Greetings, makers!
Let’s talk about success on Faire and in wholesaling your products.
My name is Keli Spanier and I own Colette Paperie — a snarky paper goods line that has been around for 15 years. I started my business in my mother’s hospice room — where she was getting “get well soon” cards with smiling turtles on them. I knew I had a niche in creating funny cards for life’s crappy circumstances. Here are some lessons I’ve learned, and I hope it’s helpful for those just starting out, or even for a more seasoned wholesaler that is struggling with getting their numbers up. My brand has reached 7 figures between my wholesale and retail storefronts, and I’m here to offer assistance or tips in getting your business there, too. I’ve used my own experience and images, but I hope you can translate it to your own brands and stories.
I have been on Faire since the beginning, so around 5 years when it used to be called Indigo Fair. It was so much easier back then, because it was not bombarded with a ton of sellers. The site has changed a lot in that time, and we all have to pivot to make it work for us. So! Here are some tips I’ve come up with along the way that have helped me have a 75% increase and maintaining high open rates and direct orders.
Your storefront needs to look *superb*.
Let’s start with photography. It’s not only important that your photos are professionally taken so that your product is crystal clear, but it’s equally important to have that product in a setting that can be easily understood. Your photos need to show that product in some kind of use so that the person looking at it can imagine holding it in their hands and understand the exact dimensions.
Have a story to tell. This is so important in an always increasing number of makers. How does your product fit in? How does it fill a need? Even if the answer to that question is something that you’re creating in a way that no one else is, that’s still a story. Are your products unique to you, and your branding top-notch? It all needs to stay very cohesive. What makes your product a necessary addition to a store? These are important questions especially as you get started.
How are your emails looking visually?
Faire’s email templates are a little blah — it’s important to do any possible customization so it looks *nothing* like a Faire-branded email. There are a zillion stores and makers on Faire, and the emails are mountainous. When it looks like a template, it’s easy for a buyer to instantly delete. You can customize so many parts of your email, and you should.
Starting with logo — delete the logo and add an image instead of your logo. This makes your logo a much more appropriate size — as the standard logo is tiny in Faire emails.
Introductory emails: When first pitching a store, do not use the standard invitation from Faire to buy your products. Add them as a customer, and then go to campaigns to create an intro campaign that you will use for every new buyer added. Your intro campaign will be much better looking. In your intro email, create a quick and concise list of why the buyer should be interested in your product. For me, I highlight my price point because it is quite competitive in my specific market, my envelopes because they are brightly colored and fun, unlike other brands, and how long I’ve been in business. I also point out that my line is snarky and induces laughter in stores. These are the points I want my buyers to know quickly — an elevator pitch. Do not make it lengthy or tell your life story. Buyers are swamped and do not have time to read through every bio. The key here is getting them to click into your shop, get invested in it, and buy. But they have to be able to do that quickly.
Create header images and footer images, and possibly even text images. You can use Canva or Illustrator or any other program that allows you to create graphics at a certain size. Your emails should tell a story without actually needing someone to read it. Keep it short and sweet, but looking visually stunning. Below are examples of what visuals I like to include in intro emails — logo, header, a text image (so I don’t have to use Faire’s fonts), a bestseller image (pointing them below where I have bestselling products attached) and a footer. I also include a little image of a few reviews I’ve gotten recently. In future emails, I have other images corresponding to the season or whatever I’m featuring. I never send an email that is just text.
Things to absolutely include in intro email and possibly nothing else:
- Logo (use Image, instead of Logo, to make it larger)
- Header (a sneak peek into what you’re sending)
- A few points about your brand (short + snappy)
- Bestseller Listings (use actual Products here)
- Footer (a re-iteration of your logo, maybe a tag line)
If you’re not graphically talented, hiring someone to create some logo options for you can be relatively cheap. But I would recommend learning it the hard way, on your own, so you can update and create little graphics as needed. It might take you a while, but there is so much DIY information out there, you just have to take the time to learn it. You’ll be happy you did, because refreshing those images is so important. Here are a few images I’ve created just for emails.
On the topic of emails, I’ve heard a lot of sellers wondering about email etiquette. How often to send, what info to send, etc. My take on this subject is whatever you feel comfortable with. Imagine carrying 30–40 lines of products in your store and how many emails those makers must send. I try not to email more than once or twice a month. Here are a few reasons to send an email:
- NEW PRODUCTS If you’re adding new products, wait until you have some semblance of a collection — not just one or two new products. Pre-order items are good to know, too.
- DISCOUNTS or freebies — I don’t offer a ton of discounts, and I don’t think you should either. Wholesale and discounts never used to go hand-in-hand but Faire has changed that. Only offer them once in a while so that they are more valuable to your buyers.
- SEASONAL emails: reminders to pick up seasonal products before they run out of time in the shipping window.
How many stores have you added as a customer?
After wholesaling my products for a decade & a half (Lordy, I’m getting old), the first rule I learned is that research is the backbone of this business and the key to success. My personal goal on Faire is to pay as little commissions as possible. This means having done enough research to have a 15,000+ customer list (and going.) Research is a constant. I never stop looking for new stores, as stores open and close frequently. There is no time to keep track of what stores are closed, I just keep on looking in my downtime.
