I Can't Figure Out What Sold

The Problem: You get the printout showing what sold for the month.  Your tags were great - they had all the information you needed to keep your inventory accurate - item description, inventory number, price, and vendor number.  Your writing was legible, but when you look at your printout, you can't figure out what sold.  Whoever rang it up didn't bother with your inventory numbers.  They didn't describe anything the way you did.  They wrote plate or vase or table or necklace or sometimes no description at all.  Unfortunately, you have a bunch of plates, vases, necklaces or whatever.  Then you have to go to the mall and look through all the sale pages to figure out what sold.  It happens month after month.

The thing is, when a store gets busy, whoever is working the cash register often feels pressured to hurry up.  Things are skipped.  OR there may be someone ringing up who is just plain lazy and doesn't bother adding what he/she thinks of as unnecessary details.

Are you tired of it?  Would you like a tip that helps you figure out what sold without having to try to change someone else's behavior?  After years of going to the stores and hunting down my sales, I came up with a solution.  It's so simple that it's ridiculous and I can't believe I didn't figure it out sooner.

The Solution:
There are two things every cashier tries to be accurate about, even when in a hurry - the price and the vendor number.

Vendor Number - You need to make sure your vendor number is easy to read and is written in such a way that it won't get confused with another vendor's number or the price (yes, that can happen).

Price - At some malls, if a checkout person writes up the price incorrectly, they can get into trouble.  They might even be charged.  They ring up the price very carefully.  That's the key to this trick.

Write your price with crazy numbers in the cents.  Do not end it in .99.  That's too common.  If you were thinking of marking something $30 or $29.99, instead, write it up as $30.12.  or $29.74.  If you go UP a tad, you've made a little extra money without scaring off a customer.  They still think of $30.12 as $30 when they are making a purchasing decision.

Further, let's say that $30.12 item was a platter.  You have three other platters and you want to sell those for around $30 each, too.  Mark them something different - $30.48, $29.88, and $30.27.  

When each of those platters appear on your monthly printouts, you'll be able to figure out exactly which one sold and your inventory will be easy to keep up without having to dig through the store's sales pages.  

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PS - I apologize for going so long between posts, but I know many of you understand.  Those of you who keep up with my posts probably remember my husband died in May.  I'm trying to figure out how to make sense of my life.  I write about that, as well as my husband's battle with cancer, in as positive a way possible on my other blog - Rudy and Denise.  You're welcome to read that if you are facing or have faced any similar issues (widowed or a caretaker).   If you aren't, I recommend that you stay away from sad stuff and go kiss your loved ones. Be happy.  Meanwhile, thanks to the many of you who have sent me sweet messages of encouragement over the last year. It's crazy how notes from people I've never actually met can mean so much.  As for this blog, I really do intend to keep it going.  I have a number of posts on my To-Do list that I plan to post in the future.  I find it really helps to do little things that have nothing to do with loss and grief.  Happy things.  My Vintage Show Off posts make me happy.  I like knowing I'm helping people.

Pricing Items in Your Booth - The TIPPING POINT

There are too many TALENTED and CREATIVE vendors with poor sales because they struggle with pricing.

The basic rule of thumb is deceptively simple - price items mid-range for your AREA and don't get near the "tipping points". 

What do I mean by tipping point?  That's just a phrase I use when talking about the price of  things.  If a customer is looking for a coffee table and they see one they really like, they will buy it if it's WITHIN REASON.  They will buy it if it's $100.  They will buy it if it's $200. Anywhere within reason is okay if they like it. That same customer probably won't even consider it for $300 and they'll be wary of it if it's too low.  Stay safely between the tipping points - not too high, not too low.

Also, notice I said things should be priced within reason for your AREA, not your mall.  If you price a dresser at $700 and  there are 10 other stores nearby that have dressers that look almost the same for $300, then a customer would have to be crazy or slap-happy-rich to want to buy yours.  Why is yours so much higher?  Is it really that much more special?  Are you sure?  Have you looked around at all the other stores nearby?  If you haven't, what are you thinking?  It's important!  If you seriously want to improve your sales, it's something you need to do.  You need to know what your customers could get if they looked around.

Over the years I have watched many vendors set a price that's over the tipping point (usually because they paid too much for it themselves) and sit on it for ages.  In fact, they may hardly sell a thing month after month.  Yet they are still paying rent.  If they had priced their items within reason, they'd likely have sales.  It's better to make a little less and have some sales than to sell a $1000 piece every 6 months.  Think about the rent paid for a six month period.  If you aren't selling anything, then you need to do something different!

The tipping point can go in the other direction, too.  You don't want to price too low. That's suspicious.  Many customers are wary of items priced too low.  They think it might be a piece of junk. There might be something wrong with it that's not stated on the tag.  Malls sales are usually final.  Why take a chance? A customer might not even bother to examine an item after they see a ridiculous price.   Even if the item is great, the perception of poor quality is there because of the lowball price. Vintage sales are generally final, so customers feel the need to be a little cautious.

