Cards and bookmarks?

[Daryl Everett]

I'm thinking of getting into selling cards and bookmarks. I know there are at least 5 plcaes that I could have a shot at displaying in and there are other photographers who are selling in the hospital shops, frame shop and some mom & pop hallmark type stores (jewelry and trinkets and such).

Has anyone on here had any experience with this? What about on Etsy? I know there are photographers on there but I don't know if it is viable.

[Indigo November]

I sell greeting cards at a few shops around here (problem is, with a population of 4,000+ you can't have too thick a layer of your cards in the town ).
I buy cards and plastic sleeves from Card Blanks and photos from Mpix.com and glue them together.
Costs a lot less than getting them printed, and they look higher quality (because they are).

Never done bookmarks, but the thought has crossed my mind... I don't know how profitable it would be though.

Good luck!

[Daryl Everett]

@ Indigo November

I looked at Cardblanks.com but don't like the gluing idea. I prefer the frames at photographersedge.com I think it might be a little more expensive but they (IMO) look more like something you'd want to pay $5 for.
I agree that I don't want the press printed due to quality.
I'm in Jacksonville, Florida so we have a lot of folks too, but I'm on the rural edge away from everything...it's literally 12 miles to the nearest big box store from my house. I like country living but it makes getting customers difficult.

Do you get pretty good sales?

[Indigo November]

Yep, good to very good sales I would say.
I use glue sticks, and it has never been a problem for me, but to each his own.
Around here people wouldn't pay $5 for a greeting card anyways.

haha, I live about 15-20 minutes away from the nearest town (of 4000 people at that!), down a long winding steep road with no guardrails... Not the pleasant trip!

[Meadster]

I print my greeting cards ( 5 x7 glossy) on card stock from Red River Paper. With their sale prices I can print for less than $1.00 per card (envelope included). I usually sell them in boxes of $10 in a few local stores and at craft shows here in the Dallas area.

I did the ETSY thing for a year and was disappointed. IN almost a fill year I only made a few sales to folks I did not personally know on ETSY. My experience was that the "stores" that are successful there have to really promote the hell out of themselves. As I did not have significant time to promote my ETSY store on a daily basis, it did not attract much attention.

I hope this helps!
John