I can do that.
Speaker:Yeah. That's the power of it.
Speaker:So let's go from the maker end.
Speaker:Okay. And let's do all of the maker and then let's
Speaker:roll into if someone is looking for products because they have
Speaker:a gift shop,
Speaker:let's say,
Speaker:and they're looking for more wholesale items just as you're saying,
Speaker:not these mass produced,
Speaker:but the one of a kind,
Speaker:the very intimate that's gonna make their shop look different.
Speaker:Right. So we'll do that second.
Speaker:Okay. Yeah.
Speaker:But for a maker,
Speaker:what are you specifically looking at with them in like,
Speaker:what are the qualifications I'm thinking there are people listening that
Speaker:are like,
Speaker:oh, I know she said,
Speaker:it's for people who are starting,
Speaker:but I'm not sure I'm even qualified yet.
Speaker:So give us a little rundown of who would be the
Speaker:right person.
Speaker:Yes. So the right person already has their retail presence established.
Speaker:If you haven't launched your,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:selling to consumer or you haven't been selling at any shows
Speaker:yet, you don't wanna try to launch wholesale at the right
Speaker:time. So if you're a maker you want to have been
Speaker:out there and been making sales,
Speaker:doesn't have to be a lot,
Speaker:but you have already been working through that process.
Speaker:Yes. Because there are so many pieces.
Speaker:You need the basics of a brand.
Speaker:You're gonna need to be able to upload a shop image.
Speaker:You're gonna need to know what to write about your shop.
Speaker:You're gonna need to know how to talk a little bit
Speaker:about your products.
Speaker:So you want to have been doing some type of retail
Speaker:sales to a customer,
Speaker:right? Whether it's through a show or something so that you've
Speaker:got the basics of setting it up,
Speaker:otherwise setting up a brand is it's just too hard to
Speaker:set up a shop because you haven't figured out all the
Speaker:basics of just how you're selling to end consumers yet.
Speaker:Well, and the danger to that,
Speaker:if you jump forward in that is then you set something
Speaker:up with you,
Speaker:then you set up your website or something.
Speaker:And none of it looks the same.
Speaker:So the very first thing is targeting in on what your
Speaker:brand is by colors and logos and taglines,
Speaker:if you want and what you stand for and who your
Speaker:customer is,
Speaker:right? Yes.
Speaker:Like, are you going for the quick short sales or you,
Speaker:is your product more expensive?
Speaker:So you're looking for more high quality investment type buyers,
Speaker:right? Like you think through all of that,
Speaker:that's really good information.
Speaker:Not just to start with stackable,
Speaker:but anything you'd start there.
Speaker:Yes. You start there.
Speaker:You have to make sure you've got those basics.
Speaker:And the next thing I would tell you is you have
Speaker:to make sure that you have a type of business that
Speaker:supports wholesale pricing.
Speaker:And this is part of the,
Speaker:kind of the nitty gritty of business.
Speaker:But wholesale margins are different than retail margins.
Speaker:They're not sold at the same price to a retailer.
Speaker:The retailer has to then mark up the products and then
Speaker:sell them.
Speaker:So the other key thing to understand is actually have I
Speaker:created a cost profile for my products that is going to
Speaker:actually support a wholesale business.
Speaker:We've done some other episodes on that as Well.
Speaker:Yes. In fact,
Speaker:actually I created an email course from here to wholesale in
Speaker:one year,
Speaker:since you email every month with a step to do,
Speaker:if you're like,
Speaker:oh, I wanna do wholesale.
Speaker:Oh, but I'm not quite there.
Speaker:And so each month there's like hair,
Speaker:do this,
Speaker:this month hair,
Speaker:do this,
Speaker:this next month.
Speaker:Step by step.
Speaker:Yeah. I did that step by step because people would say,
Speaker:I feel completely overwhelmed at selling wholesale.
Speaker:And I was trying to break that down and said,
Speaker:well, what if you were just given a path,
Speaker:this one step at a time,
Speaker:they're like,
Speaker:well, that's pretty approachable.
Speaker:Again, back to that whole,
Speaker:how do I create these little practical solutions,
Speaker:right. To make it easier Building your company is also kind
Speaker:of like building a tower of blocks too.
Speaker:You don't wanna start wholesale and direct to consumer at the
Speaker:same time.
Speaker:There's two totally different things.
Speaker:Getting your pricing right.
Speaker:Initially for direct to consumer will help you ease into wholesale,
Speaker:much easier.
Speaker:There won't be all these questions.
Speaker:Well, how come your prices are increasing or,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:all that kind of thing happening either.
Speaker:But trying to do them both at the same time,
Speaker:doesn't make sense.
Speaker:And I would say,
Speaker:and I just wanna say this for our listeners there.
Speaker:Some people only do direct to consumer.
Speaker:Some people only do wholesale.
Speaker:Some people do both.
Speaker:So you can decide for yourself,
Speaker:what's right for you.
Speaker:But wholesale does represent such a huge and different opportunity.
Speaker:It's another source for you.
Speaker:Although the structure looks completely different,
Speaker:right? And Amber's our girl to teach us and get us
Speaker:opportunities in that arena.
Speaker:Yes. And you should think of it like revenue streams,
Speaker:right? I always think of it as a bit of a
Speaker:stool and you wanna have multiple streams as part of that
Speaker:business and wholesale can provide a steady revenue stream.
Speaker:As you get relationships built with independent retailers and you make
Speaker:sure that you're able to move the products with them.
Speaker:So they're able to repeat order with you.
Speaker:All of that takes time.
Speaker:The other big thing that I would say is if you're
Speaker:going to come onto a wholesale platform,
Speaker:any of them,
Speaker:you can't be bouncing around one to the next,
Speaker:to the next to the next,
Speaker:every other month,
Speaker:you have to give it time.
