Making and selling candles online is a great way to supplement your income.
Now that you have decided that candle sales are in your future, one of the biggest questions facing you is sell them. One of the more popular ways to sell candles, and other merchandise items, is online. By selling your product online, there is no need for a storefront to add to business costs. There are several ways to get the word out online and places to sell your candles to the millions of customers who buy regularly from the Internet.
Instructions
1. Gather and organize inventory. Whether your candle product is homemade or purchased wholesale, it is important to gather, organize and keep track of enough inventory. Since there is no real need to have a storefront when selling product online, a small closet, cabinet or temperature-controlled storage area is all that is needed to keep inventory.
Store your inventory so that you can find items quickly. You can store them by color, scent or type of candle. Once organized, keep track of the inventory according to how items are stored. Keeping track of type, color, scent and quantities will help when putting orders together.
2. Create baskets, gift sets and package sets. This will help with online sales. Put together packages and gift sets that will appeal to customers' needs. Some set ideas include an array of sizes all in the same scent wrapped in a gift basket decorated to complement the scent. For example, if putting together items in a rose scent, add roses to the basket.
3. List inventory and sales on all major social media sites or your own site. Let everyone know what you are selling by posting frequent updates on all of the major social media sites, including Craigslist, Facebook and others. This will get the word out to many in your social network with one simple post. This is also a great way to promote a personal website or sales throughout the year.
Another option is to create your own website. This option will make your candles available to more potential customers than just those in your immediate network, and can make placing orders easier.
4. Create an online storefront. Several sites offer what is called an online storefront, where merchandise can be listed in an organized manner in one convenient location. Some sites that offer online storefronts include eBay.com and Etsy.com. Etsy.com offers online storefronts for anything and everything that is handmade. Each site charges a small monthly fee and/or a small commission fee for each item sold.
5. Email everyone. Pull up your email address book and get the word out. Send an email to everyone in your address book to give them ordering information, website information and to send out monthly sales. Once business picks up, you may want to consider setting up a separate email just for your candle business. Yahoo and Google offer free email, which you can use to take inquiries and orders from potential customers.
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