How to Make Money Selling Christmas Wreaths

 

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Holidays tend to encourage consumers to step up their shopping. Even people who aren’t big shoppers feel enticed to purchase Easter, Thanksgiving, Valentine’s Day, etc. products.

 

So businesses that sell Christmas wreaths can be very successful. Every year, around the same time, there are millions of consumers shopping for Christmas décor.

 

But how can you ensure your business is a success and how do you make money selling Christmas wreaths?

 

I’ll explain the following steps in this article, which will help you make money selling Christmas wreaths:

 

STEP 1 – DETERMINE WHO YOUR CUSTOMER WILL BE

STEP 2 – DETERMINE CHRISTMAS WREATH PRICING

STEP 3 – DETERMINE IF YOUR WREATH BUSINESS CAN BE PROFITABLE

STEP 4 – WHEN AND WHERE TO SELL YOUR WREATHS

 

 

STEP 1 – DETERMINE WHO YOUR CUSTOMER WILL BE

The following are some common questions you’ll want to consider when it comes to selling your Christmas wreaths.

 

 

WHO CAN YOU SELL CHRISTMAS WREATHS TO?

The important first step for any profitable business is to find a profitable target market FIRST.

 

Then begin developing your product.

 

A target market must be specific (targeting “women” or “homeowners” is NOT specific enough).

 

The big brands are already targeting the everyday consumer (i.e. women, or men, or homeowners). And you don’t want to compete with the big brands; you must go after a customer they’re not serving.

 

For example, someone who doesn’t have specific needs when it comes to a Christmas wreath will simply pick one up when they’re at Home Depot, or Target, or Walmart, etc.

 

But let’s say someone wants:

>> An oversized wreath set for their home that has double 12-foot tall doors

OR

>> A dental themed wreath for their dental office

OR

>> A modern farmhouse style wreath to match their modern farmhouse home

OR

>> An elf-themed wreath for their kid, who’s obsessed with the movie Elf (*You can’t infringe on copyrights or trademarks. More on that here.)

 

Those people aren’t going to be able to find what they need at a Home Depot.

 

 

That’s where your Christmas Wreath business can come in.

 

You must find a gap in the marketplace.

 

>> Who is being underserved in the Christmas wreath market?

>> Who can’t find what they need when it comes to Christmas wreaths?

 

Get specific with your target market and know who it consists of before determining:

>> what type of wreaths you’ll make

>> how much you’ll charge

>> where you’ll sell them

 

The answers to those questions, and more, depend on who you’re selling to.

 

 

HOW DO I FIND A TARGET MARKET?

The key is to start with an existing target market.

 

Don’t make up a group of people to sell to.

 

An example of “making up” a target market would be to say I’m targeting “people who want a quirky wreath for their front door”.

 

That’s not an appropriate target market because I can’t find thousands of people coming together because of their love of quirky wreaths…or even quirky products.

 

Think about groups that are already forming.

 

For example, people form in groups to:

>> practice yoga

>> get and give ideas about their weddings

>> learn about how to be eco-friendly

These groups of people go to events, read magazines, chat in forums, read blogs, etc. that are related to their common interest (i.e. yoga, weddings, eco-friendly).

 

Groups make it easy to reach potential customers, market to them, and make sales.

 

If we look at my “made up” target market again (people who like quirky wreaths), where would I find events full of people who like quirky-themed products? Which blogs do they read? Which forums are they on?

 

Those marketing channels don’t exist. That’s why it’s really hard to make, market, and sell a product that’s been created for a “made up” target market.

 

Instead, I may look for a group based on an interest, such as gardening.

 

I can find a lot of gardeners in one place through:

>> Home & Garden Shows

>> Gardening blogs

>> Gardening forums

>> Garden shops

 

If I make gardening-themed wreaths, gardeners are my customers. And I’m guaranteed to find gardeners at Home & Garden Shows, reading gardening blogs, asking questions in gardening forums, and shopping at garden shops.

 

Almost 100% of the people hanging out in those places are my perfect customer. I can’t expect all of them to buy my wreaths, but I’ll have a much higher conversion rate if I’m trying to sell gardening themed wreaths to gardeners when they’re thinking about gardening.

