Why Is Creative Packaging Important?
An old adage states: "It's what inside that counts". In today's age, it is not always true, especially in the handmade industry.
Imagine a beautiful handmade necklace in a simple box. Or how about a beautiful hand knit scarf stuffed in a large brown envelop. Sounds drab and a bit disappointing, doesn't it?
A beautiful handmade item deserves beautiful packing. There are many advantages of good packaging. Here are a few advantages of packaging for handmade items:
Packaging helps show off your handmade item in an attractive manner.
You are competing with not only other producers of handmade products but also with mass produced items. Your handmade products are more expensive than those from a factory assembly line, but, for very good reasons. The extra time, effort, and expertise and the Love and passion that goes into handmade products are what make them worth the extra price to your buyers. Your packaging needs to reflect this to your customer.
Keep in mind that product packaging doesn't need to be "over-the-top" to be fantastic. Sometimes the simplest packaging is the most effective. Let your product speak to you. Consider the mood you want to create when someone looks at your packaged product, you can really make an impact on the customer, but you need to make sure that your packaging accurately reflects its contents. You don’t want to be packaging a dainty silk scarf in a dark, rugged box. Be sure to maintain your branding and mood throughout, and that will make an impression on your customers that will remain long after the package has been opened!
General Tips:
1. Choose to include photos of your packaging in your shop, let your customer know how their items will arrive.
2. Plan your packaging ahead of time and keep all your packaging materials organized in one place.
3. Keep things looking consistent, I don't mean everything has to be the same, but the style and theme of your packaging should all have a similar feel.
4. Make the product and packaging match. If it's retro styled give the packaging a retro look. If it's a beautiful shabby chic item, don't put it in a animal print decorated box.
5. Make it professional. Make sure glued items don't have edges sticking up, corners aren't ripped off tags, all text is correct and spelled correctly.
6. Be sure to include how to care for the item, this is something most sellers overlook. Your customers will thank you for taking the extra time to include care instructions with their beautifully packaged item.
On a personal note, I gift wrap all purchases, even when I sell jewelry to a woman who is just buying it for herself. It makes a beautiful impression, and gives the customer a feeling that she just treated herself to something special.
Think how you'd feel if you bought something for yourself and it was beautifully gift wrapped, even though the shop owner knew you bought it for yourself! Talk about increasing the perceived value of your handmade items,
A gift tag is a nice additional touch. I like to create my own gift tags from card stock and beautifully designed scrapbook paper. Once I create the gift tag, I wrap the item in corresponding paper and use tulle or ribbon and attach the tag. It only takes a few minutes to add this special touch to the items I sell and my clients always comment on my packaging!
In closing, I always include a handwritten note to my client thanking them for choosing to shop with me, it makes their online shopping experience more personal.
https://www.etsy.com/teams/7722/discussions/discuss/9388006/By Hippie Chic Jewelz