Speaker:A key that I'll see sometimes is someone says,
Speaker:well, I put my shop up the next day where the
Speaker:orders like,
Speaker:whoa. And like,
Speaker:what did you tell anyone?
Speaker:Your shop's there?
Speaker:No. Well,
Speaker:It's the same thing as direct to consumer,
Speaker:right? Like,
Speaker:just because you're there.
Speaker:If nobody knows you are there,
Speaker:how are they gonna buy from you?
Speaker:Absolutely. Exactly.
Speaker:And there's the thing too about,
Speaker:this is just a kind of a side thought just for
Speaker:us all to consider is,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:how we talk about,
Speaker:you can name your number.
Speaker:Some say seven.
Speaker:Sometimes people say as many as 12 touches before someone is
Speaker:convinced that they should buy from you.
Speaker:Right? If you make a product that you wanna place in
Speaker:wholesale, whoever is going to stock your product and put it
Speaker:in their shop.
Speaker:It's their reputation on the line as well.
Speaker:So they really need to feel comfortable with you and Amber.
Speaker:This is one of the things I like about stackable.
Speaker:And you talking about the fact that you're vetting,
Speaker:as things continue to grow and build your platform,
Speaker:becomes known as one that has quality products.
Speaker:Like you could even say,
Speaker:that's already three touches,
Speaker:just being on and approved to be with stackable.
Speaker:I already know that what I'm looking at here,
Speaker:like has been reviewed.
Speaker:It's good quality.
Speaker:I can put it in my store and it's solid for
Speaker:my reputation if I was a store owner.
Speaker:Absolutely. Yeah.
Speaker:Okay. So we're seeing,
Speaker:if we qualify,
Speaker:we need to have our branding down and our positioning.
Speaker:We need to have solid pricing.
Speaker:That's gonna work for wholesale,
Speaker:right? Is there anything else under just the qualifying portion?
Speaker:Oh my gosh.
Speaker:Are you excited?
Speaker:Is your mind opening up to the opportunity of wholesale for
Speaker:you? Even if you're just starting out,
Speaker:we're gonna continue the conversation with Amber after this quick break
Speaker:to hear from our sponsor.
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Speaker:You wanna make sure you have your photos ready?
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:you should have this.
Speaker:If you've got your direct to consumer shot,
Speaker:but making sure it's really a photo and a description that's
Speaker:going to help the retailer really understand your product.
Speaker:A key mistake that I see people make a lot is
Speaker:like, oh,
Speaker:we'll just take everything off of my direct to consumer shop.
Speaker:And that'll be fine for the retailer that doesn't help the
Speaker:retailer. Doesn't help them sell your product.
Speaker:You need a description.
Speaker:That's going to work for a retailer.
Speaker:So I think that's a key area as well as where
Speaker:people wanna just shortcut the process and just use everything they
Speaker:did for a consumer thinking that I would sell in the
Speaker:same way to a consumer as I would to a retailer.
Speaker:It's a whole different customer.
Speaker:It's A whole different customer With a different purpose of purchasing
Speaker:from you too.
Speaker:Yes, Absolutely.
Speaker:And they have different information needs as well.
Speaker:And so a lot of times where I talk about,
Speaker:you gotta remember this as a process and it's going to
Speaker:take time.
Speaker:You're not gonna have every piece there right away.
Speaker:You have to think about how am I gonna educate the
Speaker:retailer on how to sell my product?
Speaker:Because now if I want to go stand out to a
Speaker:retailer, if I make it easy for them to turn around
Speaker:and sell my product,
Speaker:they're gonna order more from me.
Speaker:They're gonna wanna work with me versus everybody else out there
Speaker:that says here,
Speaker:you figure it out.
Speaker:Your problem.
Speaker:At this point here,
Speaker:it's handmade.
Speaker:That should sell it.
Speaker:No, no it's not.
Speaker:So would that also include offering like point of sale materials
Speaker:and things like that?
Speaker:Exactly. It could be point of sale materials.
Speaker:If you have any little videos of it,
Speaker:anything that educates that retailer,
Speaker:that's something I hear from retailers.
Speaker:We aren't educated.
Speaker:We don't get any education.
Speaker:It shows up in a box and I'm supposed to figure
Speaker:out how to sell it.
Speaker:Right. That's great.
Speaker:But if I have 150 products like that,
Speaker:I can't do that.
Speaker:I don't have that kind of time.
Speaker:So put yourself in that shop owner's lens and say,
Speaker:how do I make it easy for them to go,
Speaker:oh, I have this beautiful product and oh,
Speaker:maybe there's some little information cards or something where they can
Speaker:learn more about the maker.
Speaker:Maybe it's a QR code.
Speaker:Someone can scan on their phone and look at,
Speaker:oh, that's really cool.
Speaker:I want that.
Speaker:That's more interesting story.
Speaker:So think about it as more of the experience for how
Speaker:do you take your product and move it through the retailer,
Speaker:to that consumer?
Speaker:What information should you provide?
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:a lot of it in your head,
Speaker:you just need to get it created and put it along
Speaker:with your product And position it to the person that you're
Speaker:talking to.
Speaker:Yes. I'm also thinking that it's not a hundred percent.
Speaker:I'm not exactly sure how to say this,
Speaker:but you don't just take all the products that you have
Speaker:and just flip them over and offer all of those wholesale.
Speaker:Either. There may be certain parts of your product line that
Speaker:are more suitable to wholesale than others.
Speaker:Yes. If your products were really popular and you got a
Speaker:huge order of 50 pieces,
Speaker:somebody wants for wholesale,
Speaker:can you make those in a timely manner?
Speaker:Are you ready?
Speaker:Do you have even the materials in this era of supply
Speaker:and shortage of supply,
Speaker:do you even have it so really to think through which
Speaker:products to offer up right away too.
Speaker:Yes. And we can actually,
Speaker:you can set order quantities.
Speaker:You can set min max quantities and things on our site.
Speaker:So that,
Speaker:that I think is a big thing.
