Wrong Product!

I make small gift boxes from decorative paper and card. I have quite good results in actual markets where people can see, touch and decide the size of box they want. But nothing at all from Folksy. One major problem is that, unlike some sellers who supply boxes in a flat format that you have to open up to make the box, all my boxes are complete and have separate lids. This means that they have to be posted as parcels which immediately puts an additional £3 on the average sale price of £2.50. This is not too bad if you are buying a group of boxes as the posyage is fixed at £3 no matter how many boxes you buy on one order. But a single empty box for £5.50 is a very difficult sell. I am therefore now thinking that it’s probably not worth continuing on Folksy and best just to wait until the restrictions on market stall are lifted. If anyone has any advice, I’d be very grateful.

Had you thought about selling small collections rather than individually? One of each of 3 related designs or something like that - then the postage wouldn’t seem quite so much. Or, increase the price a little so you can reduce the postage - psychologically that feels better from a buyer point of view.

And, maybe expand your product range to include ‘large letter friendly’ sizes as people may well be wanting to post their gift?

Hi Helen. Thanks for your reply. I do have a number of items which are boxed sets of three individual boxes. Perhaps I should move to small collections as you say and see what the response is then. I was also thinking of nested sets of boxes.
Chris

Hi Helen. I’m not sure what you mean by ‘large letter friendly sizes’. I use a technique which uses paper upto 12" x 12" and creates a box measuring 10.5cm square by 6.5cm high, including the lid.

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For “large letter friendly” means total box is less than 25mm high, which cuts the postage considerably. Most gift boxes for this postage category are 20mm to 22mm high to allow them to be put into an outer bag for posting.

However, don’t give up on the taller boxes. Many of my products are too tall for large letter size and have to go into a 30mm or even 40mm tall box.

But I rarely buy one box at a time unless as a sample; usually it’s 20 or even 50 at a time, by which time the postage is pennies per box. So you might sell individual boxes, but you should add some multi-pack listings too. Can you do custom orders? Shout about it!

How strong are your boxes? Will they protect a fragile piece of jewellery, or take the weight of a soap bar? They are likely to be posted twice, first from you and then on to the gift recipient, and need to still look pretty at the end of the journey. If they appear too delicate then you may need to just offer them at markets.

Folksy is not like Etsy. Here you have to do a lot of your own promotion. I don’t know if you do any social media stuff? And how about joining in one of the “listing challenges” here on the forum? It takes a little of your time to promote other shops items, but they are all promoting yours in return which is a big help. Plus all those crafters would also see your boxes :smile:

Hope this helps

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Many thanks for this. The very very smallest box I make is 55mm square by 40mm high and they go upto 110mm square by 65mm high. Each box is handmade and the largest single order I have had was for 70 jewellery trays. I do offer some boxed sets of three gift boxes and will now try expanding on this idea. I can do custom orders depending, of course, on the actual specification required. My boxes would certainly protect a fragile piece of jewellery or take the weight of a soap bar, and the initial idea for them was that they would be supplied to other crafters to enhance their products. But these are ornamental gift boxes, not boxes you would put unprotected in the post. They are sent out inside another, simpler plain box, usually constructed from recycled cardboard. And your reply has given me a new idea which is to create reusable protective outer boxes so that a boxed gift could be easily resent by the purchaser using the original packaging. Finally, I am sure you are right. I don’t do anywhere near enough promotion and this is something I will now concentrate on. Many thanks for your help.
Chris

My point of view as a jeweller is that your boxes are too deep - they would swallow my items up and I’d have to put a lot of padding in to fill the extra space (my deepest boxes are 25mm so that they can go large letter postal rates although I’m normally sending special delivery where size is less of an issue). I suggest adding into the descriptions examples of what would fit in the gift box so if people are looking for boxes to put presents in they will know if the present will fit (a phrase like ‘each box measures X by Y, big enough to fit blah blah and sturdy enough to protect it for years to come whilst sitting prettily on a dressing table’)

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Thanks for that Sasha. I clearly have a lot to learn. Your suggestion about giving examples of what would fit in the boxes is really helpful and I will start looking at how I can incorporate that as soon as possible. I think I will now also explore how I could create a 25mm box. All great stuff. Many thanks.
Chris

Lovely boxes Chris…could you put small, med or large etc in the title…or have collections perhaps for the sizes, I’m only asking as I popped over for a look and realised to find a box the right size I would have to click on them all to read the descriptions to find one in the size I wanted.
Definitely spend some time promoting, I’m sure they would be popular.

Thanks Debby. Now why didn’t I think of that? I’m getting so much really helpful advice following my whinge that I’m rapidly coming to the conclusion that it’s not the boxes that’ s the problem, it’s ME!
I’m now rethinking my whole approach and sizes is definitely one element I will be including. Many thanks.
Chris

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It you’re aiming for box which could be posted as a large letter can I suggest 19mm deep or less? As the whole thing including any outer postal box has to be under 25mm deep. The ones I currently use for my pendants are 17mm deep.

Hi Helen. I’ve just started prototyping thin boxes like this and am coming to the same conclusion. I first tried a slightly lager box at 22mm and whilst it’s just about possible to stay within the 25mm size it’s very close and I think I’d be a bit worried that customers might get stung for an excess postage charge. So I am reducing the size to 19mm. I like using standard size paper so in the construction method I use, an 8"x8" sheet produces a box with a removable lid with an overall size of 90mm square by 19mm high. Having said that, the box with 22mm sides is a very nice size at just under 70mm square so I might offer this in multipacks inside a larger box, where the postage price per box is reduced. Many thanks for your input.
Chris

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