Selling too low is also not profitable.  You can work hard, price low, sell lots, get a big fat check, and still not make a profit.  Read my SCARY post if you dare.

Price items correctly from the start.  Don't bring it in priced high with the idea of marking it down later if it doesn't sell.  One day, I need to write a whole post on that one, but for now, just trust me.

Keep in mind that you can't expect everything to sell quickly, even if it's beautiful and priced perfectly.  The right person has to come along - a person who needs what you are selling.  You may have to wait a few months for a big ticket item to sell.  Expect that and make up for it by having lots of choices in a number of price ranges in your booth. Small accent tables can bring in quite a profit if priced correctly.  In my area, I'd say the accent tables need to be in the $75 to $100 range.  Who knows what it is in your area.

Some months, you may not sell anything big, but your sales of smalls ($50 and less) will  make you very happy.

Also remember, some months are slow everywhere.  August is usually a little slow because many customers with kids are dealing with buying school supplies and sports gear.  Decorating is the last thing on their minds.

One more thing about tipping points - An ENTIRE STORE can be tipped too high or too low.

Customers don't shop much in stores where most things are over their tipping point unless they feel that the goods are sooo special that the prices are warranted AND the prices are close enough to their tipping point that they would be able to rationalize going a little out of their comfort zone.  That makes it very important to choose your mall carefully.  Being in a store where most things are overpriced (or underpriced) can hurt your sales, even if your things are reasonably priced.

Note that what's right for one area could be completely different for another.  Georgia prices are very different from California prices.  Big city prices are different from little podunk town prices.  Know your area.

Slow Times During the Year

You may be feeling a bit down in the dumps about your booth sales these last couple of months.   Don't worry.   Things should pick up for you.  This is a typically slow time of year.

Booth vendors would do well to keep the ebb of flow of the year in mind.

During the slow furniture months, you may not sell many large items, but smaller items will get you through.  It's a good idea to plan for that.  If you are very willing to have occasional months when you don't even make your rent, then it's fine to specialize in only large pieces.  It's possible that the sales of your other months will compensate for the off times.

If your booth business is more of a month to month thing and when you don't make a profit, you have little in reserve for finding deals, then you need a back up plan.

The thing is, even though April and May may not be great for sales, they are fantastic months for yard sales. If you don't take advantage of the peak yard sale months (Spring and Fall), you'll be scrambling at other parts of the year to keep your booth full.  And you'll pay higher prices during the off months, too.  You need to save up for the months when there are plenty of good deals.

Even though your big furniture sales may slow down, it's not an entirely dead time of year.  Smaller things do OK.  The things that sell are mostly items that people don't have to think too hard about.  Impulse purchases. 

You've probably made plenty of purchases like this yourself...   You see a cute little table.  It's around $50, give or take.  You think it'll work well in one spot.  If it doesn't, you have a feeling you could use it somewhere else.  If you change your mind about it down the road, you could get rid of it without too much regret.  You make a snap decision to get it.   Those snap decision purchases will sell!

During the slower times,

it's great to have plenty 

of nice things in your booth

that sell for $75 or less.  

Meanwhile, try to resist the urge to slash prices on your large furniture.  Better times are coming!  It's wise to keep the big picture in mind.

Help! My Hutch Won't Sell!

As I browsed my Facebook newsfeed, I came across this hutch on Today is My Someday.  The hutch owner is frustrated because it won't sell.  She asked for advice on what to do.She doesn't want to repaint the whole thing or do anything that require more time than it would be worth.  She got a number of suggestions.  Many said to get rid of the stripes.  I agree. I kept thinking about it.  I got so caught up in all the possibilities that I was inspired to do a quick post (even though I should be going to bed!)

Help!
My Hutch Won't Sell!

Go mostly solid. All red or all black. Since the hutch is mostly red, that would be the fastest fix.  Use a lighter color on the hutch back (all of the back - no stripes).   If going with all red, you could add another layer of brown wax to give a bit more richness to the color. That takes very little time and not much wax. It could look something like this -

Source

Since removing the stripes seems likely, go with a different color altogether for the back.  It won't be that much more trouble.  A light neutral would be best, but this hutch sure looks nice and that background looks something like a robin's egg blue.   These are tricky colors to sell, since it would go with fewer decors, but it might have enough wow factor to woo somebody over!

Source

When you add the decor, be very, very deliberate.  Don't just put things on it that you'd like to sell.  Add things that will sell the hutch.  You don't want to give this away.  This is your big ticket item.

As seen on Pinterest (with no link to original source)

Try all white or all cream dishes.   Or a striking floral or fruit or transferware.   If you don't have great things to use, BORROW them.   Sometimes, you can find another vendor who has the perfect item in their booth.  It will make your piece look fab and it will help sell their item as well.