Speaker:People get hung up by,
Speaker:they think I'm gonna get an order for a thousand and
Speaker:I can't make it.
Speaker:No, you just say you can't order that many,
Speaker:you set that in your shop.
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:this is one of the beauties of stackable too,
Speaker:because if you're really looking at makers who are starting out
Speaker:and smaller,
Speaker:more local boutique shops who are looking for product,
Speaker:they're not gonna buy that many anyway.
Speaker:No. Right.
Speaker:Exactly. And they wanna keep everything fresh and roll their inventory
Speaker:through. At first,
Speaker:they're gonna buy smaller quantities just to see if it sells.
Speaker:And then they'll probably stay with smaller quantities because think about
Speaker:it. Boutique shops have limited floor space anyway.
Speaker:So they want lots of variety of products,
Speaker:not necessarily within your brand.
Speaker:So 2,
Speaker:3, 5,
Speaker:that makes total sense with what you're talking about.
Speaker:Exactly. And so the other thing I would tell you too,
Speaker:is sometimes I see the minimums that people put for a
Speaker:wholesale order.
Speaker:And I look at that and I was like,
Speaker:we're selling to independent retailers who are buying small quantities and
Speaker:you put $500 order minimum.
Speaker:Like that's a lot for someone to take a new bet
Speaker:on you.
Speaker:So you have to really be thoughtful about it.
Speaker:You can test the waters,
Speaker:you can update things over time.
Speaker:And I think sometimes people think,
Speaker:well, I'm gonna set it and forget it.
Speaker:I'm like,
Speaker:no, you're gonna work with this over time.
Speaker:As you learn and grow and you wanna start small and
Speaker:a little simpler,
Speaker:you do not wanna start with a catalog of 500 items,
Speaker:right. Outta the go,
Speaker:that's gonna be horrible to maintain.
Speaker:You're not gonna be able to manage that between your,
Speaker:I see that too,
Speaker:between the consumer and wholesale is yep.
Speaker:Take my entire exact same catalog.
Speaker:And to your point,
Speaker:maybe they all don't have the right margins to support that.
Speaker:Are you sure you wanna wholesale that many items?
Speaker:So the planning for what you wanna wholesale is something you
Speaker:really need to think about.
Speaker:And I think that's what you're getting at.
Speaker:Sue gotta be intentional about this.
Speaker:Yeah. I mean really thinking about where these products would be
Speaker:placed and the value that yours have over others Right Now,
Speaker:would there be any products that would not be suitable?
Speaker:I usually think of it more in terms of does the
Speaker:margin support.
Speaker:It. That's really kinda how I think of it right now.
Speaker:We have some categories.
Speaker:We don't sell fresh food.
Speaker:Like we don't sell that.
Speaker:And so some things like that,
Speaker:but otherwise that's a,
Speaker:if you have a question about that category,
Speaker:just shoot us a note and ask that's what I tell
Speaker:people. What About consumables that are packaged?
Speaker:Like if someone makes cookies or a sauce or something like
Speaker:that, that's has some shelf life to it.
Speaker:Let me put it that way.
Speaker:Yeah. Right.
Speaker:So we've done like coffees and teas,
Speaker:but we have not expanded into those categories with shelf life,
Speaker:but there are other marketplaces that have,
Speaker:okay. So that one's not really stackable,
Speaker:but I know there are some other more artisan food marketplaces
Speaker:that do wholesale.
Speaker:So there's some other folks out there that you can find
Speaker:that, do That.
Speaker:Okay. But I'm also thinking for our bakers and food makers
Speaker:out there,
Speaker:if you were looking at doing some type of a product
Speaker:that you would want to pair with something.
Speaker:So I'm thinking of like,
Speaker:if you made a fig spread and you for Christmas wanted
Speaker:to make that into a gift kit that had like a
Speaker:little serving plate,
Speaker:ah, they could come to stackable yes.
Speaker:And buy wholesale a serving plate that could be used with
Speaker:the fig jams and then they could wrap them up as
Speaker:the gift.
Speaker:Yes. Yes.
Speaker:So you're a maker turned wholesale purchaser at that point kind
Speaker:of right.
Speaker:You would be,
Speaker:yes. You would be on the business side.
Speaker:You'd be on the purchasing side at that point.
Speaker:And sure.
Speaker:If you have your own business and you want to buy
Speaker:other handmade things to put into kits.
Speaker:Sure. Of course you can do that kind of stuff.
Speaker:In fact,
Speaker:actually, that's one of the things that I've been trying to
Speaker:talk to more retailers about,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:you can put multiple things together.
Speaker:And one thing I actually suggest for makers too,
Speaker:is think about these sort of gift baskets and sample kits.
Speaker:And if I think about my products,
Speaker:what are things that make it really easy for that retailer
Speaker:and for some of your folks that are thinking about,
Speaker:well, I don't want to have huge orders.
Speaker:Maybe you do sample packs.
Speaker:That's another thing to do.
Speaker:And retailers like those,
Speaker:right. That's a smaller quantity and it's a few different things.
Speaker:Right. And so you could actually get a slightly bigger sale
Speaker:cause they're like,
Speaker:oh, why do I two or three?
Speaker:Sure. I'll just try the whole sample kit instead of just
Speaker:that one item again,
Speaker:think about how do I make it easy for the guy
Speaker:on the other end guy or gal on the other end.
Speaker:And you mentioned gift baskets and now gift boxes are all
Speaker:the rage too.
Speaker:Yep. I'm intimately familiar with this industry.
Speaker:And many of them are looking for those local based products
Speaker:yeah. Or products that are super unique because their gift baskets
Speaker:don't then look like the big guys that are just the
Speaker:brand name products,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:big boxes,
Speaker:small amount of ingredients inside,
Speaker:but more local and things that if you were to give
Speaker:that gift box as a gift,
Speaker:aren't things that you could just go buy at your local
Speaker:shop. Right.
