want to sew baby carriers

[RasJi7]

Hello all, I have been trying to sell my made at home slings and haven't had much luck. I've had the advice to try and do solids rather than prints.

I recently tried my hand at a Mei Tai and it came out so well, I wear my toddler son in it all the time. i padded the shoulder and waist straps.

I am wondering if homemade mei tais will sell better than slings in general- just not sure if i should invest more time and money into it if it is going to turn out like the slings.

anything else I need to know about selling mei tais? i would be open to critique of my website as well if anyone has the time to give me some input on what to do better or different.

thanks for ANY input.

[dogmom327]

I think two things to consider would be that the baby carrier market seems to be very saturated (lots of companies selling slings including lots of WAHM's) and what you will need to do/pay to get appropriate liability insurance.

Wishing you luck! Working from home is great!

[RasJi7]

thanks dogmom327! I already work at home doing computer drafting and love it but want to make a go at this as well. good call on the liability insurance.

In your opinion is the mei tai carrier market less saturated than the slings? I guess I had the hunch that might be the issue with the slings and I'm hoping that the mei tais will do better.

[dogmom327]

I'm not an expert on the baby carrier market but I looked at a lot of baby carrier websites trying to design my new one and there are a lot of them. Most of them have poor rankings too (Alexa rankings for example) which leads me to think there are simply so many it's really difficult to compete. Maybe the mei tai market is less saturated than slings but I think the larger issue is the baby carrier market as a whole. It's just likely to be hard to stand out in that crowd.

[poppyseed]

Personally for me, and I am sure this is the same for a lot of mothers out there buying slings, I will do alot of research before I invest in a sling, and most of this involves researching reveiws, and looking for sling/mai tai brands that other mothers have used - generally on websites such as TBW, mothering, Mamatoto etc. I would never buy a 'no brand' made at home sling or mai tai unless I had read alot of reviews and rave about it from forms/blogs etc. I am all for supporting wahm, but only when I can be satisfied that what I am buying from them is the best.

I think if you gave away (which I know is a large initial investment) 20-30 mai-tais/slings to Mama's who can garantee that they can give you reviews on blogs and forums and put links to your site you will have the name of your slings out there in the 'sling world' and this should help your sales. I would suggest sourcing these Mama's from forums such as mentioned above, and choosing blogs that have alot of traffic and followers.

Oh and definately get the liability insurance.

[RasJi7]

great advice, thanks so much!

[dogmom327]

In a similar vein as PoppySeed's advice, I've found running contests on blogs to be fantastic ways to drive traffic to your site (in addition to giving the blog owner a sling to try) and create excitement about your product. Might be worth a shot. Regardless of whether you just go for reviews of contests, when you do work with blogs though, be sure to be a little picky. You want blogs that have high traffic levels (look for lots of comments on posts, good Alexa rankings, things like that). Since your products are costing you a decent amount in materials, you want to get the most bang for your buck.

[RasJi7]

My husband is from the british virgin islands, a virtually untapped market for baby carriers so I think i am going to focus on buying a display mannequins, a really good brochure with pics and directions and get them into the baby boutiques and stores down there, once the money is going good see if I want to get into the internet realm, and do the things you all have mentioned. these are really great ideas and I thank you so much for sharing them with me!

[Quirky]

Please check out www.thebabywearer.com -- the Business forum has lots of great advice, as does the DIY forum.

Liability insurance is expensive, and totally necessary.

Also, if you're going to sell in the US, you have to comply with the CPSIA.

Honestly, the carrier market is quite saturated, especially online. It is a whole different ball of wax than it was even two or three years ago, and it's not easy as a WAHM to make enough to justify your time and expenses. Don't forget, you have to factor your time into your costs.

And don't underestimate the amount of time you will spend not just sewing, but sourcing fabrics, photographing your carriers and writing a clear instruction booklet, marketing, and dealing with customer service issues.