Here’s why the next few months are so important for your eTail business

by | Sep 4, 2015

Run this seasonal products strategy alongside your regular products for extra profits… ‘Festive Bookings Now Being Taken’ screamed the 2 foot high chalked letters on the advertising board outside my local restaurant! ‘Ask about our Christmas Menu’ stated the strategically placed tabletop placard in my local pub! ‘OMG’ shrieked my daughter whilst we were shopping in the supermarket earlier this week, after she spotted a 7 foot high stack of tins of ‘Roses’ (the ‘Christmas’ chocolate of choice of course!) But I remained calm, because strange as it may seem, I didn’t find any of these things unusual, even though it’s only early September. The reason? Well, I too have started thinking about Christmas! I know it may appear to be very early to start mentioning the ‘C’ word, but as we are approaching three of the most lucrative months of the year, if you want to capitalise on the extra spending that will start taking place soon, it’s important that you give this some serious consideration so that you are organised and ready for the big rush. When it comes to being organized, the earlier you can research and source products specifically for a seasonal market, the better. A friend of mine always, without fail, buys her Christmas cards, wrapping paper and crackers immediately after Christmas during the sales. She then stores them safely ready for the following year. And believe me, she manages to get her hands on some huge bargains – luxury crackers for next to nothing, big packs of cards for pennies and huge rolls of decent wrapping paper for less than a quarter of the original price. Good for her – but this simply represents the huge peaks and troughs in prices that you will always see when it comes to seasonal products. Wait! Huge peaks and troughs…then why sell seasonal products? Well, there are several benefits to selling seasonal goods that you can enjoy if you do choose to go down this route:
  • The price difference between on and off peak for a seasonal item is likely to be far higher than any normal item of stock. Summer clothes are provided with massive discounts in winter and vice versa, while the prices of Christmas decorations are slashed to next to nothing as early as Boxing Day. So this can lead to great big profits if you can pick up items when they’re off peak.
  • As some sellers don’t bother looking at seasonal goods and instead concentrate on year round sellers (which is of course also a very good plan) you may find that competition is lower in some niches, especially if you can find a niche market within a seasonal time. This can lead to a greater reward for less effort on your part.
  • Seasonal products can be purchased anywhere, not just specifically from wholesale suppliers. The high street is often a great place to go off season when shops are desperate to get rid of their stock to make room for the next clothing line or the next big event.
The only thing you need to think really carefully about is your budget over the year as a whole, as with seasonal products you’re likely to have some months with higher earnings and then some without. So the profits that you could make through selling at key times of the year with seasonal stock will need to be replaced with other profits during the quiet times. One way around this is to ensure you are always selling a seasonal product throughout different times of the year so that you always have in stock, products that are in-demand. For example, don’t just sell Christmas orientated products, cover other seasons or events too, such as Halloween, Easter, Valentines, Mothers Day, Summer Garden Toys and so on. The best way is to combine the sale of seasonal products with a few good year round sellers too. This way you’ll have the best of both worlds. Finding the best seasonal goods The real trick when it comes to making money selling seasonal hot products is simply knowing when to buy…and when to sell. Ideally you’ll need some storage space for this because you will mostly need to do your purchasing and your selling at opposite ends of the year. One of the difficulties with this type of selling is that there’s a real temptation to go crazy and purchase anything and everything that you can get for a discount as soon as the peak season is over. But don’t be tempted. Instead of giving in to that impulse, spend time coming up with a proper plan in advance and research potential products properly. Keep your eyes on useful tools such as Amazon’s Bestseller lists – particularly the ‘Movers and Shakers’ lists during the time that you’ll want to sell specific items next year and you should have a good idea as to the best products to buy. Don’t limit yourself to one selling avenue either. If Christmas is your big selling time, then the January sales will yield bargains both online and on the high street. You may even find that wholesale suppliers will run sales on their excess Christmas stock. This can be a great way to buy items in bulk that you know will sell well when they come back into their peak season. You’ll need to be quick to snap up a deal though, as other seasonal sellers may be sniffing out the same deals! Then it’s a matter of timing! Depending on which season you’re targeting, you’ll need to learn exactly when you’re likely to make the most sales. This will get easier over time as you’ll be able to look at the statistics within your eBay or Amazon accounts to verify how many of which product you sold at what time because you must time it right. Take school uniforms for example; you might think that September is the best time to catch the rush just before the kids return to school, but actually June through to August are much better selling months for these products. You’ll remember I mentioned those Christmas advertisements at the beginning of this eletter – well as you can see, Christmas preparations also start earlier and earlier each year. So early these days that October and November are great months to ensure you catch the rush than December itself. Romantics at heart looking to surprise their sweethearts with Valentine’s Day gifts also consider their purchases far earlier than the start of February so think about starting to advertise your products in early January. The key is to plan ahead. Maximising your profits through each season will be a learning curve for you, but with experience you’ll soon get the hang of it and understand how to bring in excellent profits year on year purely with seasonal items. My recommendation for anyone just starting out with seasonal selling is as I suggested above, to take this strategy on alongside products that will provide a more regular income. This will help you manage your finances throughout the year, as the regular sales will cover those off-peak periods when you may struggle to shift your seasonal stock. The vast majority of items do have natural peaks and troughs throughout the year so by diversifying the stock that you sell you’ll keep yourself in a good financial position the whole year round. So, Christmas here we come.