 

There’s an easy way to find existing target markets that you can make wreaths for and sell to, which is explained in: HOW TO FIND A GOLDMINE OF CUSTOMERS.

 

 

 

STEP 2 – DETERMINE CHRISTMAS WREATH PRICING

The following are some common questions you’ll want to consider when it comes to pricing your Christmas wreaths.

 

 

HOW MUCH DO HANDMADE CHRISTMAS WREATHS SELL FOR?

Wreaths can range from $10 to hundreds of dollars.

 

Handmade wreath prices tend to be over $50, the majority are priced over $100, and I even found a few Etsy sellers with wreaths priced over $600.

 

Keep in mind, when selling handmade, you do NOT want to go for “cheap” as your market position; you will never win.

 

People who are looking for cheap wreaths will go to the dollar store or a big box store, where they can find mass-produced wreaths at low prices.

 

People do not turn to handmade when looking for cheap items…well some do, thinking they can haggle their way to a lower price, but that is NOT the type of customer you want to appeal to. Know when it’s okay to say “no” to a customer so you don’t end up pleasing them at the expense of your business.

 

If you’re starting a handmade business, your prices are going to be higher than the products people can buy in big box stores.

 

You aren’t pricing yourself out of the market, you’re simply pricing yourself into a different market. A market of people who can, and are willing to, pay more for a wreath than they have to.

 

The key is to find a specific group of people (i.e. your target market) and to determine why they would be willing to spend more.

 

That “why” is typically because they want something specific but can’t find it anywhere else.

 

Find a profitable target market and make a wreath that’s perfectly suited for them, and is hard to find elsewhere, and your customers will be able to justify your “higher than average” prices.

 

Offer a similar style of wreath they can buy at Walmart (or another retailer) and you’ll have to lower your prices to “compete” with Walmart.

 

 

WHAT SHOULD I PRICE MY HANDMADE CHRISTMAS WREATHS AT?

Pricing can only be determined by you. There is no one-size-fits-all formula for pricing.

 

Many makers follow the pricing formula:

 

Costs (materials and your hourly wage) x 2 = wholesale price

Wholesale price x 2 -= retail price

*Wholesale price is what you charge retailers buying your items for their store. They expect a lower price because they’re buying greater quantities and they take the marketing and selling aspect off your hands. Retail price is what consumers pay.

 

However, that formula does not work for every business.

 

To have a “business”, you must have profits.

 

That pricing formula hopes to cover expenses outside of production by multiplying production costs by 2.

 

However, if a business has higher expenses for items such as: rent for a studio space, paid advertising, craft show fees, branding, etc., multiplying production costs by 2 may not cover all those expenses. Get a good idea of ALL the expenses your craft business may have; this article will give you a better idea.

 

How you price your Christmas wreaths will depend on a few variables:

 

PRODUCTION COSTS – any expense directly related to the production of your wreaths (e.g. materials, price tags, labor costs).

 

OPERATING COSTS – expenses outside of materials and labor that are required to operate your business each month (e.g. craft show fees, marketing costs, Etsy or website fees, etc.). Take a look at this idea for a list of expenses you may not have thought of.

 

YOUR WAGE – many makers don’t factor their time (outside of production) into their prices. However, you don’t have a viable business if you can’t pay yourself. Walmart wouldn’t remain in business if they never paid their cashiers, managers, drivers, warehouse workers, merchandisers, etc. for all the hours they work.

And you wouldn’t work for an employer very long if they didn’t pay you for all the hours you worked.

So you must consider how much you need to be paid an hour to reach your goals (e.g. quit your job, help your significant other quit their job, pay the mortgage, etc.) and track every single business task you spend time on.

That may include:

• • • Setting up an Etsy shop
    • Updating your Etsy shop
    • Photographing your wreaths
    • Setting up social media pages
    • Maintaining social media pages
    • Selling at craft shows
    • Pitching to boutiques
    • Etc.

Estimate the time you think you’ll need to spend on these types of tasks. As you work on your business, you’ll get a clearer picture of the hours you spend, which will help you price your wreaths more accurately.