There are many ways to research.
- Searching specific cities on Google and finding gift stores. You can search like this for hours and hours. I recommend keeping some kind of document to keep track of what cities you’ve researched. And don’t go big-city all the time, either. Small towns have great stores and small stores are our friend. They are small businesses like us and look to support like-minded makers. Never underestimate how much a small business wants to support another small business.
- On Instagram, going to a current store and clicking the icon that looks like a person with a plus sign (right side of Contact) and then the “Suggested for you” will appear. These are other Instagram accounts that might be other stores that could be of interest to you. Personally I like to still try to acquire an email address for that store because I don’t fully trust Faire’s Direct system, so I always add them as a customer. Interacting with a store on Instagram, showing interest in their store, and then introducing yourself has been a proven method of catching the eye of the buyer.
- Finding retail store lists. There are a million sites that have a “stockist” or “retailer” list noted on their site. Some of them even have links to shops so it’s very easy to obtain their email address. I would add every single email you can find — this is cold-emailing and I find that a solid 5–8% of my cold-emails are successful. Doesn’t sound like a lot, but 5% of 15,000 stores is still 750 stores.
- *Always* seek out the email address of the store. If it’s not listed on the site, it’s very likely on their Facebook page. Never trust the Faire Direct system because it’s not very trustworthy. You need proof that you researched this store so that Faire cannot take the commission from you. Add the email into your Customer list the moment you find it, and then send your intro email template out whenever you get a bundle of new ones to reach out to (or however often you want, really)
Note: When adding a customer, if you don’t know the name, just put “shop buyer” or “owner” in the name category. And never send the template welcome email. Add them as customers, and then create a welcome email template that you will use for all new customers, and keep using it every time you add a new customer.
Master the search.
SEO is a tough nut to crack, considering Faire’s search engine can be extremely complicated and not always working properly. The hard part with SEO is that the more business you do, the more SEO works for you. So if you’re not doing good business, your SEO lacks as well. So if you’re stuck, you’re really stuck. But there are a few ways to dig yourself out of the bottomless pit:
- Make sure you are utilizing important keywords in all areas of Faire — including titles and descriptions. Just put a little section in each of your listings (bulk edit if you need to under Products) that has keywords. Use words that make sense with your listings. For example, I searched all of my baby cards, bulk edited them and included baby-specific keywords at the bottom of all of them. It was pretty easy once I had a group of keywords for every category in my shop. Create a little text document to save your keywords for each category and make it easier on yourself.
- Update often. New products are great, but so are general updates to keep your store looking fresh and at the same time, increasing your visibility. Updates to keywords, images or text all count as updates that help SEO.
- While we’re talking search results, make sure that your Feature Image (under Shop Page) is refreshed often, according to the season. Changing this photo can often have a positive effect on the search. This photo also needs to be zoomed in a bit, because when a shop notices it, it’s relatively small. This image should really be catchy, because the end result is always: the click! I also feel that your cover image should be updated often. Faire suggests that it be a “lifestyle image” but personally I feel that it can be anything you’d like that represents your brand the best. I zoom in on a snarky saying because I want my buyers to see that I have a snarky brand right off the bat. I want them to laugh quickly and often. Doesn’t hurt that the card shown is one of my best sellers. A lot of stores might not be looking at this on a desktop, so making this image crystal clear is important.
Bonus Points
I have a few other sidebars that might help increase general awareness to your brand, wholesale and retail alike. These are just helpful things you can do when you have the time, and they don’t cost much. The best PR is free PR. Aim for that. I never voluntarily choose to pay for advertising.
- Search for small business, entrepreneur, and product/gift guide editors and reach out to them. Find an angle that isn’t just “this is me and what I create” but something specific. If you have a non-traditional background or you’re using unique methods to create your products, or just something a little different and special about you — this is something they’ll look for. Pitching editors is a craft, and they don’t just want something mundane to write about. Start locally with a news editor — highlighting a local business is something small news editors love. And, your community also loves to read about small businesses they can support.
- Capitalize on your specialty and write articles about it. There are tons of places to submit your story. Write about whatever you’d like!
- Teach a class on your expert subject. You are an expert in what you do. There are a lot of folks out there looking for information on starting a business.
- Get yourself onto some podcasts that talk to entrepreneurs, woman-owned businesses, BIPOC businesses, small business, etc. It all helps the back links and you never know who will come across it!
- Do fundraisers. Any time you can, support causes that you feel strongly about. Some examples: percentages of sales, local food drives (you can offer a coupon code for anyone that proves they made a donation), or even free bonus products for those who donate. It often ends in bigger sales, because people love to support causes and it gives your brand a lot of likability. I did a fundraiser for my local food pantry during Covid and I raised a ton of money for the pantry and also made a ton of money because the news featured me a bunch of times. It was an absolute win-win.
Hopefully these tips help you in the ever-massive black hole that wholesale on Faire has become. You have to fight for your place in the wholesale marketplace, and it’s not easy. Please follow my TikTok.com/@colettepaperie for more tips and here you can ask me any question you’d like and I’ll be glad to try to help.
If you’re interested in the greatest paper goods around (in my most humble opinion) check out my site at www.colettepaperie.com!
