D.J. Posted March 13, 2004 Report Share Posted March 13, 2004 I am getting ready to try and sell my baits to some tackle stores in the area. I was hoping somebody could tell me what kind of profit are the stores looking to get off of each bag. For instance, I live in the Seattle area and a bag of hand pours goes for about $5 to $6 bucks. Would $3 a bag be asking to much. : I need to make it worth my while, but I also do not want to be over priced. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Keep up the great work on this site. You guys are very helpful. D.J. West Coast Custom Tackle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fish_N_Fool Posted March 13, 2004 Report Share Posted March 13, 2004 Hey I'm in the same boat as DJ. I have a local major tackle store (Sportsmans Warehouse) interested in my baits (I'm also in the NW but near Spokane), But I'm not sure if I could get my price low enough to sell them some. My Price on my website ranges from $4.95 to $6.95 for bag of 8. My baits are a fully rounded bait poured in a two piece mold and it takes longer to put out a quality bait then a one piece mold does, I have to repour about 30% of my baits because of shrinkage and such as I don't want to sell a poor quality product. I know some guys only offer a 5% discount to bulk buyers, but I don't think thats very realistic. I think you couldn't ask them to have to sell them for more then what you are getting online. I'd say right now with my current methods of production I could only turn out at the most about 12 to 16 packs of baits a day working 8 hours. So if I got even $4 bucks a bag thats not very good wages by the time you figure in all your costs. My baits are of very high quality, But I think if I can't figure out a way to produce more in a day, It's not going to make me rich. How much a bag are you guys getting for quality handpours? Do you think that the tackle stores would even concider a $5 a bag bait???? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pop Posted March 13, 2004 Report Share Posted March 13, 2004 I owned a tackle shop in Pennsylvania. Alsways looked for a 40% profit on plastics. Now keep in mind, 40% is not 40% of what I paid for the plastic, but 40% of the selling price. For example, if something was 1.00 retail, then I most likely paid .60. I would probably mark it .99 because it seemed cheaper. That is what I did with known brands of plastics. I purchased plastics in bulk from wholesalers in the south and packaged them myself under my own label, and in those cases the profil was much higher so therefore got the most display area in the plastics department. If you feel your baits will sell at x number of dollars then just back track to a wholesale price that makes you happy. Radio Shack sells a small calculator that will do this for you, which I found much easier. This will also help you set a budget for your packaging costs. Good Luck, Pop. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dtrs5kprs Posted March 13, 2004 Report Share Posted March 13, 2004 From my experience...I have sold baits under my label thru retail outlets, thru my own catalog/word of mouth, and by bulk pouring for later re-package by other mfgs. By far your best bet is to sell them yourself. Retail outlets are going to need to low ball you. That is just the nature of the beast. The arrangement I had for bulk pouring moved a ton of product and kept me very busy. Unfortunately it did absolutely nothing to promote awareness of my label. Ultimately I gave it up because of that and the ever increasing volume. It was a tough call. The only way to make any $$$ at it is to sell it yourself, thru a catalog, website, etc. The real problem with plastics is there is just no room in the pricing. This is in part due to the mass injectors who drive and keep the prices down for the whole market. Also due to the amt of time it takes to handpour a quality product. Margins are crap, mostly. With retailers you are also going to run into issues of supply time and no pay. Very tough to collect from a retailer who is not paying when you ae a little guy. Bottom line: Make a good product. Get some anglers using it. Set your price where it needs to be for you, not the retailer. Make your product a little hard to get (once there is demand)...you want that cult following of hard core anglers, not bags of your product hanging at all three shops in your town. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coley Posted March 13, 2004 Report Share Posted March 13, 2004 I know this may sound a little harsh. Set your price and stick with it. Were not in this business to appease stores. When they get ready to resell your baits, I don't think they will bat an eye about whether or not their price will PO customers. Sorry, that's how I feel. Coley Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tubeman Posted March 15, 2004 Report Share Posted March 15, 2004 I agree, don't sell yourself short. I would ball park for 33 -35 % as thats seems to be average mark up in tackle stores for plastic. If you can create something different and promote it that way, it will give you an edge. If your using Del-Mart molds and you know how to pour correct salt ratios/plastic softness, you can be just as good as GYBC. If they dont want it, there is always someone else that will sell your product. Pick one good retailer and start with that for a year, then decide if its