How to Price Cash and Carry Items?

[ChefForrester]

Question - I just received a kit enhancement order and rather than take things out of boxes, am considering offering them for cash and carry at a booth I am doing this weekend. Then I will reorder them on my next order. Not big things or lifetime warranty stuff, mostly small items. How do all of you price your cash and carry? What about stuff from the outlet? How do you find out what the original price was of items on the outlet?

Would love to get leads and shows booked and orders, BUT I did pay out for this booth at a well attended festival ($100) so did some baking to sell as well to try to make back booth fee. I will have a drawing, will offer an incentive to book a show, etc.

I've read a lot of items under this thread, just looking for clarification. If I don't sell the cash and carry, not a big deal since it was items I wanted for kit enhancement anyway. But if there's a chance to make a buck - I'll Take It!!!!

So what formula has worked for you? Regular price + tax and direct shipping? Regular price + tax? Round up? don't round? On the Saturday I will be solo, so I don't want to be fussing with a calculator and plan on pricing ahead of time.

 

[Jules711]

I tend to have things at the retail value if from the regular catalog. I don't want to fool with tax and such at that point and it's highly unlikely I paid full price for much that I'm selling. For outlet, I mark it up a bit b/c of shipping and tax. I ALWAYS put the orginal price (which is usually listed with the item on the outlet) on the tag though b/c people like to see what they are saving.

I do this too. If I have something onhand with box that I haven't used, I bring it. You never know. Also, if I buy gifts ahead of time and have a booth in between, I'll take it and reorder it if it sells.

 

[ivykeep]

I don't do lots of cash and carry, but find that people are usually looking for a bargain -- so they aren't willing to pay shipping on an item that you have sitting there. At most you'll probably get Regular price plus shipping (but possibly not even that if they are a past host and expect 10% off). As a customer for other companies that I buy from (like Tastefully Simple), I'm not willing to pay what I'd pay for at a show to buy the item (I'm ok with the catalog price and tax and maybe 50 cents upcharge to cover shipping, but I assume that the consultant didn't pay shipping on each item and I'd otherwise wait to go to a show to order several things to minimize shipping -- OT, I abhor TS's shipping rates to a show (all direct rates) so usually combine my order with a friend's so that we get a better deal - PC's shipping rate is much better).You can do round up for the heart and make a bulk donation or add to your next show if you want to round up or collect more $ for that.Outlet stuff or discontinued stuff, I usually price higher than I paid (so I can make a profit), but under the cost of the current version of the item. The only exception to this is the old bamboo tongs which I LOVED -- and I bought 50 of them before they were discontinued and I sell those for $2-3 each.

 

[esavvymom]

When I do cash-n-carry (which is VERY RARE- and usually only small things)..I actually just price it what it is in the catalog, but I'm only usually doing the door-prize items, so I don't do tax. If I was doing what you are- lots of assorted product, I'd charge the retail plus tax - no shipping. Or like Jules said- just retail. They'll think they are getting a great deal! (which they are). You are making $$ since you got it for 40% and can always reorder it, or wait until April when we all have Kit Enhancement montha gain- and get your products at 40% again.

 

[aPamperedBride]

I'm doing a fair this weekend and my director suggested a big sign that says "20% Cash and Carry" and to only bring extra product that I have on hand and want to unload.

 

[cmdtrgd]

I make it easy - current cost of product in catalog, add tax and round up to the next dollar to cover part of the shipping I already paid. I usually tell them this when I'm calculating the cost (I have the items priced without tax) of tax that I only round up to the next dollar instead of charging them $4.25 shipping. I get the cost of shipping back over time and they get a deal. At this time I also suggest they enter my drawing so I get their contact info. If I'm really on the ball, I'll write what they bought on the back of their drawing slip so I can follow up.

 

[ChefForrester]

I ended up doing catalog price plus tax, since it was a 350 dollar order that had come to my house. I did NOT order 350 dollars worth of cash and carry - it was my 4 month Kit Enhancement of stuff I wanted ANYWAY. There was very little Cash and Carry business anyway; most people wanted SB or nylon scrapers - and I happened to be next to a booth that was GIVING away nylon scrapers with their contact info on it. So I got a LOT of goodwill and people giving me their contact info by REFUSING to sell them a Nylon Scraper, pointing out that they were free next door and that that was why I was here, trying to save them $ by teaching them to cook easy inexpensive meals at home instead of going to restaurants. On the other side there was a booth selling AMAZING lobster and crab openers - the couple there was the engineer who invented them and her husband. I bought 50 of them to take on a cruise with me to resell at a markup - lots of people eat crab and lobster on a cruise, so I spent my alcohol budget for the cruise on these, that way I can have a bigger alcohol budget when I resell them! Zeecutt - The ideal utensil for crab legs, lobster, and more! They had just redesigned them so they are now 100% plastic and are safe to travel with.So I was capturing the people on one side by telling them if they liked to eat anything else besides lobster and crab, I was the one to see, and on the other side by telling them that nylon scraper would go perfectly with our stoneware! It took what could have been an annoying situation and made it fun for everyone! The lady in the nylon scraper booth (it was actually for a home services company that does home repair and remodels) ended up presenting me with a very decent order AND a business opportunity that fits in perfectly with PC and my resolutions to keep in better touch with friends and family, actually do my Christmas cards, and value others more. So I signed up yesterday with Send Out Cards - go to www.sendoutcards.com/leslieforrester and send a card to someone on me. If you've never actually done it, it's really really cool.

 

[lt1jane]

For the booth I did, we added $0.50 for items under $7, $1 for items under $20, and $2 for items over $20 for shipping and added tax. We had a price list that reflected this. We were honest and peole who were buying knew they were paying the catalog price plus a little for shipping and tax, but not full shipping. The next booth we will put stickers on the items with the prices, still using this same formula to cover shipping.

People feel like they're getting a bargain because they aren't paying full shipping and we're not making them pay direct shipping which I think is pretty high. If we didn't have an item, we took and order and delivered it later. We gave them the "special" shipping rates for direct orders, unless they were ordering enough to make the regular shipping worth their while. We chose to deliver items as a customer service rather than go for the direct shipping. We want the contacts and happy customers who will call us in the future when they have more PC needs. One order I took will most likely become a catalog show in November/Decemer.

By the way, I have booked one solid show and have two strong possibilites for November (the booth was in late July), plus a possible lead. I had $300 in sales and so did the consultant I worked with. We made back our money we spent on the booth and are still making money from the bookings and contacts.

My main goal was bookings and contacts, but I found that having the cash and carry drew people in better.