Take Time With Your Packaging

You’ve spent hours/days/weeks creating that perfect item. You took a bazillion photos to get the best ones to use in the online listing. You mulled it over, thought, and rewrote the description until it, too, is perfect, and then you wait for someone to purchase it. How much time have you spent on the packaging for this piece?

It’s a thrill when that email which reads, “You made a sale!” arrives in your in box.  But what happens next can turn that one time buyer into a repeat customer.

As much as we all complain about the big box stores, they’re a fact of life.  They carry millions of items, and probably many that are similar to what you make by hand.  Your handmade item is different and the packaging it arrives in must also be different! The buyer’s first impression of your item needs to drive that message home…. “not mass-produced,” and more importantly, “I care.”

When you make a sale, what does your customer receive in the mail?  For the sake of this article, let’s say that is was handled carefully by the shipping service.  What does the customer see?  A nice clean box or envelope with a neatly written or typed label or a reused container with something scrawled on the outside?  There certainly is nothing wrong with reusing/recycling a cardboard box.  But you need to remove the old labels, not just cross them out with a marker.  And your name should be prominently displayed on the package.  This will excite your customer (“Oh boy – my purchase is here!”)  And think about this,,,  how many people saw that package during the shipping process?  A couple?  Ten?  Hundreds?  Don’t miss this advertising opportunity!

CAUTION!!  Don’t tape that package closed to the point that you need a full surgical team to get into it!

Once the box or envelope is opened, what does the buyer see?  Did you toss your item into the shipping container big-box-store style?  When preparing an item to ship, you could use an organza bag, tissue paper or the Sunday comics.  It is doesn’t really matter as long as it adds to the ambiance of the item. It should add that “I care” element to the buyer’s experience.  Think of what the mass-merchandisers would do, and then do just the opposite!

Be sure to include a thank you note.  Again, you want to be different than a big box store.  And certainly include your business card.  A small gift or a gift certificate or a discount code good on a future purchase is a nice touch.

Your item needs to be safe in transit and recycling/reusing packing materials like bubble wrap and Styrofoam peanuts is a good thing.  But don’t use it if it’s soiled, loaded with old tape or writing.

Your packaging is part of the whole item and needs to be done with the same thought and care you took creating the item itself.

 

Written By iKnitQuiltSew

 

 

 

  

 

Tags: first impression, Handmade, Handmade Artists, handmade packaging, package, packaging, shipping, shipping handmade, wrapping your handmade item

Posted in Handmade, Handmade Artisans, Information, Selling Tips