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Selling your Cloth Pads

 
Lots of women make the switch to cloth pads, and then decide that since they can sew, they should make cloth pads to sell. That's fantastic - the more cloth pads out there, the more they will be seen and that increases the number of women switching to cloth, which is a great thing.... but I just wanted to give some advice on this, and some points to consider
 
Reputation
The thing that sells pads the fastest is reputation. If a pad brand has a good reputation, their pads will be well respected and people will be more likely to want to buy them. You can't buy reputation, your quality of product and customer service, and word of mouth brings this. Of course there is good reputation and also bad reputation. If a product has a bad reputation, it will be less appealing to customers. Making a good product, shipping it quickly and having good customer service can build you a good reputation
 
Word of Mouth
A huge part of small businesses like these. When a customer tries your product and likes it, they will tell others, who might be inspired to buy your product too and so on. It also works in reverse.... if someone tries a pad and doesn't like it, and tells others, then people might be less likely to buy your product.
 
Quality
Have a look at the cloth pads that are around... look at the average quality of the pads you see... Look through reviews and you will see how important good sewing skills are to customers. They will specifically say when a seller has good sewing skills, and will say so if its bad. Then have a good look at the quality of product you can make. If you don't think its quite up to scratch, then you really should do more practice. I'm not trying to be mean - we all have to start somewhere, but think of your customers - I'm sure they would rather you spent a bit more time and perfected your sewing... also think of your reputation... wouldn't you rather be praised for good sewing than have a reputation for bad sewing?
 
Something Different?
While a pad has to be a certain shape to do its job, you don't want to just bring out a copy of what someone else does. Think about what you can do to make your product unique... from fabric choice, to shape or even style.
 
Product Testing
Its a very very good idea to make some pads to give away to people as "testers" while you are testing your design and sewing... so that when you are ready to sell them, you'll know if your product works, and you've had sewing practice. What works for you, might not work for others, and it can give you some insight into what you might need to do to make pads suitable for others.
 
"leakproof" Claims
I see quite often pad makers saying things like "Our pads are so absorbent you won't need waterproofing", "you will not leak with this pad" etc. You need to be very careful when making claims like this, as not all women bleed the same way, and if you say your pad will not leak, and it does - then you open yourself up for not only an unhappy customer but also potential for the customer to demand a refund because the product did not perform as advertised. It is very important for pad makers to be aware that not all women will bleed the way you do. (Go check out the "Flow Gallery" - on the Amount of flow page to see differences in how women bleed). That is one way testing is beneficial - you'll get an idea of other women's flow. Whether or not a pad without waterproofing works fine without leaking for you, or even for all your testers - there is no guarantee that it's not going to leak for another woman who wears it. Some women have a very heavy flow, some women have a "gushy" flow that can soak right through a pad in minutes. Some women can bleed less than 50mls over their entire period. Some women can bleed over 100mls in one day alone. Making claims that "you will not need waterproofing in our pads" will not be accurate for all women who may want to buy them. Instead, it is best to stick with statements more like "our pads are made from very absorbent fibres and most women find they are absorbent enough to not require waterproofing at all" rather than claiming they will not leak or don't need waterproofing.
 
Pricing
Why are some brands more expensive than others? A part of that is reputation, they have worked hard for a long time to build up their reputation, and their quality, and they may be using more expensive fabrics. When pricing your product you should make sure you are covering your costs (see below on this), and allow some "time" component in there to make it worth your time. However you want to strike a balance with making what you consider is enough money, and keeping your product at a reasonable price for your level of skill and reputation.
 
Variety
Just because you like one sort of pad, it won't suit everyone. Do you want to just specialise in what you want to do, or do you want to cater for other preferences too. Have a look in the Flow Gallery to see how a variety of women bleed, as this might help you in your design, and show you that you might like to offer a variety of lengths to help your product to be useful for a wider range of women. Once you are in business, and find more of one type/length sell more than the others, then you can simply just make more of the ones that sell better, and keep a few of the others for those who prefer them. This is coming from a customer who needs a long pad, and has found several businesses who just don't sell long enough pads.
 
Working out your costs
Its not simply a case of working out that the fabric cost you a certain price, so charging that.. there are other things to consider. See the page on Pad Cost to see what things you should consider when pricing your pads. You can offer testers at the cost price to you, so that you're not out of pocket, or you can accept that it is one of the expenses of business. Ask your testers what they liked and disliked. Perhaps give them a sheet of questions to answer. How do they find the shape, length, style, fabric, absorbency etc. If your tester group is large enough, you will get a good idea of if your product is suitable for several women. Use their answers to further update your product. Try to choose testers who will give their honest opinion, not just go "they are great!", as that isn't helpful.
 
Details
When you finally get everything organised and pads up for sale... don't forget to include all the information your customers might like to know. Length of the pad, width at front and back as well as width of the crotch (when wings are snapped) are all key points. A lot of people list the wingspan - but that's not really very helpful to know how wide the crotch of the pad will be when it's snapped. Also give details of what fabrics are used, how much (eg saying a "bamboo core" means nothing - is it 1 layer, 3 layers?), if it's got waterproofing or not. And good pictures!
 
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