Hampers

Hi. I have been selling hampers for a couple of years now, and I'm happy to share my experiences with you.

I love making up hampers, I have always done themed hampers for my dd's for Christmas, and about 5 years ago, started doing them for family etc too.
They were very very well received, and the following year I had family and friends asking me to make up hampers for them, and offering to pay.

I already work full time, so I had no intention of starting a business. I work in a school, and most of my orders are from parents, but I also get orders through recommendations. I also sell to family/friends, and at the school fairs.

Very simply, I have 3 price options: small £15, medium £25 and large £40.

I do the following themes which are available year round, and in all 3 price options:

New baby - available for girl, boy, or nutural
Wedding - also available as wedding anniversary
Birthday - available for children & adults
Get well soon - available for male or female, adult or child
Christmas (on sale from September) - available in a range of themes, suitable for a wide range of ages/genders etc.

The contents for these hampers are mainly purchased in bulk, or in sales, and after packaging etc, I generally make between £2.50-£5 on each hamper sold.

I also offer a pre-order, personalised service, again in the 3 price options mentioned above. The customer tells me what/who the hamper is for, which price/size option they want, and chooses a "theme" (e.g 3 year old boy birthday - spiderman). I require 6 weeks notice for personalised hampers, and I basically shop around and find what I can. These hampers always seem to go down so so well, and they are all truly original, but I make very little on these, sometimes only a couple of £.

My hampers are collection only, or I will deliver them to school where I work.

I enjoy making up hampers, it gives me something to do in an evening, and it does earn me a few pound. I am happy to tell you that so far this year I have sold 21 hampers (most of which were pre-orders for valentines, mothers day, and kiddies birthdays). I have made, in clear profit, just under £80.

I could undoubtedly, make much more profit by adding cheaper things to my hampers, shopping at £ shops etc, but I am 100% sure that my hampers would not sell anywhere near as well, if I included items which are readily available on the high street etc, which people could throw together themselves.

A lot of my bulk items are ordered from China, which keeps the costs down a little, and also ensures the recipient isnt going to find the same thing locally, but you have to be careful with quality, so I tend to go for the more expensive options with better feedback/reviews.

Personalised hampers are a risk, sometimes I can pick up themed stuff stupidly cheap at the right time, and a hamper can be filled for very little, and make a very decent profit (eg the frozen hamper I made for a 4 year old girl last xmas, lots of toys, books, figures, cups, plates, sweets, and even a fleece blanket and olaf teddy - filled a £40 hamper to over flowing for just under £25, giving me a clear profit after packaging of £18).Other times, I can be upto budget and the basket still half empty. (An example was earlier this year when a lady asked for a small (£15) hamper for her star wars mad 5 year olds birthday. Star wars is really popular at the moment, and therefore sourcing items at a reasonable price was a nightmare. The hamper ended up containing a cup, a colouring book and pens, 2 small figures, a reading book, top trumps cards, a jigsaw, a poster, and a few star wars lollipops. On a £15 hamper, I made just £1.70 profit, and it certainly wasnt over-flowing, lots of shredded paper needed to bulk it out, but it was well packaged, and the customer was over the moon, and has already placed orders for 5 christmas hampers!!).

All my packaging materials are bought in bulk, I use cheap plastic storage bins/baskets which I cover with themed paper, add shredded paper, cellophane, a ribbon and a themed gift tag. It works out between £1-£2.50 for packaging alone, depending on hamper size. Customers love that the storage boxes are re-usable!

What I dont add to hampers:
Alcohol
Food that is not pre-packaged or has less than 3 months best before date
Anything home made

What I do add to my hampers:
Pre-packaged sweets, chocolates, tea, coffee, biscuits etc
Toys etc all from reputable brands (never from china, £shop etc - quality first!)
Clothes / baby items / etc again all from reputable brands

Obviously there are lots of others, but these are my general rules, I do not use second hand items, I will not buy anything other than decorative items from unknown/branded companies, and I always make sure items have CE / safety certs etc where applicable.

I know of some people who sucessfully sell hampers filled with items they have picked up from £shops, charity shops, ebay etc, but personally, I am not willing to take the risk of selling something which doesnt meet British safety standards, and have a child choke on a broken toy part, the thought scares me to death.

My hampers are filled with quality items, they sell well, I have never had negative feedback or any complaints, but I do not earn anywhere near a living from them. It is more of a hobby, and I am fortunate enough to cover all costs, and earn a bit of spending money each month.

I think in order to earn a living from such a thing, you would need to be much less picky about what you put into the hampers, or charge an awful lot more than I do - neither of which I am personally comfortable with.

It is fun, and very rewarding, and yes, the extra money is nice, but not a lot, plus you have to declare it. I made a little over £400 last year from hamper sales, and when added to my wages, took me just over the tax bracket, meaning I lost £65 of my profits paying tax.

I no longer advertise my hampers, but still get plenty of orders. After this year though, i will not be replenishing bulk buy stock, and instead will just do pre-order hampers. I make much less on these, but they sell better, and are more fun to make up. It is, before anything, my hobby. Hth

Well I think its a good idea to, I would suggest that you get in touch with some gift shoppe or any stores so that they can help you in selling your hampers to a larger number of people!

Hi I have set up a group on facebook for anyone who makes and sells hampers please feel free to PM me for the link to join