 

PROFITS – You must profit with every sale. Profits allow you to:

>> keep your business running next month (without dipping into your personal bank account)

>> grow your business each month (investing more money into supplies, marketing, etc. so you can sell more than you did last month)

>> pay yourself above and beyond your hourly wage (otherwise you’re simply an employee in your business. You own your business and have much more responsibility as an owner, so you should get paid like one.)

 

PERCEIVED VALUE – One aspect many makers don’t think of when pricing their products is the value consumers place on their products. Handmade is synonymous with quality. If you make elegant, high-end wreaths but price them at $30, customers may not perceive them as “elegant” and “high end”, but rather, think of them as being cheap or low-quality.

If you’re creating a high-end line of wreaths, your prices must reflect that, even if the cost to make them is a fraction of the price.

 

To price your wreaths properly, you’ll have to start by estimating your expenses and hours. Each month your business is operating, you’ll get more accurate numbers to work with.

 

It’s important not to underestimate when starting. Most things take longer than you expect and there are often more expenses than what initially comes to mind.

 

Take your time to research every penny that must be spent on your wreath business. From all the materials you’ll need, to the time and materials required to put your wreaths into customers’ hands.

 

 

WHAT ARE THE COSTS OF MAKING CHRISTMAS WREATHS?

Buying in bulk and at wholesale prices is the key to keeping costs down.

 

You have the potential to increase profits if you can save on costs.

 

But you must be careful. Cutting too many corners can put a cap on how much you can charge for your wreaths.

 

For example, if you purchase your supplies from the dollar store, you can save a lot of money, but you may not be able to charge as much for your finished products.

 

Let’s take a closer look at the costs associated with a wreath business.

 

The cost of your expenses will vary depending on where you live, where you buy from, if you’re buying in bulk, the quality of materials you’re purchasing, etc. But the following list will get you started.

 

 

WHAT ARE THE STARTUP COSTS OF A WREATH BUSINESS?

Think of start-up costs as one-time costs; things you must spend money on once, but aren’t required to spend money on each time you make a wreath.

 

For example:

• Scissors – you’ll need a good pair like these ones that can cut through multiple layers of ribbon at once (so you can bulk cut your ribbon and save time)
• Rotary cutter – these help speed up cutting and are great for cutting straight lines when combined with a ruler. This set includes a cutter, replacement blades, cutting mat, ruler, and clips
• Wire cutters – these will cut through floral stems, which have a wire in the center. They’ll also cut through floral wire, wire netting, etc. This set includes floral tape and floral wire to get you started with your wreath-making supplies 
• Needle nose pliers – these come in handy for pinching the end of wires in place so the sharp wire isn’t sticking out. I prefer pliers that have a built-in cutter like these ones
• Glue gun – you can use a glue gun like this to secure items to your wreath

 

 

You’ll also have costs such as:

• Business registration
• Permits
• Insurance (if required / wanted)

 

This type of information is covered in LAWS FOR SELLING HANDMADE

 

Remember, ALL business expenses must be covered by the business; work those expenses into your prices.

 

You may total your startup costs and consider how long those supplies will cover you. Then divide that number by how many products you can make within that time period.

 

For example, let’s say I buy a new set of wire cutters and scissors every year, and must renew my business license annually. I would take the total cost of those items and divide it by how many wreaths I can make in a year.

 

Let’s say I spend $200 on those costs and can make 100 wreaths per year. I would add $2 to the price of each wreath to cover my “startup” expenses.

 

 

WHAT SUPPLIES DO YOU NEED TO MAKE CHRISTMAS WREATHS?

These supplies will be a reoccurring cost; the more wreaths you make the more supplies you must purchase.

 

Look for suppliers that offer wholesale pricing. You may have to purchase greater quantities, but you’ll be able to get your cost per wreath down.