Speaker:They're very much curated for that business.
Speaker:We keep going off on the side and tangents about this,
Speaker:which is great.
Speaker:Cause it's just a whole bunch of brainstorming ideas,
Speaker:right? Yes.
Speaker:All right.
Speaker:So branding,
Speaker:pricing, photos and descriptions.
Speaker:Well photos ready,
Speaker:but then the descriptions probably just need to be tweaked for
Speaker:the right audience.
Speaker:Right. Right.
Speaker:Anything else on qualifying?
Speaker:Yeah. Actually let me back up a little qualifications.
Speaker:Really. When you submit your application for stackable,
Speaker:it's actually super easy.
Speaker:You're gonna give us your website,
Speaker:your Instagram profile.
Speaker:So I can go take a look at all of that.
Speaker:And as long as we know,
Speaker:it's handmade,
Speaker:we know it's the artisan,
Speaker:the, the smaller made that part of the process is easy.
Speaker:What If I am just starting my Instagram account really?
Speaker:Haven't paid a lot of attention to it.
Speaker:And I sell at craft shows.
Speaker:I'm thinking about a website might not have one still,
Speaker:even after all the warnings,
Speaker:after what we just went through.
Speaker:Right. So if my business model was face to face,
Speaker:but then I'll do wholesale orders on the side behind the
Speaker:scenes. That would also still be okay.
Speaker:Yes it is.
Speaker:Cuz here's what would happen.
Speaker:Right? So we look at all the applications,
Speaker:we'd say,
Speaker:huh, there's no website.
Speaker:Hm. There's only a couple posts on Instagram.
Speaker:We would shoot you an email and say,
Speaker:Hey, can you tell us a little bit about what you're
Speaker:hoping, hoping to sell on stackable?
Speaker:And then usually people go,
Speaker:oh, I'm looking to sell blah,
Speaker:blah, blah,
Speaker:handmade products.
Speaker:I'm doing everything at craft shows.
Speaker:Here's some pictures.
Speaker:That's usually how things works.
Speaker:And then we go,
Speaker:oh, okay.
Speaker:We can see what it is.
Speaker:And again,
Speaker:we're just trying to make sure that it's a fit for
Speaker:our site and that we're not gonna waste your time.
Speaker:That's the other side of this too.
Speaker:And the other reason we vet and we look at the
Speaker:categories is sometimes we reject people because we say,
Speaker:guess what?
Speaker:People don't come to our site to buy that.
Speaker:I don't wanna waste your time as a small business.
Speaker:And so if it's not a fit,
Speaker:I tell you that versus,
Speaker:oh, come on in.
Speaker:And then have you go through all that work.
Speaker:I'm gonna tell you if it's not a category we really
Speaker:sell or we really see.
Speaker:So give us some examples of categories that are a fit
Speaker:Candle makers.
Speaker:We've had people that do like small batch aromatherapy,
Speaker:home decor,
Speaker:jewelry, handmade apparel.
Speaker:We've had things in the pet space.
Speaker:Let's see.
Speaker:I'm sure there's more,
Speaker:I'm not thinking of,
Speaker:but off the top of my head,
Speaker:those are all Handmade bird,
Speaker:feeders, glass ornaments,
Speaker:like all those true handmade.
Speaker:Yes. Okay.
Speaker:All right.
Speaker:Yeah. So apparel and all that.
Speaker:I wanted to hear that too.
Speaker:So pretty much.
Speaker:Yeah. Okay.
Speaker:We got that.
Speaker:Okay. So we do the qualifications now starting.
Speaker:So it starts with,
Speaker:is there a form on your site or how does that
Speaker:work? Yep.
Speaker:There's an application form right on our site that you fill
Speaker:out that provides all those basics to us and then we'll
Speaker:review the application.
Speaker:And when we accept the application,
Speaker:we'll send you a series of emails to help you onboard.
Speaker:And then you can just email us as you have questions.
Speaker:If you're having questions,
Speaker:getting set up.
Speaker:Okay. How long does it take to get approved?
Speaker:Approximately? Usually under a week.
Speaker:Sometimes it's a day.
Speaker:If it's a no brainer,
Speaker:cuz we can tell there's a website.
Speaker:It says it's handmade all over it.
Speaker:And there's a picture of you as the maker on it.
Speaker:Those tend to get approved within a few days.
Speaker:They're pretty quick.
Speaker:Those are easy.
Speaker:I'm thinking about this only because of what we're talking about
Speaker:for the opportunities coming up.
Speaker:So it doesn't take a long time to get approved,
Speaker:but go ahead and do it right away.
Speaker:And is there a cost to getting approved or should we
Speaker:get to costs later?
Speaker:It's free to apply.
Speaker:Okay. Free to apply.
Speaker:So now you've gotten approved and then we get emails with
Speaker:links that guide us through how to set everything up.
Speaker:Correct? Yes.
Speaker:And so you should carve out some time because it's gonna
Speaker:take you a little while you get your little shop banner
Speaker:set up,
Speaker:you get your description of your shop.
Speaker:You have to add in kind of all your social profiles
Speaker:and all that.
Speaker:So that it looks the way you want it to look,
Speaker:to represent your brand to retailers.
Speaker:That's the piece where don't do short shift on this,
Speaker:give yourself a little bit of time,
Speaker:carve out a day or something to actually thoughtfully work your
Speaker:way through it.
Speaker:I'm underlying what you said,
Speaker:how your brand looks to retailers,
Speaker:not how your brand looks to a consumer,
Speaker:who's gonna buy.
Speaker:Right. Right.
Speaker:How should your brand look to a retailer?
Speaker:How do you want that sold to a retailer who then
Speaker:will turn around and sell to an end consumer?
Speaker:So thoughtfully work your way through that process.
