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sjidohair · June 30th, 2008

Norm,
Is that a woman on your avator riding a fishing lure?
At our shop , whom we buy our Hangers from
Supply Warehouse, they always throw a bag of Candy, in and I can tell you mY son cannot wait to help unpack those boxes. So on the side of the REtailer I love the goodies, and I remember who does and does not do that.

Sandy Jo

oddica · June 30th, 2008

> How long did it take you to get to the point of adding tellcards and custom packaging? I dont suppose you did this from the start.

> I dont think this option would be cost effective until you start to receive XXXX orders a month. Any advice on when it is the right time to do custom packaging? how did you make your decision?

the tell cards are only a penny or two ... a business card cut in half. So you can do that any time.

the custom packaging, that was not based on projected orders ... it was a start-up cost that was done because I thought it'd be cool, and nobody had done anything similar.

hope this answers your questions.

sid · June 30th, 2008

We some times include a new custom product to what we think will be a good customer. Usually one of our journal books or maybe a new style bag, or a Tee,with their image on it. It always pays off. We are very selective in doing this.Iit is one of our marketing principles to expand our line with our existing customer base. We always get a thank you call or email and now we have another way of trying to make a sale instead of us calling them. Give aways are part of marketing and your easiest sale is from a customer who has just called to say "thank you".

Solmu · June 30th, 2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by EnvyApparel


	How long did it take you to get to the point of adding tellcards and custom packaging? I dont suppose you did this from the start.

Oddica did things right from the start; which is why they had people actually anticipating their launch before they'd ever sold a single shirt, and free promotion putting their name all over the web. It's those finishing touches that help a brand stand out - not after they've established themselves (how exactly do you do that with a weak brand?), but from the very beginning.

Not everyone will have the budget to do it in big flashy ways, but (ideally) you need a point of difference from day one. Finishing touches are one good way to do that.

Jasonda · June 30th, 2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by EnvyApparel


	How long did it take you to get to the point of adding tellcards and custom packaging? I dont suppose you did this from the start.

Aside from the marketing/word-of-mouth benefits that Solmu mentioned, there are financial benefits to doing it from the beginning as well. The price for the marketing materials can (and should) be calculated as part of your final cost for the shirt. Every time you sell a shirt you are getting back the cost of the materials.

If you do it later, you might not be able to raise your prices to account for the additional cost, so any money you spend will be coming out of your profit margin, which is never a good thing.

oddica · June 30th, 2008

Envy, i replied to your private message, but you're not set up to receive them apparently. The info you sought:

Oceanaire Sportswear
2937 E Maria St.
+1 310.885.9626

EnvyApparel · July 1st, 2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by oddica


	> How long did it take you to get to the point of adding tellcards and custom packaging? I dont suppose you did this from the start. > I dont think this option would be cost effective until you start to receive XXXX orders a month. Any advice on when it is the right time to do custom packaging? how did you make your decision? the tell cards are only a penny or two ... a business card cut in half. So you can do that any time. the custom packaging, that was not based on projected orders ... it was a start-up cost that was done because I thought it'd be cool, and nobody had done anything similar. hope this answers your questions.

Wow, min 10,000 order is a huge commitment from the gate. what was the total $$$ investment for that? I assume they sat around for quite some time before they started to shoot off the shelf.

You must have had to work up quite the demand before your website launched.

Rodney · July 1st, 2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by EnvyApparel


	Wow, min 10,000 order is a huge commitment from the gate. what was the total $$$ investment for that? I assume they sat around for quite some time before they started to shoot off the shelf. You must have had to work up quite the demand before your website launched.

You don't have to always work up a demand *before* your website launches.

You can market and advertise to get your product out there. That's what a business plan is for.

It can give you your goals and help you set your steps that you need to take (marketing/advertising steps) to get you to that goal.

Different brands start out in different ways. Not everyone is going to start out like oddica, and not everyone is going to start out like Affliction and not everyone is going to start out small.

You have to decide what you want to do to set yourself apart and what your business plan is.

EnvyApparel · July 2nd, 2008

I was thinking of this for the past few days when I was hit with an idea. I am not sure if it would work as well as I think so I thought it would be best to run it by the forum. I have been thinking over and over how I can make the site/product launch work considering the economys state. The shirts are going to be $20 each with the possiblilty of a 2 for $30 deal all depending. This would be promoted with each shirt sold, on the site and on blogs. But the GREAT AMAZING idea that struck me was to offer a Sony's Micro Vault Tiny 2GB USB stick for the first 40 customers to purchase on the website. I can get a good deal ont he sticks and considering we are a technological society my customer base would love to have one thrown in. The sticks MSRP for more than the shirts, I think they started at $124 when they came out and are around $40 now.

