Tagging your work

Today's crafting topic is 'tagging'. It is much more than just the price for your work, it is information that your customer takes with them after their purchase. One way to look at it is to consider it a small business card. You want your customer to be able to contact you in the future for more products from you.


First you need to consider how you keep track of your sales. Do you pull the price tag off your product to keep track? Do you let the tag stay on the item when it sells?

A central checkout system normally pulls the tags off items and pays the vendors from the collected tags. I do this in my own booth to keep track of sales. If you do this, is there more information than just the dollar amount? Do you put a brief description of the item on your tag? This can be very helpful when reviewing tags to see what sold and what was a popular item. A description can also help decrease tag switching of items by shoppers. If you handle your sales this way you really only need an identifying name or mark on your tags since you'll be the one that keeps them in the end.

I do suggest a tag attached to your items that stays with the items after the sale. If you sew, consider having a cloth tag made with your contact information that could be sewn into the item. Your name and phone number or website would be sufficient for this.

A hang tag is a great way to leave your information on items. Consider a folded tag (business card size) with your information on the inside of the tag with a picture or logo on the front. These could be professionally made or you could design them yourself and print them from your own computer. Hang them with a string tag, small safety pin, or tagging gun to your products.

An address label is another way to include your information. These work great for hard surfaces that will be out of sight like on the back of a frame for example. I always place a label on the back of my signs. These are easy to print yourself on the computer.

How much information you include is up to you. If you work from home you may not want to include your address. Always include your name and website info. I include a phone number and email address as well.
Make it easy for your customer to contact you. Include a business card with the sale, but also have your information on your product.