Preselected Retail Product Package Deals-Are they worth it?

[artofwar1234]

I have seen these types of package deals from several supply houses and I've always wondered if they were worth the initial outlay of money. I see that MassageWarehouse is currently advertising 3 of these in their current catalog. Each one provides all the retail product plus the display stand for a set price. It looks like a very easy way to bring retail sales into the practice.

Has anyone tried anything like this? How did it work for you? Were you left with product that was hard to move?

 

[jay h]

I saw these too in the MW catalog - I am curious as to whether anyone has had any success with them.
It looks like a good variety of items and a decent price.

 

[Rosalie]

I am curious too, if anyone has these or something like it in a home office. I have been annoyed in the past, by feeling like my therapist is more interested in selling me their homemade cards and Mary Kay, than giving me a great massage?

I have a home office, and I sell Sombra and hot/cold packs out of a drawer for no markup, to my clients that ask about them.

I would like to be making a profit out if it, and other products, but don't want to take away from the real business of massage.......

???

Noel

 

[J2J]

bumping in hopes some other members might have useful info....

 

[Lady in Red...]

thanks......................still wondering.

Noel

 

[ILuvAnimals]

I have a home office, and I sell Sombra and hot/cold packs out of a drawer for no markup, to my clients that ask about them.

I would like to be making a profit out if it, and other products, but don't want to take away from the real business of massage.......???
Noel

Noel, to make a profit on it, you must charge more than it cost you, simple as that, it does not take away from the real business of massage at all. Unless you are doing a sales pitch in the middle of the massage. If people want it, they will buy it...in your case, they are used to it, they like it, they will continue to buy it.
I have Sombra for sale too, the 8 oz jar. I also have packets for samples.
I tried to sell soap that I had made...most of it got pretty dusty at the noisy salon where I spent a year. Salon goers like to spray all sorts of nasty crap all over themselves, and likely prefer equally nasty bars of detergent masquerading as soap. Anyone want to buy some soap? (it's not dusty) mick

 

[HangingChad]

Um, yeah, I know how to make a profit.

I probably wasn't clear enough and was looking for more of a philosophical discussion of whether having display space, keeping track of inventory, dusting, ordering, pricing, unpacking, etc., is it worth the trouble? Does product move fast enough, being a one-person office?

Is it worth the trade off of the good will engendered in clients by making a few things available to them at cost -vs- making a few bucks? Maybe it is a lot more than a few bucks and I'm missing out??

And how much stuff, is too much? Am I the only one that has been in a massage office, where there was more cluttered with products for sale, taking away from the focus of massage? Or, rather, makes the space, and thus the massage and therapist seem less professional. Like, do people have an opinion of what is good/bad- sombra-ok, handmade soap and sachets, not appropriate? Am I the only one bothered by that?, or am I over-thinking?

And no one replied to the original postings about the prepackage towers for sale at M.Warehouse. Does that mean no one here bought them, or uses them?

lots of questions...............just trying to get a little conversation going on this subject. thanks

Noel

 

[nancy]

As a therapist who works solo at home I don't carry a lot of retail items. I have a small hutch that I use for the massage business and that is outside of the massage room.

I carry the things that I use that a client may want to purchase for use at home inbetween massages.
If a client want a certain item (just ordered a theracane for one), I will order it and have it shipped to me. I just tack on about $5 for the trouble (the pay total cost).
They can go online and order most of the same stuff I can.

Things like Biofreeze/Sombra/Tinglers/Knobbles/Ice-Heat packs I sell more for a profit. The don't fly off the shelves, but I don't have them too long.

As for candles or other non-massage items, if they want to know where to get it I tell them. They can get those things themselves. I don't have the space to hang on to too much.

The pre-product displays would be great if I have a large office, but I don't so I wouldn't buy one. Seems like a good item though.

 

[Nicole_x]

I would like to assume the person or persons who put the prepackaged towers together chose items that are best sellers and therefore all the products would move off the shelves at rapid rates (say about 3-6 months)...however if it takes much longer to move the items or only half the items sell then investing $200-$400 in inventory for potential profits over a lengthy period of time doesn't seem like good business sense -- which is why I'm curious if anyone has purchased anything of this nature. I would like to know if the majority of items did sell or if they were left with a lot of stock they either had to discount to move or ended up giving away as spiffs for their clients.

My treatment room is located inside a busy gym. I'm not certain the type of traffic that comes through the gym would buy "gifty" type items from the gym though they might buy the therapeutic or wellness items.

If it generally takes 4 months to move the stock then it seems wise to purchase a tower of this type in October, restock it in late Nov with the items that moved and then do a sale on all items the last week of December. Any thoughts?

 

[BitterBlue]

You guys, this is a great topic. I work at a wellness center/gym and we don't have anything of this type for our members/clientel. If fact, we don't have any kind of massage products available in our pro-shop. Honestly, I think if we got something of that sort, people would look but would not buy. Anytime my clients ask about a certain product, I offer them a website they can check out. With the internet, everything is a click of a mouse away. If what they want isn't available to them, I'll find out how to get it for them but that has never really come up.

We offer some spa services, mud wrap, salt glow, sugar scrub. Often people will ask us where is a good place to purchase these products. Maybe it's not good business-wise. But I tell them that I can write down instructions for them to take home. Or again, I offer them a website that has a ton of recipes for that kind of stuff. If I don't know of any, I tell them to Google it.

If I owned my own business, honestly, I think I'd make it comfortable but I woud keep the clutter down to a minimum. As far as soap, candles, and the like go, I'd probably put products I love in my bathroom. If a client asks I'd let them know how or where the product can be made available to them. I just wanted to put in my 2 cents, thanks!

Steph!

 

[JasonsWifey]

Has anyone purchased the MW retail packages since this thread went up almost a year ago???