 

You will need items such as:

• Floral tape – green tape to secure florals together around the stems
• Floral wire – green wire used to secure stems together or attach florals to the wreath
• Glue (you may use fabric glue, glue sticks for your glue gun, polyurethane adhesive, etc. Remember to keep outdoor temperatures in mind. If you’re selling Christmas wreaths to Canadians, the glue must be able to withstand extremely cold conditions)
• Wreath base – there are several options:
  • Grapevine
  • Berry
  • Cotton
  • Evergreen
  • Olive leaf
  • Wooden ring
  • Create your own shape
  • Foam
  • Wire

 

You’ll also need materials to decorate your wreath. You may purchase items such as:

• Bells
• Berries
• Branches
• Evergreen sprigs
• Flowers
• Food (e.g. dried orange slices, cinnamon sticks, etc.)
• Ornaments
• Pinecones
• Pom-poms
• Ribbon
• Signs

 

Get creative and let your target market guide your decorations (e.g. if I’m making Christmas wreaths for avid gardeners, I may work a hand trowel into my design).

 

 

HOW DO I SHIP CHRISTMAS WREATHS?

If you decide to sell your Christmas wreaths online, you’ll have to ship them.

 

You must price out the items you need to ship your wreaths and factor them into your pricing.

 

For shipping Christmas wreaths you’ll need the following supplies:

 

Boxes

You’ll want boxes that are not much bigger than your wreath, or you’ll end up paying extra to ship a bigger box. You can also use a carton sizer, which will score a box so you can fold it down to make it smaller.

Or, to increase the perceived value of your wreaths and create more of a branded experience, you could use a service such as: Packwire, Packlane, or Arka to create custom boxes.

 

Wire

To keep the wreath from shifting around during shipping, punch 2 holes in the bottom of the box to loop a wire through and then secure the wreath within the box. Do this in a few places so you can secure the wreath all the way around.

 

Tissue

You may want to use this to add padding around your wreath, but also to add a branded finishing touch to the package. Paper Mart has several packaging products.

 

Marketing Material

Include a business card and/or flyer to encourage your customers to shop with you again or encourage their friends and family to check out your business.

 

 

It’s important to get a quote on how much shipping your wreaths will cost before you start listing them online, so you can charge customers the right amount.

 

High shipping fees can turn some shoppers off from buying, so you may want to work some, or all, of your shipping fees into the product’s price.

 

Just the other day I ordered 2 wallpaper samples at $2.50 each. I paid a total of $5.00 for the product and then another $17 for shipping. $2.50 seemed like such a great price for the samples I was excited to buy. But then I felt annoyed I had to pay over 3x that amount for shipping.

 

Had they worked some of those shipping fees into their product prices, they may have charged me $5.99/sample (still a reasonable price) and then only $10 for shipping. I’m paying the same amount, but $5.99 for a product I want seems much more reasonable than paying $17 for something I don’t want to spend money on (nobody likes paying for shipping).

 

At the end of the day, the customer is paying the same amount, but they’ll feel better thinking their money is going towards your beautiful product instead of shipping fees.

 

 

 

STEP 3 – DETERMINE IF YOUR WREATH BUSINESS CAN BE PROFITABLE

The following are some common questions you’ll want to consider when it comes to determining if your wreath business can be profitable.

 

 

HOW MUCH MONEY CAN I MAKE SELLING WREATHS?

The answer to that question will depend on how much time you have to work on your wreath business and your profit margins.

 

To get a general idea of how much you may be able to make over the upcoming holidays, you may estimate using the following variables:

 

1 – AVAILABLE WORK HOURS

Start with the hours you can work on your wreath business in a day and then multiply that number by how many days you can work in the upcoming month. Or, go by week (how many hours you can work on your business in a week and multiply by the number of weeks there are in the upcoming month).

Once you have your estimated, average work hours for a month, multiply that by how many months you’ll run your wreath business.

If you only plan to sell wreaths for Christmas, you may focus on 3 or 4 months of the year.

If you plan to create wreaths for each season and holiday in the year, you may work 12 months of the year.

Let’s say I can generally work on my wreath business 1 hour on weekday evenings, excluding Fridays (4 hours on weekdays), 4 hours on Saturday, and 4 hours on Sunday.

That’s an average of 12 hours / week.

If I multiply that by 4, I have my hours for a month = 48 hours / month.

If I only plan to sell Christmas wreaths, I may work on my business 4 months out of the year.

