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Thursday, February 28, 2008

Jewelry Trunkshow Trials & Tribulations...

WHAT ARE THE REAL PROS & CONS TO TRUNKSHOWS? FOR DESIGNERS AND SHOPPERS?

Let's start with what a trunkshow really is. It used to be a term for when designers would bring their excess stock (literally in a trunk) to sell it off at one of their loyal stores. This way, you could meet one of your favorite designers and see styles that weren't currently offered in the boutique. Over time, that has unfortunately changed.

Trunkshows are often a way for stores to preview emerging designers without a commitment or investing in merchandise. Lots of good and bad to this... On the other hand, many established designers are still offering trunkshows to their quality boutiques so in some ways, you could consider it the best of both worlds mixing the old with the new...

Pros & Cons for the Shopper:

Pros:
- How much fun it is to meet a designer of products you enjoy, hear their inspirations, or even just meet one of their reps who can tell you so much more about a line?
- You can buy a myriad of styles that you've never seen in your favorite store before.
- Sometimes, discounts and incentives are offered at trunkshows as a way to help move stock when it's an overstock event.
- Or, you might be introduced to a new line you've never heard of!

Cons:
- If it's a one-time show, you'll never see that new merchandise again - good luck getting the matching style later
- If you want to return something, many stores will honor it, but others will consider it a final sale
- Many boutiques won't allow designer advertising (as not to compete with them) so if you happen to forget the designer's name, that might be the last time you ever see them.

Pros & Cons for the Designer:

Okay, I know you shoppers probably don't want to read this part, so feel free to skip it, but for you emerging designers, I'm going to give you the real scoop:

Pros:
- What a way to start introducing yourself to the market: You could potentially pick up new retail customers and even a store account if the show goes really well
- Word-of-Mouth Marketing - if you haven't read about it - START! It may all seem like commonsense, but the right word of mouth could open doors you couldn't dream of. A referral of a product from a friend is far more powerful than any ad you could ever run.

Cons:
- The unfortunate reality is most boutiques use this as a form of memo so you probably won't sign a new account from a trunkshow. They may offer you the option to keep returning for more shows though, or consignment options (something I don't recommend... I'll write more on this another day). With this in mind, if you keep agreeing to coming back without them purchasing any of your merchandise, where's their incentive to ever buy?
- Are you familiar with their terms? If not, find out quickly because you might assume that since you provided all the goods, did the work, and they collected the money that day, there would be no reason for you not to get paid at the end of the show. WRONG - especially with well-known stores - you will probably be paid in net 30 or even 60 days depending on how they normally pay their bills.

* Just a tip to remember when deciding whether to do a trunkshow: You need to account for your time as well as your material costs. Will your labor in combination your cost of goods be outweighed by your potential monetary return and word-of-mouth marketing? If so, go for it. If not, don't keep agreeing to be used and abused with trunkshows that don't pay off. It won't help you and it only promotes a faulty new evolution in trunkshows. It's the old school guys who knew what a trunkshow really should be.

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