What do you guys think?

After those run out its just discount coupons and stickers with quality made Shirts.

FJV11 · July 2nd, 2008

Sounds like a good idea to me if you can get the sticks at a low enough price that it's not killing you. I do tile murals as a side business to the shirts so sometimes I print a tile with the customer's logo on it and toss it in with the order. The customer is always happy with that kind of thing and it costs me next to nothing.

EnvyApparel · July 2nd, 2008

The sticks wold be more than reasonable and I figure load them with wallpaper and other branded product, and send them off to the first 40 lucky people.

Thanks for the feedback.

reiyou · July 3rd, 2008

When deciding what freebies to include, think about your customers and what they would value, as well as something that is kind of unique for your line of tees. There is bound to be something that is unique, relevant, cool and also be inexpensive.

In my case my customers are female dancers, and are generally pretty young. When I ship them dancewear, I have been including a colorful hair scrunchie or inexpensive fashion jewelry such as a bracelet or a ballerina cell phone charm. I also hand these out as free gifts with each purchase when selling face-to-face. I get these wholesale from a store near the Denver Merchandise Mart for about 50 cents each.

However for larger orders (over $100), I'm about to try something new. Next week I am going to start sending a sterling silver charm and box chain, in a little velvet gift bag. My wholesale cost is based on the market weight of silver, but a tiny sterling silver ballerina charm is about $1.50, a 16" chain is about $2.50, and a little velvet bag is about 50 cents. I get these items from Blake Brothers, which has an outlet in the Dever Merchandise Mart (but they also have a website, Blake Brothers Homepage)

So, for about $5 or so I can send a gift along with my larger orders that is elegant, is relevant to girl dancers, and that hopefully has a bit more wow factor because it is sterling silver, and thus be more memorable. I don't quite know exactly how memorable yet, since I am about to try this starting next week.

For your theme of tees and the customers who buy them, perhaps there is something you can include as a freebie that can really delight them.

Solmu · July 3rd, 2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by EnvyApparel


	the GREAT AMAZING idea that struck me was to offer a Sony's Micro Vault Tiny 2GB USB stick

I would have thought more or less everyone who wants one would now have one. I know I impulse bought a 2gb last year because it was on the counter - that's how cheap they've got. I've got about three (512mb, 1gb, 2gb), so they're certainly something you accumulate, but you don't generally actually use more than one. Free stuff is good, so it might work... but I'm skeptical how much value people would actually see in them. It's also a bit gimmicky... with the connection between t-shirts and technology not really being there I'd be concerned about looking desperate or shonky.

Quote:

Originally Posted by EnvyApparel


	The sticks MSRP for more than the shirts, I think they started at $124 when they came out and are around $40 now.

$40 for a 2gb memory stick? You have got to be joking. They're ten bucks for a non-name brand, maybe double that for a name brand. They're so cheap the price has become nominal (which is why I would guess just about anybody who would want one, already has one).

EnvyApparel · July 3rd, 2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by Solmu


	It's also a bit gimmicky... with the connection between t-shirts and technology not really being there I'd be concerned about looking desperate or shonky.

As long as the connection is made with whats on the drive I dont see the issue. My demographic would use this or be attracted to it even though they may have one already. This would contain exclusive content that is branded by the shirt company and may have other very limited items on there.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Solmu


	$40 for a 2gb memory stick? You have got to be joking. They're ten bucks for a non-name brand, maybe double that for a name brand. They're so cheap the price has become nominal (which is why I would guess just about anybody who would want one, already has one).

Anyone can get an off brand product for cheap, but when giving things away the implied value of a brand name helps. This sony stick isnt your standard bulky plastic USB. You should google it.

Solmu · July 3rd, 2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by EnvyApparel


	As long as the connection is made with whats on the drive I dont see the issue. [...] This would contain exclusive content that is branded by the shirt company and may have other very limited items on there.

That is indeed where it's an interesting possibility. Can you generate enough content to make that of value? Desktop wallpapers aren't really going to thrill. I'm not sure what would work, but content can be more valuable than material goods. Portishead's latest album comes with a USB stick with the limited edition vinyl version. In their case one of the band members is a filmmaker, so the stick has some short films, and the album in MP3 (particularly useful since most people don't have a vinyl to mp3 converter). In that case the benefit wasn't the drive, but what was on the drive, and it definitely added value. So yes, there is potential with your idea.

Quote:

Originally Posted by EnvyApparel

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