48 hours / month x 4 months = 192 hours

 

2 – PRODUCTION HOURS

When running a handmade business, you’re often a one-person show. This means you’re responsible for producing the products, marketing those products, selling and shipping them, customer service, and other tasks required to maintain a business (e.g. track expenses, pay bills, file taxes, etc.).

There are more tasks that fall outside of production than there are within it.

So you must consider that not every working hour can be spent creating wreaths.

You’ll have to determine how much time the other tasks on your list take up, but a good place to start is dedicating 50% of your time to production and 50% of your time to other business tasks.

That really should be a minimum for hours spent on marketing/selling/admin tasks; it’s likely those tasks will require more than 50% of your time.

Take your total hours (calculated in step 1) and multiply them by 50% (or another percentage you feel is appropriate to spend on production), to get your total production hours.

For example:

192 hours / year x 50% = 96

Each business year, I will have 96 hours to spend on production.

 

3 – PRODUCTION QUANTITY

Now that you have an estimated number of hours you can work on wreath production, you can determine how many wreaths you can make each year.

Multiply how many wreaths you can produce in an hour by how many production hours you have.

For example, if I can make 3 wreaths in an hour, I would multiply my production hours (96) by 3.

96 x 3 = 288

I can make approximately 288 wreaths each Christmas season.

 

4 – AVERAGE REVENUE

Now you can determine your average revenue by multiplying the number of wreaths you can produce by the average price of your wreaths.

Let’s say I charge an average of $100 / wreath. I would multiply $100 by how many wreaths I can make.

100 x 288 = 28,800

If I sell every wreath I make, I have the potential to earn $28,800 in revenue.

 

5 – PROFITS

Revenue is much different than profits. Revenue is how much money you’ve made before you deduct your costs.

Profit is what’s left after you’ve subtracted all of your business’s costs.

If my profit margins are 25%, I would multiply my total revenue by 25% to determine how much money is left once I pay all my expenses (e.g. materials, my hourly wage, craft fair fees, transaction fees, advertising fees, etc.).

28,800 x 25% = 7200

I have the potential to profit $7200.

That’s money made above and beyond the hours worked. You can put profits straight into your personal bank account or use some of it to invest back into your business.

 

That gives you a rough idea of how much money you have the potential to make.

 

I say potential because there are no guarantees that you’ll sell what you make. Creating is the easy part; marketing and selling can be more difficult.

 

It’s also unlikely you’ll sell every single wreath you make.

 

And, you may want to offer discounts to friends and family, or run promotions at the end of the year to get rid of stock. This will eat into your total revenue and profits.

 

 

HOW MANY CHRISTMAS WREATHS WILL I BE ABLE TO SELL?

Consider how you will sell your wreaths to get an idea of how many wreaths you may be able to sell.

 

How many craft shows can you sell at this season?

Research those craft shows and get an idea of how many shoppers they attract. Remember, not all of those shoppers will buy from you. A safe number to follow is 1 – 2%. Again, that’s an estimate; depending on the event, the type of shoppers it attracts, your products, their price points, etc. your conversion rate may be higher or lower. So if a craft show attracts 100 shoppers and your conversion rate is 1%, you’ll only make 1 sale.

Take a look at HOW MUCH MONEY CAN YOU (really) MAKE AT A CRAFT SHOW?

 

How many stores in your city do you think you can get your wreaths into?

How big are the stores? How many wreaths might they order from you? Smaller boutiques may only have room in their budgets, and room on their sales floor, to stock a few wreaths. And again, remember, there are many other products in those stores; they may only sell one of your wreaths per week or month, depending on their traffic.

 

How many Christmas wreaths are being sold on Etsy?

How many of those wreaths have a similar style to your wreaths? Check out those shops and divide the number of sales they have by the number of years they’ve been selling on Etsy. If they sell wreaths year-round, divide that number by 4 to get an idea of how many wreaths they may sell during the Christmas season. You have the potential to sell that many wreaths through Etsy as well.

 

 

Get an idea of how many, and which, sales channels you’ll use to sell your wreaths, and then estimate how many sales you think you may be able to make through each.