Speaker:And the setup for that,
Speaker:we send a series of onboarding emails cuz the practicality is,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:lots of people are doing this in off hours or they're
Speaker:gonna do it on the weekend and they'll apply one weekend
Speaker:and the next weekend they'll come set their shop up or
Speaker:something like that.
Speaker:Very common.
Speaker:That's very typical.
Speaker:And for what we see,
Speaker:so you'll work your way through the shop setup process.
Speaker:And at a certain point you have a decision point and
Speaker:that's really related to your business and how you're planning to
Speaker:grow your business.
Speaker:So we have one level that is what we call our
Speaker:free level,
Speaker:where it's commission based.
Speaker:And you can have up to 15 items on that level
Speaker:and they have a 15% commission if they sell plus a
Speaker:3% fee that pays for Stripe basically.
Speaker:So there's that level.
Speaker:Sometimes that's great for people that are just getting started and
Speaker:feel like they're learning so many ropes on this,
Speaker:that just in the beginning stages of building their wholesale business,
Speaker:then there's other folks that have said,
Speaker:Hey, guess what?
Speaker:I want access to some of these other opportunities.
Speaker:Like some of these open customizations,
Speaker:I want you to promote my stuff through your social channels.
Speaker:They get access to because I write for other publications,
Speaker:I reach out to some of these folks to get quotes
Speaker:from them.
Speaker:And so they can,
Speaker:they might get a little press coverage,
Speaker:courtesy of me and other things I write as well.
Speaker:And those are all the folks that are kind of on
Speaker:our paid tier again,
Speaker:how do we solve it to make it easier?
Speaker:Right? Is you'll get the,
Speaker:Hey, would you like to provide a quote for a certain
Speaker:question? Oh yeah,
Speaker:yeah, yeah,
Speaker:yeah. Yeah.
Speaker:Takes like 10 minutes,
Speaker:like, Hey and I'll cover your shop.
Speaker:You'll answer a little question for me and I'll cover your
Speaker:shop. They're like,
Speaker:oh well that's amazing.
Speaker:And so as I say,
Speaker:those value added services and those are for folks that are
Speaker:on our paid platform.
Speaker:And so how that works is you can either do a
Speaker:monthly one,
Speaker:a quarterly one or an annual one.
Speaker:And it's all depends on if you do a monthly one,
Speaker:it's $25 a month.
Speaker:If you do quarterly,
Speaker:there's a price break.
Speaker:So 62 50 and annually is 250 and that covers all
Speaker:the cost to run the platform.
Speaker:And then there's no commissions.
Speaker:You just pay the 3% strip fee.
Speaker:That's like a no brainer,
Speaker:Amber. Yeah.
Speaker:Are you sure those prices should be that low Prices haven't
Speaker:been adjusted in several years and I'm pretty determined to try
Speaker:to keep 'em there.
Speaker:Cause what I'm really looking at is saying,
Speaker:look, you're gonna have Shopify square space,
Speaker:something for your retail site,
Speaker:where are you gonna put your wholesale stuff?
Speaker:Who vets said,
Speaker:it's a business that's buying it.
Speaker:Do you want to a hundred percent of it to then
Speaker:just go through your own site?
Speaker:Or do you want some discovery and promotion and help in
Speaker:the process from someone else?
Speaker:That's kinda,
Speaker:as you think about that,
Speaker:Dang, like I would jump on it now.
Speaker:That sounds amazing.
Speaker:I was expecting you to say seven 50.
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:something like that.
Speaker:No. And you may not have thought this through yet,
Speaker:but if someone comes in now and they stay with you
Speaker:you year after year,
Speaker:will you maintain their entrance where they came in or will
Speaker:it change as like,
Speaker:if you start increasing it down the road?
Speaker:Oh I would grandfather prices.
Speaker:I'll tell you that.
Speaker:Yeah. You would grandfather prices.
Speaker:Okay. I'm not a fan.
Speaker:I'm like,
Speaker:Hey look,
Speaker:if you came in,
Speaker:you were that loyal in the early days when we're little
Speaker:and we're working through all this stuff and you're working,
Speaker:heck yeah.
Speaker:I'm gonna be loyal to you too.
Speaker:So yeah,
Speaker:we would grandfather,
Speaker:I would add new tiers and new pricing for people that
Speaker:came in later.
Speaker:I've had other businesses.
Speaker:So I'm like,
Speaker:yeah, I know people are like,
Speaker:Hey, you're leaving money on the table.
Speaker:Yeah, I know.
Speaker:Yeah. Oh gosh.
Speaker:I love that.
Speaker:I knew I liked you when we first connected.
Speaker:Cause I had to challenge you about the pricing.
Speaker:That was just the very first thing that came to me
Speaker:is like,
Speaker:that's a steal,
Speaker:You know?
Speaker:I know as I talk to people like seriously,
Speaker:really? Yeah.
Speaker:Yeah. But so get in on it now because then you
Speaker:can keep that.
Speaker:Okay. So amazing.
Speaker:Okay. So you choose your place,
Speaker:but for those who aren't yet comfortable because let's face it
Speaker:when you're growing your business and starting out and have never
Speaker:done wholesale before,
Speaker:maybe they wanna try the free.
Speaker:Yeah. You know,
Speaker:it costs them a little bit more per order,
Speaker:but just to get their feet wet.
Speaker:And can you always jump to different levels to upgrade your
Speaker:level at any point?
Speaker:Yes. Okay.
Speaker:You're making this very easy,
Speaker:Amber, Like I said,
Speaker:I've tried really hard to make it easy for you to
Speaker:focus on the things,
Speaker:to grow your business.
Speaker:And, and I'm always asking myself,
Speaker:what else can I take off your plate?
Speaker:That's creative.
Speaker:That's thoughtful that accesses the information I have.
Speaker:Right. Because I have access to some retailers.
Speaker:I have access to the makers.
Speaker:How do I create these win-wins for everybody?
Speaker:And I'm really just the underlying marketplace.
