Tips for Selling Sandcarved Gifts & Awards

As you are well aware, the demand for personalized sandcarved gifts and awards is rapidly increasing each year, replacing the demand for wood, metal, and laser engraved products. The next few pages are designed to instruct you more specifically regarding advertising, marketing, and pricing issues of sandcarved product.

Advertising

Where & How to Advertise
The most important thing you can do for advertising purposes is to list yourself in a telephone directory as soon as possible. DO NOT list yourself under sandblasting. You will be bombarded with calls from people who want walls, driveways, even pools blasted. List yourself under glass engraving or something similar. Most companies list themselves in two or more categories which may include trophies and awards. It would be wise to scan your directory first to see what your competitors (if any) are doing.

Industry Publications
This can be a good idea, however a costly one. We recommend you target your market before looking into this.

Direct Mailings
Use a telephone directory to target a market and develop a mailing list. Instead of producing a flyer or postcard with general advertising, pick a specific product or products.

Personal Visit with a Personalized Product
When you want to acquire a specific account, it would benefit you to provide a personalized sample of the product you wish to sell. For instance, if you wanted to pitch an "Employee of the Month" awards program to the Management at the local Mercedes® dealer, you would not bring a mug with the Ford® logo carved on it. Nor would you show up to a Prudential® Real Estate agent with a Century 21® logo carved on the plaque you are trying to pitch as a give-away for new home buyers.

Flyers, Faxes, etc.
Are great ways to stay in touch with your customer base as well as advertising.

Service
Do not under estimate the value of service. A good reputation is built on it. Good service, or lack of, remains one of the most influential motivators behind what will prove to be the most effective advertising your company can have: word of mouth.

Word of Mouth
One of the best and least expensive ways to promote yourself as a sandcarver, is to introduce other people to what you do. Make your abilities and products known to them: Get other people marketing for you through "word-of-mouth." A customer of ours took this advice and went next door to meet his neighbor: While he was there, he also had an opportunity to meet his neighbor's neighbor (who happened to be a high level executive for a very large corporation) who became very interested in sandcarved product. The end result of that meeting was a lucrative contract for our customer to produce a large volume of carved product for his neighbor's company. In addition, he obtained the contract for most of their promotional items.

Philanthropic Organizations
Need to know who you are and what you do. Clubs such as the Optimist's, Shriners, Elks, Moose Lodge and Chamber of Commerce or Jr. Chamber use the product you sell. The likelihood of a sandcarver in their membership is slim to none and the fact that these types of groups and clubs often want the product you produce for recognition and awards, leaves you with a very good edge. Better yet, you do not have to join them. These organizations are where the corporate executives will be and where they will be looking to find you. Remember, the Chambers themselves are also involved in projects that can use the products you produce.

Trade Shows
Local or regional (especially for the wedding industry). Craft and hobby type fairs, locally and nationally.

Marketing

Keep it Simple
Marketing does not have to be complicated. Issues like who you know, what you enjoy, where you go can help you. Keep it simple. Go to where the people go. For example, if you want to take advantage of the wedding industry, go to tux shops, jewelry stores, bridal gown stores, party stores, etc. It is best to have a marketing plan in writing & then do it. Realize that you need to be the one to put the feet onto that plan. Nobody is going to do it for you unless you pay them to. If marketing is not your thing, you can give up a portion of your profit to a marketing firm, but be advised - this is costly.

Do What You Enjoy
If you are having a problem with selling product, ask yourself: What market do I enjoy? Do I have an advantage in a particular market? Do I have knowledge of or know someone in a particular market? Enthusiasm encourages others to get excited about what you are producing and helps your customer to see the value much more clearly. Working in a market that you enjoy makes it that much more worthwhile. In carving, it is fairly easy to tailor your own niche with just about any product.

Picking a Product Line
Once you have identified the market you wish to target, minimize your products ideas. From that line grow and expand. Do not be so diverse you have no focus, wait until you have developed a successful market. If you should decide you want to focus on the awards market, accepting jobs to blast murals for shower doors may not be in your best interest at this time.

Understanding Your Market
Sandcarving is visual. Even if it is just a simple personalization, it's visual. Most of the time, there will be design work involving a logo, custom art, or a generic pattern such as you would find in our Stock Design Catalog. To the extent that you control the artwork, it is important for you to understand what art is popular in your area. Carve what your region enjoys looking at (or likes to think about) and you'll have a better chance of selling your product.

Visualization
Let's say you want to carve wedding invitations onto plates or curved beveled picture frames with toasting flutes. How do you get the product into the tux shops, jewelry stores, bridal gown stores, party stores, etc? Ask the proprietor for a small display area, you can do one of three things. First, take the plate and flutes to the proprietor and show the product. Suggested retail price for this item is $120.00. If the proprietor discounts for $99.95 and you sell for as low as $50.00, you are still making good money. Your total cost including labor is $22.00 per set.
1. The proprietor takes between 15-50% of selling price and handles all the orders for you and gives you a display area for free.
2. You have a 2'x2' display area in the proprietor's shop with your order form & business card. You do all the work and it costs you nothing.
3. Consign the pieces to the proprietor. When it sells, disappears, etc. they pay you a fixed amount. It is less risk on their part but you front more money. No reseller means you make more money in the long run.