 

Stay on the conservative side when estimating sales. Everyone who sees your wreaths will not buy them.

 

Research conversion rates based on the sales channels you plan to use, but 1 – 2% is a good average to start with; you’ll learn your business’s more accurate conversion rates once you have some craft shows, website traffic, and sales under your belt. Your marketing will have to attract 100 – 200 people to make one or two sales. Keep that in mind when projecting your sales totals.

 

 

IS THERE DEMAND FOR YOUR CHRISTMAS WREATHS?

There is always demand for Christmas wreaths during the holidays, but what you must determine is if there’s demand among your target market for your specific wreaths.

 

The first step is to create a product for a profitable target market (I touch briefly on that in STEP 1 and thoroughly cover how to ensure a target market is profitable in HOW TO FIND A GOLDMINE OF CUSTOMERS).

 

Once you choose a profitable target market, you must alter every aspect of your business to appeal to them (which I’ll also explain how to do in HOW TO FIND A GOLDMINE OF CUSTOMERS).

 

For example, if I decide to target gardeners, my wreaths must be gardener themed.

 

And although “gardeners” may be a profitable target market, it doesn’t necessarily mean there will be demand for gardening-themed wreaths.

 

I like to use the example of college students as a target market. They can be a profitable target market…if you present the right product to them. High-end jewelry; not a great match. Cheap pizza with free 24-hour delivery; a perfect match. College students are a profitable target market for pizza joints, but are not a profitable market for high-end jewelers.

 

The target market and product must be a good match.

 

Start with a good target market and then present them with a product they’re sure to be interested in.

 

In most cases, you can’t know for sure if a target market will buy your product until they’re actually given an opportunity to buy. But the following are a few ways you can find indications they will buy.

 

 

Past Sales

If you currently have a wreath business and are thinking about targeting a new market, you can work off past stats.

Use Google Analytics to learn about your audience, which website pages they visit, how long they stay on those pages, etc.

Also, look at sales stats to get an indication of the types of wreaths your customers have been interested in to see if there are any trends (e.g. do the wreaths that follow a traditional theme sell best, or do wreaths that use less traditional decorations (e.g. Western-theme) sell like hotcakes?)

 

Searches

You can use tools such as Google’s Keyword Planner, Moz’s Keyword Explorer, Ahrefs Keyword Explorer, etc. to get an idea of how many people are searching for your potential product each month.

The fewer people searching for your product, the more strategic you will have to be with your marketing.

For example, there isn’t any search traffic for “gardening wreaths”, but there is a decent amount of search traffic in a month for “garden décor”. Since people aren’t actively searching for gardening themed wreaths, I want to know where they’re landing when they search “garden décor” and try to market my wreaths there.

I would also have to be strategic about how I market my wreaths. Because my target market isn’t specifically looking for gardening themed wreaths, it will require a bit more work to convince them they need one.

 

Competition

Competition is a good thing. No competition can indicate no demand. However, you don’t want too much competition.

Look online for products similar to yours. You want to find signs that other businesses are successfully selling something similar, but you don’t want to find thousands and thousands of really similar results.

If I was selling traditional Christmas wreaths that looked similar to the majority of the Christmas wreaths listed on Etsy, and there are over 100,000 results, that’s over 100,000 wreaths I must compete with.

But if I’m selling Grinch-themed wreaths (remember…it can’t infringe on copyrights or trademarks…learn more here) and there are fewer than 500 results on Etsy, my wreaths have some competition, which is a good sign Grinch-themed wreaths are in-demand (an even better sign if those Etsy sellers have several sales). But instead of competing with 100,000 products, I’m competing with fewer than 500.

 

Marketing & Sales Channels

Check to see if there are specific channels to market and sell your niche wreaths.

Meaning, if I’m making gardening themed wreaths (gardening being a niche under types of wreaths), I can find places to market my wreaths that will reach gardeners.

>> I don’t simply want to list Facebook as a place to market my wreaths; I want to get specific. I should be able to find Gardening Facebook Groups.

>> I don’t want to list “blogs” as marketing channels; I want to be able to find gardening blogs that would feature my wreaths or allow me to advertise.