Speaker:That's transacting and trying to nudge people along and help 'em
Speaker:grow their business.
Speaker:Right. Okay.
Speaker:We've made our decision point.
Speaker:Okay. So we're now past that.
Speaker:What happens next?
Speaker:The decision of am I gonna do free or am I
Speaker:gonna do a paid program?
Speaker:And so then what happens?
Speaker:We finish our shop,
Speaker:set up,
Speaker:get everything ready to go.
Speaker:We need to tell people on social media,
Speaker:we're there.
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:we provide some templates and some things via can vote to
Speaker:say, Hey,
Speaker:let people know I'm UNS stackable.
Speaker:So let me ask you a question on this.
Speaker:Finalizing your shop setup.
Speaker:So is there a point where you can push the button
Speaker:and it goes,
Speaker:live onto stackable so you can do all this stuff behind
Speaker:the scenes and then when you're ready,
Speaker:do you control pushing it and getting it live or do
Speaker:we send something to you?
Speaker:And then you just look at it,
Speaker:make sure it all looks okay and then you turn it
Speaker:on. You actually control that.
Speaker:And so the way you control that is you go ahead
Speaker:and upload your shop.
Speaker:And so then the shop would be there.
Speaker:But if there's no products in it,
Speaker:it's not really gonna show up anywhere.
Speaker:Yeah. So you don't do that until you're ready.
Speaker:Yeah. You do your baseline shop stuff.
Speaker:You put your items in a draft status and then once
Speaker:you publish them,
Speaker:they go live.
Speaker:So it's really easy.
Speaker:Yeah. That's why there's the two steps.
Speaker:Yeah, yeah,
Speaker:yeah. Yeah.
Speaker:Okay. All right.
Speaker:So we've done that.
Speaker:And so now let's get to the promoting and marketing,
Speaker:cuz just like we were talking about earlier,
Speaker:if nobody knows you're there,
Speaker:they're not gonna know to come to you unless they happen
Speaker:to fall upon you even in stock.
Speaker:All right,
Speaker:Exactly. Exactly.
Speaker:They might be sorting a catalog and find you.
Speaker:But if you're relying only on other people to a hundred
Speaker:percent of your sales,
Speaker:you're gonna have a real mixed bag.
Speaker:They might find you.
Speaker:They might not,
Speaker:who knows.
Speaker:Right. Just like anything with businesses,
Speaker:there's some intentionality to all of this.
Speaker:And with the thing to think about with the other thing
Speaker:to think about with wholesale to is I tell people,
Speaker:okay, so you're still going to those shows right?
Speaker:In your direct to consumer stuff and you're still meeting people.
Speaker:You're gonna come across businesses along the way.
Speaker:Do you have in the same materials that you do,
Speaker:even for your direct to consumer links to your wholesale shop,
Speaker:like somebody might be walking by and be like,
Speaker:oh look,
Speaker:they do wholesale.
Speaker:They might not tell you they're a business owner.
Speaker:They got a friend that has a shop that I'm like,
Speaker:that'd be really cool.
Speaker:Oh I should tell my friend,
Speaker:I'll just grab your little card or your information and hand
Speaker:it to her.
Speaker:That has my little shop link to it.
Speaker:And this is your wholesale shop.
Speaker:Yeah, Exactly.
Speaker:You should have them both because consumers and they're not gonna
Speaker:come by wholesale.
Speaker:Cause we're like,
Speaker:give us your business information.
Speaker:And so you can even put four businesses,
Speaker:wholesale link,
Speaker:blah. And it's something I don't see people do.
Speaker:And I ask makers said,
Speaker:well, you're on a wholesale platform who knows you there?
Speaker:Yeah. Oh,
Speaker:well don't you just deal with all that?
Speaker:Like I do what I can,
Speaker:but you know,
Speaker:if you don't even tell people on your main website that
Speaker:you wholesale,
Speaker:there's a problem.
Speaker:So that's one thing I you'd be surprised.
Speaker:It's not like they're handing everything over for you to run
Speaker:your partners together.
Speaker:They're coming on your site,
Speaker:you're going to support them.
Speaker:It's a back and forth.
Speaker:And the other thing I really like about things like with
Speaker:stackable is if you are a maker and your're driving people
Speaker:to that site,
Speaker:so are the other makers who are there.
Speaker:So you all win because think of a gift shop,
Speaker:they don't need just one product.
Speaker:They need multiple products on the shelf.
Speaker:So you're gonna get the value from others,
Speaker:driving their contacts there.
Speaker:And you do the same thing by driving some of your
Speaker:contacts there.
Speaker:Exactly. It's a community effort.
Speaker:Yeah. That's that reality.
Speaker:And knowing that you're part of the handmade community,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:you're not part of just everything else that might be mass
Speaker:produced or handmade.
Speaker:And then they're trying to make you compete on price and
Speaker:other things.
Speaker:No, you're all part of this handmade community when you're doing
Speaker:that here.
Speaker:Okay. So any other ideas for promotion?
Speaker:So we've got the biggies of even just having some of
Speaker:the collateral and the information that you can share with people.
Speaker:I think that's the first big one.
Speaker:I think we've given,
Speaker:'em kind of a list already.
Speaker:I don't wanna open 'em.
Speaker:Yeah. OK.
Speaker:All right.
Speaker:And also the,
Speaker:what do you call 'em the calls bid Open calls,
Speaker:Open calls.
Speaker:So they,
Speaker:those two,
Speaker:if you're in one of the paid programs Yep.
Speaker:We would email those to you.
Speaker:Then you're able to put your name in for those.
Speaker:So that's another option and there's also social.
Speaker:There's lots of opportunities that we all already know.
Speaker:Yes. Okay.
Speaker:And so anything else we need to know in terms of
Speaker:just the structure setting up and being on the,
Speaker:the platform?
Speaker:Nope. I think that's everything so far.
Speaker:Okay. And timing wise,
Speaker:it's the fall now?
