People are always asking me why their products are not selling. A lot of the time there is nothing wrong. Usually they are in a saturated market where there is a lot of competition. Then they don’t know what to do with the inventory they have sitting around. The answer is often simple – repurpose it. I’ll explain what I mean.
Glass Vase Fillers at Pottery Barn
Christmas Ornaments Become Vase Fillers
The other day I was speaking to someone who had these beautiful acorn cap Christmas ornaments that were rolled in silver glitter. Really stunning. But Christmas is over and no one is buying ornaments so what to do. I told the vendor to sell the ornaments as vase fillers (just remove the ribbon). Vase fillers have been a decorative trend for years now and these ones, because of adding the glitter (which just happens to be a big trend in 2013 – please see my post Product Trends for 2013) made them a unique entry in this market.
Necklace Pendants Become Drawer Pulls
Another person I was speaking with sells these lovely stoneware necklace pendants. At first look, I thought some of the round and square ones would actually make really beautiful and unique drawer pulls, especially for a kitchen or bathroom or on a rustic piece of furniture. Again, another possible revenue stream for the same product by simply repurposing.
TOMS White Crochet Wedding Slippers
Crocheted Slippers Become Bridal Slippers
Another person was asking why their crochet slippers were not selling. When I looked at the white ones they were offering, they reminded me of the white crocheted TOMS shoes that have become a huge wedding trend for brides to wear at the reception (on the TOMS website they have a section now called Wedding Collection as a result). So simply add a few pearls and start selling to the bridal market.
My point is, don’t give up on products that are not selling. They could have a new, very lucrative life in another form.
© 2013 Gail Oliver. All rights reserved. Repurpose Your Products
Jim Veilleux
17 years ago, we started a company to record telephone calls remotely. We wanted to compete with call center recording devices. That didn’t work (we were way ahead of the tech curve.) But when we focused on a different use (something called “third party verification” to prevent sales fraud) the business took off to over $10 million in sales.