>> When it comes to sales channels, I don’t just want to be able to find boutiques that carry handmade products; I want to be able to find boutiques that sell gardening products.

 

Related Products

You should also be able to find different types of products under your product category.

For example, wreaths fall under the “Home Décor” product category.

If I’m creating gardening themed wreaths, I would want to be able to find other gardening themed home décor items.

If the only products I could find for gardeners were gardening tools, it could be an indication that gardening themed wreaths may not sell well.

But it’s a good indication that I can find gardening themed:

• • • Pillows
    • Coasters
    • Art
    • Signs
    • Etc.

 

Start Small

You can research as much as you want, but nothing can prove, without a doubt, that your wreaths will sell, aside from putting them on the market and seeing if anyone buys them.

Because you’ll never know for sure, start small.

Don’t buy enough supplies to make hundreds of wreaths. Buy materials to make a prototype in each type of wreath you’ll offer (which should be limited…here’s why you don’t want to offer too many product options) and then create limited stock in each style (e.g. maybe 2 or 3 of each style).

If they sell, keep your product listing(s) up but make it clear that the item is on backorder, or that it will take X number of weeks to arrive; giving yourself time to buy more supplies and make more stock.

 

 

 

STEP 4 – WHEN AND WHERE TO SELL YOUR WREATHS

The following are some common questions you’ll want to consider when it comes to when and where you can sell your Christmas wreaths.

 

 

WHERE CAN I SELL MY CHRISTMAS WREATHS?

Where you sell your wreaths will impact your profit margins and how successful your business can be.

 

Consider your target market and where they shop, as well as the cost of selling through a particular platform.

 

If you sell your wreaths through a platform that requires a significant amount of your time and money, and one that your target market doesn’t frequent, you’ll eat into your profits and have a hard time making sales.

 

The platform you use to sell your wreaths should give you a good return on investment.

 

For example, if I decide to target high-end homeowners who have a modern farmhouse style of home with oversized front doors, I must think about where that type of customer may shop. If I sign up for craft shows held in older neighborhoods filled with more modest bungalows, it’s unlikely my target customer (one who owns a large modern home with big farmhouse style doors) is going to show up at those events.

 

Craft shows also eat into my profits due to their table rental fees, the display props I must buy, time spent traveling to, setting up, and taking down for each craft show, etc. Check out HOW MUCH MONEY CAN YOU (REALLY) MAKE AT CRAFT SHOWS? 

 

If I’m selling a very niche product (e.g. oversized modern farmhouse-style Christmas wreaths), it’s more likely my customer is going to head online and use Google to search for such a specific product.

 

Therefore, I may have more success setting up a website and working on my SEO (i.e. using the right keywords on my website so it shows up in the top results when someone searches “oversized Christmas wreath” or “giant Christmas wreath” or “72 inch Christmas wreath”). Here’s how to choose the right keywords and properly implement them so your potential customers can easily find your products. 

 

Or, perhaps there are several high-end home décor boutiques in my city that attract the exact clientele I’m targeting. I may pitch my products to the storeowners in hopes they’ll carry my products. This route will eat into my profits because I will have to sell my wreaths to the retailers at wholesale prices (which are typically half the retail price). However, it creates the opportunity to sell several of my wreaths at once and saves me the time and money I would have to spend marketing and selling my wreaths directly to consumers.

 

Consider the following options for selling your Christmas wreaths:

• Craft fairs
• Farmers’ Market
• Christmas events
• Boutiques / retailers
• Etsy (or other online marketplaces; there are several listed here)
• Website (build your own website; you’ll have to work hard to direct traffic to it for the first year, but if you work on SEO (search engine optimization), Google can help bring traffic to your site once it’s established)

 

 

HOW SHOULD I PHOTOGRAPH MY CHRISTMAS WREATHS?

My advice when it comes to product photography is to photograph the product in its “natural” setting.

 

Meaning…

>> Earrings are typically on ears, so they should be photographed being worn by someone.

>> Blankets are typically used on a couch or bed, so they should be photographed on a couch or bed.

>> Wreaths are typically hung on doors, so they should be photographed on a door (or another appropriate setting, such as above a mantle or on a wall above a sideboard cabinet.)

