Taking a new step into wholesaling

Thank you to everyone for giving me your advice and suggestions on wholesale costs and orders - I really, truly appreciate it!

I have stopped quaking in my boots now and am focusing on working out what my approach will be. I value everything you said, especially the bits about making sure I don't underprice and that the deal is good for both me and the order-er.

I find pricing to be the hardest thing about what I do. Does anyone else feel the same? I think it's because I'm a hobby crafter rather than a professional, so I tend to underquote in order to make a sale, rather than setting a firm price and sticking to it.

If I was doing this for a living I'm sure it could be quite a different story, because I'd see the prices in terms of necessities they could pay for (like food, mortgage, expenses etc) ... rather than as a bit of "play money" on the side, which is the situation at the moment.

See these shoes? These lovely orange and grey ankle strap heels from Camper? My One True Love bought them for me on our recent holidays, and even though they were expensive (even by my standards!) I thought: that's okay - I have play money I can use as a backup if we need it.

But I'm not sure I'd have let him purchase them if I'd had to use the play money for Real Things. Like keeping us alive, and fed, and sheltered, say.

Oh okay - I would have let him purchase them. They are beautiful orange shoes, after all. How could I not have let him purchase them? Are you crazy?!? Perhaps using shoes as an illustrative example was not the best idea for this situation I'm trying to describe. Aren't they lovely though? And isn't HE lovely, for buying them? Oh and that reminds me, I will tell you about the purple wedges he also bought for me, on a different day ....

Ahem. What I mean to say though, is that having a bit of play money on the side means I can buy the odd thing without worrying too much about it. If I were making a living out of the play money I'd be much more stingy with it. I'd keep those purse strings tied up tight.

But one day I'd love to give up the day job and focus on my crafting full-time. Wouldn't we all?

I dream of a time when I don't have to go to work and struggle through another politically-charged day just to make a living, gritting my teeth at the impossibly frustrating situations I often find myself in.

I'd be able to work in my pajamas, and the furry babies would be as happy and content as little furry apple pies, all warm and snuggly in the house with me - they love it when I work from home. Sometimes Podae will even sit on my lap when I'm at the sewing machine, which is a VERY rare occurrence.

And wouldn't it be nice to only have to worry about dealing with your suppliers and the mailman, instead of a long and painful list of internal stakeholders? Yes, it would! It would be nice!

So hopefully, one day these Hoots will truly take off (ha! ha! see the joke there?) and I'll be able to make the dream a reality. Until then though, it's back to the grindstone ......

Climbing the sewing mountain

TUULI Hoot








DAISYCHAIN Hoot

KING HENRY the Hoot

It's funny how work piles up sometimes without you realising, isn't it?

The day before we left for Coffs Harbour, I gave a Snugglebaby cot quilt to a colleague at work for her leaving present as she headed off on maternity leave. It was the present from the team, and I got the pleasure of putting it together.

There were lots of ooohs and aaahs as she unwrapped it, which was very gratifying, and before the morning tea was over I had orders for another four. Aha! The lightbulb went on. So this is the market for my lovely quilts ... corporate colleagues with no time to shop for themselves, rather than passers-by at my craft markets who have lots of time to browse and choose. I think I'm onto something.

The only fly in the ointment - and it's a very, very small fly in the scheme of things - is that each person needs their quilt in the next three weeks or so. Eep! That's a lot of sewing. I did all the cutting-out on the holiday (I was forbidden from taking the sewing machine on hols, as My One True Love said he would prefer to spend the holiday with ME rather than the machine, if that was alright by me, which of course it was ... somewhat grudgingly....).

So now I'm sewing them together. I'm one down, three to go.

But I also have five markets coming up in the next four weeks, so I have to make a LOT of stock for those. It means a new range of doorsnakes and doorstops. It means fresh soap packs. It means lots and lots of new cushions, and it especially means a bunch of new toys. A big bunch. That's a lot of sewing ... and never mind the full-time job as well!

I was just about holding it together without wilting under the pressure (the pressure! the pressure of it all!) when I got a wholesale enquiry last night through Etsy.

I've never had a wholesale enquiry before, it's my first. And he wants TWENTY Hoots as a start. Ye gods and little fishes, as the mother of the Sister Of My Heart used to say! I am equally proud and happy, and slightly overwhelmed. I've done three, posted at the top here.

Does anyone have any advice for me on how I should price the Hoots for wholesale, by the way? I would usually charge $35 each at my craft markets and I know I have to discount for a big order, but by how much? They take me about three hours to make, so I'm obviously going to lose money on them individually, but for the chance to sell a bulk order into a new market, it's a price I think I'm prepared to pay.

If I just knew how much to discount, then I could relax and enjoy the thrill of getting the order, rather than stressing about it like I'm doing right now!