Speaker:Is it too late to get on the platform and potentially
Speaker:capture some holiday sales?
Speaker:It is not too late.
Speaker:Here's why there is con these continued supply chain shortages and
Speaker:manufacturing shortages.
Speaker:And that's why it's definitely not too late yet.
Speaker:So the big thing that's been happening over in China,
Speaker:depending on how much people have been following it,
Speaker:the country has a COVID zero policy.
Speaker:So what they do is they open and close different regions
Speaker:of China based on outbreaks.
Speaker:They basically break their supply chain over and over and over
Speaker:again. Right.
Speaker:Because one area might be manufacturing something,
Speaker:but the other area does the packaging.
Speaker:And then it has to ship from a third area,
Speaker:no different than here,
Speaker:right in the us.
Speaker:And so you're seeing more and more retailers turn to handmade
Speaker:and other markets saying some of that isn't quite as reliable
Speaker:in the timing and they're wanting to differentiate.
Speaker:And so I would definitely say you still actually have plenty
Speaker:of time for the holidays.
Speaker:Yeah. Okay.
Speaker:Perfect. And some might be looking for substitutes if things that
Speaker:they thought would be coming in don't because I've heard this
Speaker:horror story a lot too,
Speaker:is retailers end up sitting on product that finally arrives in
Speaker:February. That was for the holiday sales.
Speaker:Yes. They're caught off guard.
Speaker:So they've learned,
Speaker:and they've gone through this at least one year.
Speaker:I don't know that two years ago it was such an
Speaker:issue cuz we were focusing on other things.
Speaker:But last year this definitely happened to many people.
Speaker:So they're thinking differently now of where they're gonna purchase or
Speaker:reducing the risk of overseas purchases and having something local.
Speaker:So at least they know they have something to sell.
Speaker:Absolutely. The other thing that's in your favor right now,
Speaker:especially with working with some of your local retailers is the
Speaker:fact that freight is just,
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:freight costs are outta control.
Speaker:I wrote an article for smart retailer a few months back
Speaker:and in some of the research I had found freight costs
Speaker:were 70% year over year.
Speaker:Yeah. What do you think that does to their margin on
Speaker:product? I'm actually seeing that today because while we're recording like
Speaker:an hour after we're done with this,
Speaker:I'm getting a huge ribbon shipment in yes.
Speaker:It's from China because that's where you can make it right
Speaker:now. You know,
Speaker:I don't go through middleman,
Speaker:I'll go directly to the factory,
Speaker:but I've been comparing my costs of,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:getting a support shipping like on the rail over here and
Speaker:getting it actually to my office,
Speaker:all of that.
Speaker:And I'm right at that mark 70%.
Speaker:Exactly. And it's horrible.
Speaker:I mean we're talking thousands of dollars over what it used
Speaker:to be.
Speaker:So I am a incredible source to what you're talking about.
Speaker:If I could find it stateside,
Speaker:even if it cost me more per item,
Speaker:if the shipping is lower,
Speaker:it could yes.
Speaker:Still be in my favor.
Speaker:And then I could supply American,
Speaker:which I would love to do.
Speaker:Yes. Some things are possible to,
Speaker:to do some things aren't but I felt like I wanted
Speaker:to reinforce what you're saying cuz it's not just talk.
Speaker:No, no.
Speaker:And the other thing to think about too is especially in
Speaker:putting a driver on some of the building out some of
Speaker:your local business,
Speaker:I mean you just create a schedule of,
Speaker:Hey, I'm gonna run around and be over in your suburb
Speaker:on this date,
Speaker:dropping off orders.
Speaker:And so we're gonna do that instead of shipping everything to
Speaker:you. And so people are like,
Speaker:oh, all of a sudden people are having to get creative
Speaker:so you can get a little creative too.
Speaker:Yeah. They've had to get a lot more open-minded because they
Speaker:haven't been able to find some of the supply.
Speaker:And so it gives you some advantages and there's just so
Speaker:much more awareness now that we're a couple years into it
Speaker:and that doesn't even get into the whole environmental,
Speaker:social. Yeah.
Speaker:Kind of other things that just feel really good about buying
Speaker:that, that doesn't even tap into that whole feeling.
Speaker:Right. Whole stream.
Speaker:Right. Okay.
Speaker:So let's finish this out by talking about,
Speaker:well, first I'm gonna prompt everybody.
Speaker:Fill out your application.
Speaker:If you're interested,
Speaker:think about it for this holiday season.
Speaker:It is the fall with any luck you've already been planning,
Speaker:but I think you could probably slip this in.
Speaker:Even if there's only a few wholesale orders,
Speaker:you start getting going and remember there's holidays right after December
Speaker:too, for us to be looking at and considering yes.
Speaker:So get your application in,
Speaker:get started with the process.
Speaker:And now just to close the circle here,
Speaker:how does it look from stackables and when someone actually gets
Speaker:an order,
Speaker:how does that flow through the system?
Speaker:Yes. So you actually get an email that confirms and tells
Speaker:you that you have an order and then we actually go
Speaker:in and monitor it as well.
Speaker:And you go into your shop dashboard and you can complete
Speaker:the information for the order from your shop dashboard.
Speaker:So once an order comes in and you see that email,
Speaker:you would go log in,
Speaker:you would see that you have that order in the dashboard,
Speaker:and then you can complete your additional information from There.
Speaker:Does it give you any of the customer's information,
Speaker:if you have questions on the order or how would that
Speaker:work? Usually you would work with us if you have questions
Speaker:on the order and what additional information is there.
Speaker:I don't remember right off the top of the head,
Speaker:if we give you their,
Speaker:their email address or not,
Speaker:I'm like,
Speaker:oh, I don't remember.
Speaker:I'd have to go double check that to see,
Speaker:but yes,
Speaker:you always wanna work with us on it cuz we're monitoring
Speaker:and looking at orders too,
Speaker:just to make sure everything goes smoothly and that there aren't
Speaker:any issues or,
Speaker:or escalating.