 

This is important for a few reasons:

1 – it helps shoppers imagine your wreaths in their home.

2 – it gives perspective. When shoppers read that a wreath is 18” wide, it’s hard for them to get a good idea of its size without getting out a tape measurer. Seeing a wreath on a door gives shoppers a better idea of how big the wreath is in comparison to a door.

3 – it looks professional. When products are set on the closest flat surface (sometimes that’s people’s floors), it doesn’t look professional or increase the perceived value of the wreath.

 

Here are a few tips to follow when photographing your wreaths:

>> Photograph the wreath during the day and not in direct sunlight (if possible). Direct sunlight can skew the colors of the wreath. Indirect sunlight gives perfect lighting.

>> Photograph the wreath straight-on so the edges of the picture run perfectly parallel to the edges of the door; it creates a nice clean look.

>> Photograph a few details. Take close-up shots of the wreath’s details, such as a grouping of flowers, so shoppers can see your attention to detail.

 

If you don’t have a nice exterior door to hang the wreath on or the door doesn’t get the right lighting, you can use a lightbox to photograph your wreath (steps to create a simple lightbox can be found here).

 

Or, you may consider purchasing a door to use as a photography prop. In my city, Habitat for Humanity has several ReStore’s. They carry items taken out of homes during renovations and it can be a great place to find an affordable door that fits your brand’s style (e.g. if you make vintage-looking wreaths, look for a vintage-looking door).

 

Then you can finish the door any way you like without worrying about the door clashing with the rest of your home’s decor. You could paint the door in your brand color(s), spray paint it gold, silver, or another festive color, or paint/stain it in a color you think your ideal customer may paint or stain their front door.

 

You can set that door up anywhere you’d like to photograph it. Take it to the brightest room in your home or lean it against a wall outside.

 

You could lean the door against an old brick wall, or add supports at the bottom so it can stand on its own in the middle of a field, forest, or against a plain background so you can edit the photo and add the background of your choice (e.g. a winter wonderland).

 

You could also use hinges to secure 2 doors together and set them in a v-shape. This will make the doors free-standing and give you a wider background so people don’t have to see what’s behind the door.

 

You may edit the photos you take of your wreaths slightly. Don’t go overboard with the editing because you don’t want customers to be surprised when they received their wreath. If you lighten a photo too much, it can change the colors. Customers may think they’re purchasing a wreath with a soft green ribbon but be surprised when that ribbon is more of a deep green in real life.

 

More tips on photographing handmade goods can be found here.

 

 

WHEN SHOULD I START SELLING CHRISTMAS WREATHS?

Whether you plan to sell wreaths year-round, or your business is seasonal and you’ll only be selling wreaths during the Christmas holiday season, it’s important to plan ahead.

 

To increase your chances of earning a profit, you must make a solid plan, starting with how much revenue you’d like to earn.

 

From there, you can work backward to determine how many wreaths you must make and how many hours that will require.

 

Then you can determine the major projects that will help you sell your wreaths and reach your sales goal. For example, some of your business’s projects may be:

• Selling at craft shows
• Product launches
• Sending regular newsletters
• Etc.

 

Then again, work backward.

• Craft shows
  • Which events will you apply to?
  • When are their application deadlines?
  • How much stock do you need for each?
  • How many hours do you need for each craft show task?

 

This will give you an idea of when you should start working on your Christmas wreaths.

 

THE SUCCESS PLANNER will take you through a simple step-by-step process to plan out your Christmas season and increase your chances of hitting your sales goal for it.

 

Then you can start planning your:

• Craft fair schedule to give yourself ample time to apply to and prepare for them
• Product launches
• Newsletter schedule
• Etc.

 

 

 

I hope you have found this guide on HOW TO MAKE MONEY SELLING CHRISTMAS WREATHS helpful!

 

Please check out my ebook guides for more tips on starting and growing your business:

• LAWS FOR SELLING HANDMADE
• HOW TO FIND A GOLDMINE OF CUSTOMERS
• THE SUCCESS PLANNER
• HOW TO SELL BEYOND FRIENDS & FAMILY