Problem selling inventory

What should I be doing to build clientele?
I don't drive, so don't do farmer's markets. But I have done a couple craft shows. Nothing big, though.
What are some ideas of what I should do?

Network! Know someone who works for a large employer? Send them to work with some sample bars and an order form. Whenever I send my husband to work with freebies, I'll get orders from his coworkers for full sizes of whatever I sent. There's no sales pressure either, he just leaves the new soaps at the sink and people hunt him down to find out how they can get more. The first time I sent him in with a bottle of my liquid soap, it was stolen within the first 30 minutes yet the entire batch I had made sold out that same day

That method can of course be hit or miss. I sent a bag of samples with my mother for her work and got lots of requests for more free stuff and only one small order.

I'm okay with the risk of not gaining customers through a sample bag, it's mostly odds and ends of batches and crooked cut bars. I'm not putting out a lot of time and money here. It's a lot slower than doing fairs and markets but does pay off faster and with less effort than say, Etsy.

Talk to your neighbors too and give them some samples. Mail carriers, doctors, just about anyone you can think of. Everyone likes a small handcrafted gift to feel appreciated and it may generate some sales for you.

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I know you said you don't drive, but what about asking around at spas and salons? Lots of spas sell bath and body products, ask if you can sell consignment there. Like Second Impression said above, i send things off with my mother when she goes to work. I put together a cute basket and she leaves it in the staff room and people come find her. Even my father doesn't mind bringing a basket to work. Have any friends or family that work in big offices? That's where you might have the most luck!


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You can open an Etsy or Artfire shop, and that can be taken care of completely from home, except for getting to the post office.

Forsenuf said:

You can open an Etsy or Artfire shop, and that can be taken care of completely from home, except for getting to the post office.

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And you can get USPS to pickup at your house.

Thanks!

pamielynn said:

And you can get USPS to pickup at your house.

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Not in Canada.

judymoody said:

Not in Canada.

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Well, they DO have issues picking up in the US, too I'm actually beginning to despise the USPS anyway - they just shrunk up the flat rate boxes again. Thinking it might be cheaper to hire my own post rider.

I didn't realize she was in Canada when I responded.

pamielynn said:

Well, they DO have issues picking up in the US, too I'm actually beginning to despise the USPS anyway - they just shrunk up the flat rate boxes again. Thinking it might be cheaper to hire my own post rider.

I didn't realize she was in Canada when I responded.

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Just another aside about the USPS. It drives me nuts that you can't print a first-class label on their site. I use PayPal to print first -class labels, but that seems like a really basic no-brainer for the USPS.

paillo said:

Just another aside about the USPS. It drives me nuts that you can't print a first-class label on their site. I use PayPal to print first -class labels, but that seems like a really basic no-brainer for the USPS.

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Amen! That drives me nuts, too.