What Kind of Packaging
Do You Use for Your Work?

What’s your opinion? Each month, The Crafts Report invites readers to respond to the Public Opinion question. Responses are published in the magazine. The Crafts Report is seeking short commentaries (400-500 words) from craftspeople describing recent experiences or concerns that significantly impact their craft businesses. Please respond by June 8. Responses to this question will appear in the August 2004 issue. E-mail: publicopinion@craftsreport.com; or answer online here. Send responses to: “Public Opinion,” The Crafts Report, Box 1992, Wilmington, DE 19899; fax: (302) 656-4894. Anonymous responses will not be published.

I make beaded/glass/gemstone jewelry. I use a combination of coordinating or contrasting tissue paper and each item is placed in an organza bag. My customers have commented that it’s a good way to store their items, especially if it’s a set, and it makes them feel special that I take the time to wrap each item.

Three-piece sets are usually boxed with the appropriate sized bag inside the box.

Karen Swartz
Beads by Karen
Philadelphia, Pa.

I think branding and packaging is extremely important. I supply retailers with color bio cards and leather jewelry pouches branded with my logo to hand out with each purchase. This accomplishes a few things: it increases brand awareness for my company and encourages customers to “collect” my work. The bio cards help educate the salespeople who are on the front lines actually selling my work.

Lastly, giving out a leather jewelry pouch with each item heightens the “perceived” value and makes the customer feel as though they are buying something special. I will also supply press clippings and am working on a “co-op” display unit to offer to retailers.

Heather Kraty
Island Cowgirl Jewelry
Huntington Beach, Calif.

We thought long and hard about our packaging, because the cost factor was not to be ignored! We use our packaging for both wholesale/retail.

[Our clear plastic boxes] really work for us for the following reasons: easy for travel and shipping; see-through for display is a plus; customers can handle it with less fear of breakage and wear-and-tear; a gift tag label is attached on top, and our “recycled product” stickers are affixed to the side. We bring gift bags to shows with colored tissue. The box goes in the bag, and the customer is on their way. Saves us wrapping time at shows. Since most of the shows we do are holiday shows, and we have ornaments, this saves us a lot of time.

Linda Welling
Wellingtown Design Co.
Chicago, Ill.

Our handcrafted cold process soaps are hand-trimmed, banded with a cigar type wrapper with all the important information and then shrink wrapped. Our Luxurious Lotions are packaged in malibu tubes with our label and then shrink wrapped. Our Bar of Lotion is packaged in a twist-up style deodorant tube with our label and then shrink-wrapped. We use the deodorant tube because it causes people to ask what it is and then we can explain the wonders of our creation.

Roberta B. Bates
Living Water Enterprises, Inc.
Morrow, Ark.

I use two different sizes of bubble wrap and cardboard boxes I obtain from a local paper goods company to both store and to ship my woodcrafts to my customers. The bubble wrap is cheap and can be cut to order for any size package.

Mike Powell
M.D. Powell Woodcrafts & Gifts
Philadelphia, Pa.

I purchased small white paper bags from Sam’s Wholesale Club and stamped them with my logo, name, address and phone number. I also include a business card, and each piece of jewelry also has a tag attached with the same information.

Cindi Picou
Selina Designs
Beaumont, Texas

-Compiled by associate editor Heather Skelly.