Source

How you decorate your furniture makes a HUGE, HUGE difference.   When you are out picking, always watch for smalls that will make furniture look great and will also be good to sell.  A great dish collection is wonderful for helping to sell hutches or tables.

Source

Finally, when you take the hutch back in, take off your sale sign.  INCREASE the price.  You now have a fabulous piece that will sell.  You have invested time and money.  Don't sell yourself short.  Hutches are seldom super fast sellers, but when they do sell, it should be worth your while.  Sometimes things with a higher price get a little MORE respect and notice as long as they are decorated in a way that shows how great it can look.  Seriously.

Sell as a Set or Price Separately

I see it often.  A dealer will paint a set (bedroom set, table and chairs, desk and chair...) and put one price on it all.  Since it was a matched set or has been painted to match, the dealer thinks it must all be sold together or that it would be a shame to split the set.  In my humble opinion, that's a mistake.

I just posted this pretty set on The BoneYard's Facebook page.   This vendor did it perfectly.   She made three price tags and she tied them all together for different pricing options.

I love that all three tags were together rather than only on the different pieces, but occasionally it may be preferable to split them up.

Make the price of the set less than the total if buying separately.  Note the savings when buying this set.  When someone buys it all, there should be a savings.  If purchased separately, the cost adds up to $948.  That's $150 less than the price if purchased separately.  The savings doesn't have to be that much.  This is just one example.

Why offer to sell separately?  Not everyone shopping needs a complete set. In the case of the dining set above, someone may come in and want just the table because they already have perfectly good chairs.  If this table were only available as a set, that shopper will likely pass this set by.  Another shopper may have a nice table, but just need chairs.  Don't pass up sales opportunities by insisting on selling everything as a set.

If this dealer sells these items separately, she'll make more money in the end.  :-D

What if it all doesn't all sell together?  When I have suggested separate pricing to some dealers, they worry about what to do with a partial set, such as a table without chairs or chairs without a table.  TRUST ME.  That's no problem.  These things sell just fine alone.  I promote at two different stores and I see what sells.  There's no question at all - things sell separately just fine!!!  Also, it's easy to find another set of chairs or another table.  You can paint them to match or put chairs that aren't an exact match with it.  You don't have to have everything match.

Look at Current Magazines - 

They hardly ever show a matching set 

in any room.

I happen to be a person who prefers NOT to have a matching set.  I like chairs that are different from the table (not made to match).   There are many many people out there like me.  Just check out my DINING ROOMS Pinterest Board. Very few of the tables and chairs are sets or made to match and most of those were pinned for other reasons.  Here's one example from that board -

Source

This dining room is from Marian (of the famous Miss Mustard Seed blog).  She has 4 easy to find maple chairs that match. She has two completely different end chairs.  She painted the base of the table in the same color as the end chairs.  Marian swaps things out in her home often.  She has switched tables 4 or 5 times in the last few years.  She changes chairs about as often. She finds things that work together, but they are definitely not a matched set.  You can click the link above to see a tour of her home.  

Take a Look Around Your Store!

Some vendors make the mistake of minding their own business when it comes to their mall. Normally, minding your own business is a good thing.  However, when you have a booth, it pays to be a little nosey.

I certainly don't mean you need to get nosey on a personal level.  I want you to be nosey about the other booths.  Walk around and shop your store every chance you get.  There are a number of reasons why this is a good idea.

Most importantly, you need to be aware of how much other vendors are charging for similar items.  What is the price range for dressers, chests, farm tables, etc?  Are the most expensive ones selling or do they just sit there for months on end?  You will likely see items very similar to things you have in your booth.  Your customers will see them all, too.  How does your item compare in display and condition?  How does your item compare in price? Your prices need to be in the same ballpark with other booths in your store.  

While you are browsing the store, there's always the chance that you will spot something from your booth.  It's funny.  So many shoppers pick things up, then change their mind a little later.  Do they put the item back where they found it?  Usually not.  In a vintage mall, it's often hard for them to remember where they got it from.

While you are browsing, it's a good time to unobtrusively notice other customers.  Without staring or making customers uncomfortable, try to notice which booths they walk into and which booths they walk past.  If you notice a trend with certain booths, try to figure out what it is that makes that booth particularly inviting (or not).   I highly recommend looking like a shopper while you are doing this.  Have your purse on your shoulder.  If you seem like a worker, an honest customer might get the creepy feeling they are being watched as if they are a shoplifter or something. :-D

Last, but not least, as you walk around, if you come across another vendor working in their booth, take the time to chat.  Most vendors are WONDERFUL when it comes to helping each other out. Do not think of them as competition. Lots of wonderful booths =  lots of customers coming to the store.  Help each other!