worth your efforts. You will have to work harder and longer to make the same dollars, but the anglers will start to recognize your label/product and likely purchase direct from you when the store runs low on stock or if they want to buy another color ect ..then you are the master of the universe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capecodsmallie Posted March 16, 2004 Report Share Posted March 16, 2004 I have a friend who owns a tackle shop and I'm going to put my baits in his store this year. If it works out, great. I pour for myself and my friends. If I can make some money to help support the addiction so be it. I think it would be best to get your baits in the water and try to get a "buzz" going about them. If people start asking for them in the shops, the owner of the shop might want to try and find out what all the "hype" is about your baits. Maybe that's one way to do it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richoc Posted March 16, 2004 Report Share Posted March 16, 2004 Just do not expect to get customers from the bait shop........ He would be cutting his own pocket out of the loop and you can not ask him to do that. Also bad if it packaged in a way to steer them to you , he will not like that. Also it must not be cheaper for them to buy them from you. And for good bussiness don't cut any deals in his parking lot, all orders should be sent through him from his shop. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
earthworm77 Posted March 18, 2004 Report Share Posted March 18, 2004 retailing yourself is the way to go fellas. You can't expect to get customers off of the stores you wholesale to. It's bad business to compete with a store that sells your baits. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deadlystreamer Posted March 18, 2004 Report Share Posted March 18, 2004 Hello, I supply a few retail stores with my Streamers. I put the suggested retail price on the cards and I give the dealer a 40% discount. That is a lot of money that I don't get but it keep a customer happy and they all come back for more. I've been doing this for years, I sell my streamers for the same price on-line as Joe would at his sporting goods store. Don't know if this info will help any. Best of luck to you guys headed in that direction. One thing to keep in mind, Its work when you start that kind of business. If you don't want to work at it, stay clear of retail stores. You can have just as much fun doing what you're doing now. Good Luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alsworms Posted March 18, 2004 Report Share Posted March 18, 2004 For any of the guys thinking about selling plastic baits to stores.......... another important thing I've learned is never let the owner/manager dump your stuff into "bulk bins." Either have your baits with your label on the wall or don't mess with it. I know things are different throughout the country, but around here a bulk bin is considered to be low quality (or "left over") stuff. Don't sell yourself short on that either. Your label and company name should be very important to you, and you should do whatever you can to expose that. Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deadlystreamer Posted March 19, 2004 Report Share Posted March 19, 2004 Excellent point Chris. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tubeman Posted March 19, 2004 Report Share Posted March 19, 2004 Just do not expect to get customers from the bait shop........He would be cutting his own pocket out of the loop and you can not ask him to do that. Also bad if it packaged in a way to steer them to you ' date=' he will not like that. Also it must not be cheaper for them to buy them from you. And for good bussiness don't cut any deals in his parking lot, all orders should be sent through him from his shop.[/quote'] I see your point and agree you can't cut out the store altogether. Thats why you pick a store a fair distance away from you. You can still sell direct in a fair way and still keep a good repoire with the store owner. If you want to just sell strickly to stores, your better off quiting your day job and eating Kraft dinner ( mac & cheese ) in order to prepare for a subsistance lifestyle I have all my packaging with our web address on it and the owner does not mind at all. Its all in the relationship you build and the respect. Ensure there are no unknowns when meeting with the owner and be totally up front with your intentions....... and most of all be the master of your own universe even though its very important to service customers and make everyone as happy as a clam, you cant forget why you started this business and what you want got get out of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D.J. Posted March 20, 2004 Author Report Share Posted March 20, 2004 Thanks for all of the info guys. You really helped me out Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crawfish Posted April 4, 2004 Report Share Posted April 4, 2004 We sell to several stores in the surrounding states and the big thing with them is never make a promise you can not keep. A tackle dealer will drop your stuff in a heart beat if you don't keep delivery timly. Also, price your product by what you need to make. ( Cost of plastic, coloring, fleck, scent etc...) Then give the store owner a sugested retail price. Hope this helps. Later, Gary Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