Sales Representatives
If selling is not your thing, sales representatives may be an option.

Catalogs
By far the most versatile marketing tool you can have, catalogs give you the advantage of presenting your  product like a large business even if you are still working out of a garage. Distribute these to every group, business, club, or organization you can think of. If you plan to print your own, you know the expense and will likely want to limit distribution to solid leads. Otherwise, take advantage of product lines that have catalogs for sale for your use, as is the case with all our Engravable Blank lines.

Internet
Undoubtedly the fastest growing method of presenting and selling any product. Just a few short years ago companies posted web sites solely to appear in sync with a new technology. With the evolution of e-commerce, the internet is rapidly becoming the preferred vendor for both businesses and individuals. As such, many Fortune 500 companies are losing millions in sales every year to companies that do nothing but sell over the web. Consider the beginnings of Amazon.com: started by one man in his apartment now out selling all the major book stores in the world. While you might not be Amazon yet, we strongly recommend you consider your presence on the information super highway. Rayzist® offers three easy ways for you to present your products on the web, even if you already have a site.

Pricing

Establishing a Base Value
In sandcarving, the value of the item is upheld at the wholesale level. A solid pricing structure comes form a rigid wholesale price. Retail prices can and do fluctuate from region to region as discounts are given. Discounts will not adversely effect the pricing structure; just your profit margin. Never demean the value of your product or service by pricing too low, thereby undermining the value and profit of the product. It is important to understand that making a proper profit is important to the growing industry. When glass is carved correctly, the value of the piece is enhanced greatly and should be priced accordingly.

Production Pricing Formula
For a single stage etch, the national average for making photomasks and blasting them is currently 75 cents per square inch for production jobs. Always double the price of the blank (include shipping costs).
* Note: Low-end items often demand what the market can bare (see blow example of ceramic mug).

Example #1 Low End

#8006 15oz Mug purchased at $1.75  Doubled (x2) Mask & Carve a 8 sq. inch area @ 75 cents per sq. inch Wholesale Price Retail Price (Doubled) Suggested Retail Price* (see above note)

= $ 3.50 = $ 6.00 = $ 9.50 = $19.00 = $15.00

Example #2 Mid End

#8040J Book Ends purchased at $23.11 Doubled (x2) Mask & Carve a 24 sq. inch area @ 75 cents per sq. inch Wholesale Price Retail Price (At Least Doubled) Suggested Retail Price

= $ 46.22 = $ 18.00 = $ 64.22 = $128.44 = $125.00

Single Unit & Custom Pricing Structures
Pricing for single items, or "onsie, twosie" jobs is very different than multi unit or production pricing. To keep you from wasting valuable time and material establish a minimum order policy, a set-up fee, or a minimum carving fee per piece. For custom pieces, understand that perceived value is a large factor in the pricing structure. There is no problem with a totally unique piece having a totally unique price. A dollar per square inch for masking and blasting is advised for custom pieces, when carving harder substances (such as granite), or items that take more time (such as multi-stage carvings).

Tip: To establish a suggested retail price quickly and easily, mark up the blank 5-9 times. 

Example #1

Example #2 High End*

*High End items are often one time presentations for corporate awards. Because corporate awards are able to obtain the highest mark up in the industry and are rarely production jobs, they fall into the single unit and custom pricing structure.

Items Brought In
If it's a production job, use the production pricing formula. For single unit & custom items use a handling charge to reclaim some of the money that should have been made on the blank.

Disclaimers
Be sure to communicate a disclaimer of some sort stating that you do not take financial responsibility for the item if something beyond your control (i.e. customer provides incorrect spelling, etc). A verbal disclaimer is legally binding, but it's recommended to have one in writing.

Mark-Up
The value of the item is upheld at the wholesale level, an additional markup is required to reach your suggested retail pricing. Mark-up is determined by what the region can bear, especially with corporate items. It will help you to keep a close watch on competitors and to understand your market. Remember, never demean the value of your product by selling too cheaply.

Conclusion
Thank you for taking the time to review this web-booklet. We trust that this information has both informed and motivated you to pursue your sandcarving endeavors. Make sure that you browse the remainder of our web site for technical information on the blasting process.  We have an index page devoted to Technical Information that includes our Product Manuals and more detail information on sandcarving techniques. You will also find suggestions for computer hardware and software, suggested font styles, etc. Under Customer Support, you will find the on-line version of the Sandcarving Quarterly™, especially recommended for beginners, take time to review related articles.