Hey, welcome back to the Six Figure
Mastermind. Thanks for tuning in today.
Marianne DeNovellis here. And we're going
to talk how to start your handbag
business from home. So, stay tuned.
So, maybe you went through junior high in
high school and you really did well in
home and class. Or maybe you've picked up a
sewing machine and you just have a knack
for style. Whatever it is you're thinking
about starting a handbag business from
home. There's a couple things that you
might not have thought of that you
definitely need to be aware of when that
comes into play. Let's just walk you
through some of those specific steps
that maybe you didn't think of before.
First of all, you don't have to be a
seamstress or a handbag maker to
actually sell handbags out of your house,
okay? You can do what's called retail.
Which means you're buying these handbags
at wholesale prices and then you're
reselling them on e-commerce markets or
maybe on Facebook marketplace. Or maybe
even in trade shows and farmers markets.
A lot of people will tend to do that and
they'll go to sites like Alibaba Express
or Aliexpress.com. You can go and check
out the products there and you can even
contact in many cases the manufacturer
of those products and say look, "I think
this handbag is great. I even ordered a
sample but this part I really don't like.
I would like for you to create a
different prototype for me with this
change or this alteration and then I can
sell that one." So, that's a great way to
get started if you don't necessarily
have the time, skill or talent to use a
sewing machine and create your own
handbags. If you do however, I highly
recommend before you really get started
pumping those handbags out is to define
your style.
What about handbags and specifically
your pan bags makes your brand unique? Do
you only work with natural materials? Do
you only work with responsibly sourced
materials? Do you only work with, you know,
just to find what you want your brand to
be and why people would come shop from
you. So, you can either start off with
your own handmade. You can start off with
reselling. Either one will work the first
thing you need to do before you actually
can create some sales is create an
inventory. So, this is going to take some
considerable time and effort. But here's
a little hack for you, okay? If you want
to sell your handbags and e-commerce, if
you want to sell your handbags and
e-commerce, meaning, sell them as products
online. You don't have to create 20
bags just to put them on the Internet.
You can create one or create a prototype
that's going to be the bag. Photograph it,
make sure you
nice images of that thing. And then put
it up there to sell and then you can
make them to order. Now, as long as your
customer knows that it's going to take, you
know, a week or two. However long it takes
you to make the bag, that's totally fine.
What you can also do is kind of a cheat
to that hack. It was like a double hack,
is create what's called pre-orders. So,
again, you just make one and then you say,
"Hey, check this out.
This bag is just out on our line right
now. In fact, I'm taking pre-orders for
this bag. It's at a sale price right now.
Go ahead and put your pre-orders in. That
pre-order is going to be delivered by
October 2nd." Or whenever you decide to
have those done and ready. That way, you
can actually take pre-payments for the
bags which will help you win the cost of
supplies and the cost of doing business.
Then create all the bags that have
already been paid for and then ship them
out when it's time to go. So, in the cost
of your bags, you also need to consider
2 things. Is the cost of your bag going
to cover shipping? And handling? If it is.---
Cool. People don't feel a nickel and dime.
If it isn't. --- Hey, that's cool, too. People
don't mind paying for shipping for
things that they buy online. That's
something that is not very well known is
that people actually don't mind paying
shipping. Now, Amazon users, they're not
used to paying shipping. So, if you do
sell on Amazon, I would roll the cost of
the shipping into the price of the bag.
Just a helpful hint, make the shipping
cost a little more than the actual
shipping cost that you pay and here's
why. And I'm not asking you to be
dishonest. I'm asking you consider what
it takes to ship a bag.
You need to consider the cost of
materials, the cost of tape, the cost of
boxes. If you're driving to the post
office, you need to consider the cost it
takes you to get there, the time it
takes you to get there. All of that is
rolled into the cost of shipping. So, that
you are paid for the time it takes to
actually get the bag out the door. So, for
example, if it costs $5 to ship your bag,
I would charge 750 for shipping because
that's going to cover your shipping
materials, the time it takes to print out
the labels and the time it takes to drop
off the bags at the shipping office.
That's called the handling fee, okay? And
people just roll it all in to shipping
now. So, it's okay for you as long as
you're charging responsibly to charge a
little bit extra for that. Again, if
you're rolling it into the price of the
bag, just roll that full thing into the
price of your bag. So, you want to make
sure that you establish profitable
pricing. Average retail stores have a 40%
margin. Which means if something costs
$100, the
store is making $40 on that item. That's
considered a good margin for retail. Now,
your margins should be at least that
much but it can be a little more as well
as long as the price matches the value
that the customer is getting. You're
welcome to gate make a greater margin up.
In fact, you probably want to have a
bigger profit margin on those. Especially,
as you're starting out and you want to
get your business going and pay for
supplies that you had to, you know, pay
for out of pocket when you first started.
So, remember that the price of the
product needs to be reflective of a
value that the customer is getting. In
fact, if your customer feels like they're
getting more value than what they paid
for, you're going to sell a lot more. There's
a website that I want you to check out
that is a really great example of how to
get your bags on e-commerce. My friend
Katherine from high school actually
created a website called fit so swell
you can check out the link in the
description. Check out that website. It is
a beautiful website. She's got fantastic
photography and she's even made her logo
as a little nameplate on all of her bags.
I've asked her to do some custom word
for me. I can't wait to get my bag from
her. You got to go check her out and
create something that has a specific
feel. When you go to her website, you'll
see that that website has a very clean
crisp, high-quality look. Handbags are a
high quality item, okay? So, create
something that has your own flavor, your
own flair to it. But make sure it looks
high-quality. Go to retail establishments
that has bags in the price point that
you want to sell. See how they're
marketed, see how they're displayed, see
how they're constructed and do what's
called R&D. Ripoff and duplicate, right?
Duplicate what's working but give it
your own flair. Hey, thanks for tuning in
today. Tell me what your favorite part
was in the comments below. What was the
most useful thing for you. And in fact, if
you want to know what it looks like to
work very closely with me in building
your Six-figure business, hit up the link
in the description and let's have a chat.