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Using those figures, the response rate would be about 2 orders from a mailing of 100 when using a cold list, and about 5 to 10 orders when mailing to your own customer list for each 100 pieces mailed.
Contrast this to a major catalog mailing house such as Miles Kimball, Hanover House, Lillian Vernon, Johnson-Smith or L.L. Bean, each of whom might consider a mailing of six million pieces a month or every few months.
Keep in mind that these are catalog merchandisers - mass mailers, not manufacturers. Not publishers. Mailers!
They BUY what they sell from somebody. It could be from you!
WHAT ARE THEY LOOKING FOR?
Catalog houses are owned and operated by extremely sharp people and they are highly selective in the products they choose for inclusion in their catalogs, so to even be considered, your product must pass some pretty rigid tests:
1. Since some catalog companies specialize in a certain type of merchandise, they will choose only what they think their customers will buy.
2. Virtually all of them will want to test-market a product
(possibly only a hundred or so) before making a complete catalog mailing. If the test shows promise, they will purchase a large quantity (1,000 to 5,000 or more) for their roll-out mailings... and continue to purchase such quantities as long as the product continues to sell.
3. Catalog mailers want to deal as close to the original source as possible, such as inventor, the patent owner, copyright holder, manufacturer or publisher. The reason for this is simply that these are people who can offer them the largest discount on quantity purchases. If you are merely one of many dealers who had to purchase the product from a wholesaler who purchased from a distributor, who purchased the product from the manufacturer, you would not be in a position to offer the lowest price to the catalog company.
4. The item in question should be new and unique, not something that's been around for years. Naturally, it should be a good mail order item.
HOW YOU CAN QUALIFY FOR ACCEPTANCE
First and foremost, you must look and act the part of an established, professionally operated business. This means you must have printed stationery with a company name that coincides with the products you are offering, and all correspondence must be typewritten.
If that seems trite and elementary, you would be surprised to see how many companies receive scribbled hand written notes on ruled paper with wording such as "I would like you to include my product in your catalog." Sorry, it just doesn't work like that.
Even if you are not the actual inventor or manufacturer of the product you are selling, you can qualify to have it included in a large mailers' catalog where everyone can profit from it. Imports are very popular catalog sellers, for instance, so if you locate a new item from overseas, you can arrange to become the U.S. distributor. Yes, it means a sizable investment for stocking inventory, but if you have faith in what you plan to sell, it should be worth investing in.
Before offering it to any catalog mailer, however, it would be in your best interest to test-market the item yourself. You certainly don't want to offer a "loser" to a major catalog mailer. You'll want to be sure this is something that will sell, so everybody is happy with the deal. Perhaps even more importantly, it will bond your relationship with the catalog companies and they will be eager to do business with you the next time you come up with a new product.
PRICING YOUR PRODUCT
This is crucial. A price that's too high means it will not be accepted; priced too low and you will not make a profit - no matter how many are sold.
Keep in mind that some catalog mailers specialize in low priced ($10 or less) items, while others have geared their sales to the higher bracket of $50 or more. When making a list of catalog houses to approach, check their catalogs for prices of their current merchandise.
There are three basic levels of retail prices:
1. The pre-established price by owner or manufacturer
2. Actual dollar value based on production costs
3. Perceived value by prospective buyers,
If you are not the primary source for your product, the manufacturer may have already set the retail price along with
distributor and wholesale discounts, so you will have to work those figures in any deals made with catalog companies.
Assuming you have pricing control (granted by the original source, or you are the originator) you can set the retail price according to the production costs which can be a 5-to-1 or 10-1 ratio. If the item costs $1 to make, you can set a retail price of $5 or $10 on it, depending on what you think it is worth to the consumer.
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