Thursday, May 24, 2007

the Fashionpreneur Hits the Road

This is a funny story. My dad is a HUGE antique car guy...he hits all the car shows in California. He collects and restores 40-Fords, Mercury, etc. Several years ago, he suggested I get a booth at this big car show event in Southern California and sell bags there with old car fabric (fabric that had pictures of antique cars) on it. I thought it was a great idea. I packed up my car and drove from Denver to LA with my bags in tow (I spent many o' hours sewing these little babies...I'll find a picture of one and post it later). They were cute little bags. I think I was selling them for $20.

We set up the tent at the fairgrounds and people started strolling by. Keep in mind my dad's friend's wives were helping me in the tent. This is almost embarrasing to admit...but every time someone walked up to the booth, I would pretend to be busy and go hide behind something or go by a beer and let the other ladies deal with them. hum...okay, sales 101, if someone walks up to your booth to look at something you really should go talk to them. And then, this actually makes me laugh when I think about it. I kept changing the price...in the morning the bags were $30 and after a couple hours I think I was taking $15-$20. One guy bought a bag for his wife for $30. He came back and asked to buy 5 more for friends...I told him I'd sell those to him for $20 with a quantity discount. He said, "so then can I get the first bag for $20" (the one he paid $30 for). I thought well no, because you bought that one alone. Clearly, I was not ready for the world of sales. I have come a long way though. I think alot of my problem was that I didn't believe in my product. It should be a reflection of you. I thought the bags were cute, but they weren't really my style so I had a hard time selling them. To get your product out there, you HAVE to believe in it...the quality, the design, everything. It comes through when you talk to people. It goes back to my sewing. I don't think of myself as being good at sewing, so my bags would never live up to my expectations. But I wasn't about to give up! You learn and evolve...that's the beauty of the journey!

One more thing...the bags were underpriced. But you probably already knew that.

Sorry for the lack of links and pictures in this post. I'll make it up to you on the next one tonight or tomorrow!!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Those bags sound adorable, and you're right... they were underpriced. A lot of times, a higher price tag actually makes items more desireable.

Susan Osborne said...

So true! Way underpriced. I think pricing does give a definite perception of your product.
Thanks Sharon!