Speaker:If somebody isn't responding right away to that retailer's order pretty
Speaker:quickly to that retailer's order and stuff.
Speaker:So we're also watching that process as well to try to
Speaker:help you out and have you Back and important because if
Speaker:someone might have missed the order,
Speaker:because let's face it,
Speaker:if it's email,
Speaker:it could go into the promotion folder,
Speaker:spam, whatever.
Speaker:So you're kind of a backup protection like,
Speaker:Hey, Hey,
Speaker:you've got an order out there.
Speaker:Let's look at this.
Speaker:Yes, exactly.
Speaker:And one thing we forgot to tap into,
Speaker:I will recap really quick.
Speaker:If you're a retailer and you find shopping on all these
Speaker:sites completely overwhelming,
Speaker:you can just email us and we'll curate for you.
Speaker:Oh, we'll be your personal shopper.
Speaker:Oh, Love it.
Speaker:You're like,
Speaker:Hey, I'm looking for a couple different things in,
Speaker:in candles.
Speaker:And here's a link to my website and take a look
Speaker:at the kinds of stuff I sell and gimme some recommendations
Speaker:that for retailers.
Speaker:So again,
Speaker:like I said,
Speaker:I'm trying to create solutions that make it easier on both
Speaker:sides or how do we do this and move business.
Speaker:I absolutely love it.
Speaker:Okay. And I'm sure there are other questions that people will
Speaker:have and they would go over to your website or where
Speaker:would you direct them to go to get in touch with
Speaker:you, do all the things You can go right onto the
Speaker:stackable website.
Speaker:And you can just put in a little help request support
Speaker:requests and ask us questions.
Speaker:Or you can email us@helloatstackable.com
Speaker:as well.
Speaker:And we can kind of route from there,
Speaker:depending on what kind of question it is,
Speaker:whether it's on the maker side or on the purchasing side
Speaker:for the retailers.
Speaker:Perfect. Love it.
Speaker:Okay. Any final statements that you wanna talk about with stackable,
Speaker:where you are,
Speaker:where you're going message to newcomers who are considering joining,
Speaker:what would be your final message here?
Speaker:I think my final message is this is a great time
Speaker:to be both an independent retailer and a maker because consumers
Speaker:are more educated than ever about wanting to support their small
Speaker:local businesses because of the pandemic.
Speaker:And they're also more educated than ever about wanting to support
Speaker:handmade. And the key is continuing to bring forward that message
Speaker:about handmade and what you're doing because all these little micro
Speaker:businesses, they're the lifeblood that are driving our economy.
Speaker:And so for all of you that are on the front
Speaker:lines, doing all of this,
Speaker:thank you.
Speaker:We love you and we love your products and we will
Speaker:keep buying them.
Speaker:As I say,
Speaker:in my tips and talk episode,
Speaker:they bring us so much happiness.
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:these handmade products.
Speaker:Absolutely. And because we can imagine envision ourself as the little
Speaker:guy, that's getting their fledging business off the ground and growing
Speaker:it and how much courage that takes.
Speaker:And some of these businesses that think are little aren't so
Speaker:little anymore,
Speaker:they're still all handmade.
Speaker:But I mean,
Speaker:there is money to be made in handmade,
Speaker:which is amazing and the opportunities available for all of us.
Speaker:But we have to find people like you,
Speaker:Amber, to help us along to have platforms,
Speaker:to provide a community where we can all enrich each other
Speaker:and help build each other up with a visibility of a
Speaker:platform like stackable.
Speaker:So I am so excited to see where both these things
Speaker:go handmade seller and stackable,
Speaker:but stackable is the focus for the time being cuz of
Speaker:holidays. So thank you so much for coming on the show,
Speaker:sharing with everybody.
Speaker:And I can't wait to see what happens in the future.
Speaker:Thank you.
Speaker:Okay. Short and sweet summary here.
Speaker:First get on the handmade seller email list and take advantage
Speaker:of all the free back issues that Amber is offering you.
Speaker:Second. How about wholesale for you?
Speaker:You heard the qualifications and that you don't have to have
Speaker:been in business for a long time to integrate wholesale into
Speaker:your strategy.
Speaker:Stackable is made exactly for you and only for you as
Speaker:a handmade product business.
Speaker:It can't get any more targeted and supportive than that.
Speaker:Now it's time for you to act.
Speaker:So go over to the stackable website and make that next
Speaker:move. But if you're still on the fence or you need
Speaker:to enhance some areas of your business to qualify,
Speaker:this could be the perfect topic for a gift biz boost
Speaker:to remind you these are free time slots with me to
Speaker:help move your business forward in one specific area.
Speaker:If you wanna sign up for a gift biz boost,
Speaker:go over to gift biz,
Speaker:unwrapped.com/boost and select a time.
Speaker:This is a chance to get coaching for free.
Speaker:So make sure to grab your spot today.
Speaker:Gift biz,
Speaker:unwrapped.com/boost, and now be safe and well.
Speaker:And I'll see you again.
Speaker:Next time on the gift biz unwrapped podcast.
Speaker:I wanna make sure you're familiar with my free Facebook group
Speaker:called gift viz breeze.
Speaker:It's a place where we all gather and our a community
Speaker:to support each other.
Speaker:I got a really fun post in there.
Speaker:That's my favorite of the week.
Speaker:I have to say where I invite all of you to
Speaker:share what you're doing to show pictures of your product,
Speaker:to show what you're working on for the week to get
Speaker:reaction from other people and just for fun,
Speaker:because we all get to see the wonderful products that everybody
Speaker:in the community is making my favorite post F every single
Speaker:week, without doubt.
Speaker:Wait, what aren't you part of the group already,
Speaker:if not make sure to jump over to Facebook and search
Speaker:for the group gift biz breeze don't delay.
