When choosing a product for sale, consider a product that will be used up. The customer will want to buy more because they like it. A bracelet or a painting is a great item to sell but once your customer has purchased that particular item they really don't need another one that is the same. Yes, they may buy another bracelet from you but there is a limit to the number of bracelets they will own. Same with paintings, home décor, furniture, etc. Products that get used up will bring you return customers who will be needing more. Candles, soaps, wax melts, and food items are great items that guarantee repeat customers.
We have sold a lot of different things over the years. I am a crafter by nature and my husband is a salesman. We have always worked best when together. I craft he sells. We used to spend our weekends in the summer at a camping resort. Several times over the summer we would participate in craft shows and sales. I made all sorts of items for sale. We sold hand crafted picture frames, paracord bracelets, beaded jewelry, handsewn placemats, cloth napkins, handmade cards, and so much more. One of the popular items that I sold were pickles, relish, and jams. One day he made some really yummy salsa. He decided that he wanted to try selling it at the next craft show. He sold out within hours. Then over the next weeks people would come knock on our door asking if we had more salsa to sell. He knew he was on to something! Not only was this item a hit because it was good, but it was so good that people wanted to get more. He told me one day that while my jewelry items were nice and people liked them and bought them, customers didn't need to come back for more because my item didn't wear out quickly. He said that by selling his salsa, people wanted more because it was gone and they would buy more if they could. He then made the declaration that food sells and resells and resells.
A few years later we found ourselves in the same situation. We had a booth in the Daytona Flea Market. This market has miles of aisles with booths lining the sides and booths in the middle of the aisles as well. We had a booth where I sold beaded jewelry and other small gift items. Sales were slow from the beginning. My husband started to get frustrated after the first weekend of sales. We moved to a more populated aisle. Sales still weren't great. We just weren't getting the customers into our shop. He went around and looked at the booths where people were buying. He determined again that food was what brought in the customers. The produce aisle was the most popular aisle as customers came for the fresh produce weekly. We couldn't sell produce. We had no connections nor were we allowed to sell it there. Popcorn and other snack items sold too. Customers would grab a bag of popcorn or a snack item and then walk around munching it while they shopped. He chose to take a chance and sell, ready for it? BEEF JERKY. Yes, beef jerky. There were other booths in the market that sold beef jerky, in fact one guy who set up right next to us the first weekend sold the exact same brand we were selling. The rules of the flea market was that you couldn't be within three booths of someone selling the same product as you. We contacted this company and we were able to buy wholesale from them and sell it at the Daytona Flea Market. My husband rented the center booth in the center of the aisle right directly in front of me. Center booths are basically big tables. That is all. He stacked the cases of Beef Jerky on the table and opened the cases, pulled out a couple packs. And offered a sample to anyone who came down our way.
Now, at the end of the day with the same people walking down the aisle, he outsold me by over $400! The next day, I didn't sell a thing and he beat his first day in sales. That night he asked me what I thought of closing up my booth and going all in on beef jerky. I said no. Little did I know that each week he would beat his previous week. Within a month I was ready to go all in on beef jerky. My sales for the month was $172. His sales were almost $4,000!! For us, food sells!
I have many friends and acquaintances who sell soaps, candles, wax melts, and baked items. They do very well and over time have gained quite a following. If you are selling items that get used up you are helping yourself with repeat business, rather than always having to seek out new customers.
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