I'm struggling with this right now. I started my business 5 years ago and wanted to focus on small designers. But some of my small designers have gone big! That is great for them, but I have ended up with inventory that I don't know what to do with.
For example, I started selling Hotslings when they first did wholesale. For awhile they were my best seller and I continued to stock up so I would have all sizes available and a variety of styles. This worked well when there were relatively few stores selling them. BUT now that they are sold EVERYWHERE (not just a million small stores, but also big stores like Target, Toys R Us, Amazon, etc.), there is really no reason for someone to shop at my little store. When I was investing in inventory I always figured I could sell them on ebay if nothing else. Well now they are selling new on ebay for less than the wholesale price.
So what do I do with my 62 slings? Take a bit of a loss on each and sell them on ebay one by one? I really loved carrying them, but they just aren't selling for me anymore.
Also, what should I do in the future? I feel when something is selling well I should have plenty of inventory but maybe I should keep my inventory of any specific item small just in case they become less popular or more widely available? But in the meantime I will lose some sales because I will be out of a particular size or color? How do you decide how much to buy of each item you sell?
For example, I started selling Hotslings when they first did wholesale. For awhile they were my best seller and I continued to stock up so I would have all sizes available and a variety of styles. This worked well when there were relatively few stores selling them. BUT now that they are sold EVERYWHERE (not just a million small stores, but also big stores like Target, Toys R Us, Amazon, etc.), there is really no reason for someone to shop at my little store. When I was investing in inventory I always figured I could sell them on ebay if nothing else. Well now they are selling new on ebay for less than the wholesale price.
So what do I do with my 62 slings? Take a bit of a loss on each and sell them on ebay one by one? I really loved carrying them, but they just aren't selling for me anymore.
Also, what should I do in the future? I feel when something is selling well I should have plenty of inventory but maybe I should keep my inventory of any specific item small just in case they become less popular or more widely available? But in the meantime I will lose some sales because I will be out of a particular size or color? How do you decide how much to buy of each item you sell?
