Would you buy wooden toys at a market?

Angel9876

As above really. I've been looking into selling wooden toys (buying wholesale) to make a bit of extra money.

I've seen wooden toys being sold on markets before, but am not sure whether they are profitable.

Have you ever bought wooden toys at a market?
If not could you tell me why?
If so, what did you go for?

Your replies would be gratefully received, even if they are not all positive!

Mortgage_Reduction_Novice

I've bought them from craft stalls to give as presents. Mostly this was because the child's name was on the toy or the seller could paint/burnish a name or design on to make something unique. I bought a wooden stool with a favourite animal on, a hand painted but traditional style rattle and a train set (the obvious one!).

I think it depends on the market. If it's a small town, mostly visited by locals then you'll start off ok but customers will dry up. If it's a busy, city possibly with visitors or tourists then it could work out well.

cabriolean

I have for younger siblings, I also bought some for friends (for their decorative value or 3d puzzle type things). I bought them because they don't break sharply like plastic toys could, they look nicer, they are all unique, they also last longer and they seem worth the money more than their plastic equivalents do.

NoRisk

No i wouldn't buy from a wooden toy stall.

Angel9876

Thanks for your replies, and for the ideas for the types of things to buy.

I know that this is a money saving site, which might influence responses, but what kind of money did you spend at the stall? Are you more attracted to the cheaper bits (say £5 or less for small trinket/stationary type things) or would you spend a bit more for one larger gift such as a wooden puzzle for £10?

Again, thanks for any responses.

Angel9876

Oh, and NoRisk, if you are still reading, why wouldn't you? I'm not looking to change your mind, but am genuinely interested to know what puts you off?

soolin

Might this better merged with your earlier thread?

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4113061

soolin

Have you got your unit costs now and a profit forecast? If so maybe give people an idea of what you would be selling, price wise as that might help with the responses.

You do need your item price though to be able to see if this is a goer or not, and that selling price must include all your costs, expenses, tax and NI and a built in safety net for theft/losses etc.

I know I keep pushing for you to do the sums, but I've seen too many people lay out hundreds of pounds on stock they can't sell and which either sits In a stock room somewhere, or gets sold at a loss.

Angel9876

Soolin, thanks for your replies. I have looked into tax and NI and product liability insurance and found a wholesaler. They don't charge delivery if you order over £150 worth of stuff, and they advise that the RRP should be double what you pay (so you pay £1 for a small toy, for example, but charge the consumer £2). I have looked at the items that they sell and think that some of their things would probably sell for slightly more than this but others would sell for slightly less.

To be honest, I think it looks like I could make a small profit if I go for the things people are likely to buy, and that is all I want really (I don't want to turn this into a full time job, just enough to make life a little easier).

You sound quite experienced in this kind of thing. My worst fear is of spending £150 on stock which I just can't sell. My mother has advised me to find out whether people actually buy wooden toys as it really isn't her thing and doesn't understand why people buy it, but I really like it. I'm struggling to make that final step (buy stock, fill in the stall application form which is on the dining room table, and send the form off for the insurance)!

What do you think?

soolin

Angel9876 wrote: »

Soolin, thanks for your replies. I have looked into tax and NI and product liability insurance and found a wholesaler. They don't charge delivery if you order over £150 worth of stuff, and they advise that the RRP should be double what you pay (so you pay £1 for a small toy, for example, but charge the consumer £2). I have looked at the items that they sell and think that some of their things would probably sell for slightly more than this but others would sell for slightly less.

To be honest, I think it looks like I could make a small profit if I go for the things people are likely to buy, and that is all I want really (I don't want to turn this into a full time job, just enough to make life a little easier).

You sound quite experienced in this kind of thing. My worst fear is of spending £150 on stock which I just can't sell. My mother has advised me to find out whether people actually buy wooden toys as it really isn't her thing and doesn't understand why people buy it, but I really like it. I'm struggling to make that final step (buy stock, fill in the stall application form which is on the dining room table, and send the form off for the insurance)!

What do you think?

I think my main concern would be that buying at say (keeping this simple) £1 and selling at £2 will not give you a real profit. That assumes you sell everything and never have to discount and never have a return or a theft. If you are buying low end items it might seem safer but you'll have to,turn over huge amounts of stock.

Apologies as I'm terrible at explaining things- but you buy 150 items for £150 . If you plan to sell at £2 your maximum profit would be £150, but from that you have to pay the stall rental, any product liability insurance to be paid , marketing costs and then on the net profit you would pay tax and NI

so your profit would be a maximum of £150 but realistically your costs are going to be high so maybe you are only looking at making say £75 on that first lot of stock and I think that is optimistic. However, what if you can't sell all 150 items, your costs remain the same as you still have to pay your stall fees, insurance etc but you won't have that £75 profit, instead you will have unsold stock.

So you buy more, and have to lay out more capital just to restock and make hiring the stall a second or third time realistic.

as well as low cost stock to be your 'bread and butter' stock you need higher end goods that will give you a higher net profit that means a higher outlay of course but a more realistic chance of making money. It is however a bigger gamble as well if people don't buy

kitkatt1982

Hi, I bought a wooden puzzle for my baby girl yesterday at a craft fayre. For me, it's the uniqueness and quality that would make me buy something over something I could get probably cheaper at a supermarket so something to bear in mind, names or local icons could help them to sell, good luck x