Your Product + QVC = $$ MILLIONS $$
The fastest ways to bring your product to market is to get it on QVC!
The best, and fastest, way to do that is hire a QVC agent!
A QVC Agent is an independent person, or group, that can get your product or new invention in front of a QVC buyer. The way they work is similar to traditional Manufacturer’s Representatives that present product to store buyers.
QVC Agents work on commissions so they only make money when your product gets on-air and sells. QVC Agents are fully independent and are not employed by QVC, but they do have the key relationships with buyers at QVC and are often relied on by those buyers to bring them great new and interesting products.
QVC is the number ONE home shopping channel in the world. It reaches over 160 million viewers globally, and is one of the fastest ways to get your product in front of ready to buy consumers.
Why Use an Agent to Present Your Product to QVC?
QVC Agents understand what makes for a successful product and they have relationships with buyers that often count on them to screen products for them, bringing them only the ones that have a high chance of success.
Just as importantly, QVC Agents understand the internal pricing structure and know how to position your product for the maximum amount, and still hit a target retail price. For this reason, a good Agent will earn their commissions by getting your product seen by millions!
An agent gets paid by receiving a commission of the wholesale price for each unit that is sold on QVC. Example: you sell your product to QVC for $10 wholesale, and they sell it to their customer for $20. The agent receives a commission on the $10 wholesale price. A typical agent commission is 10-15%.
A good agent knows the pricing formula that QVC uses to create its on-air retail prices and can advise you on the right pricing structure to ensure you get accepted by QVC, then make sure the product sells well at a good, reasonable price.
How do I Find a Good Agent to Present My Product to QVC?
The best way to find an agent is research and word of mouth. Google “QVC Agent” and research who is out in the market. You want a dependable and well connected agent to present your product because statistically, submitting a product online is a black hole. Because QVC is inundated with product submission, the chances of hearing back from QVC are very, very small. A well connected agent can get your item right to the buyers and decision makers. Another great way is to attend tradeshows, where all agents secretly roam looking for items to present to TV. QVC gets over 2000+ submission a day for product reviews. This is a staggering amount and most products get lost in the shuffle.
Kim Babjak is owner of Kimco, LLC, helping companies get their products seen by millions through mass retailers such as Wal-Mart and QVC. As an expert in consumer product design and development, manufacturing and prototyping, and retail product placement KimCo LLC helps companies develop “Mind to Market” strategies. Read Kim’s blog on StartupNation.
Watch Kim on The Big Idea Show http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=te1SjoA6VNo
December 22nd, 2009 at 10:59 am
There’s another side to the coin.
First, you have to have all the product QVC could possibly sell. That costs big bucks meaning lots of risk. And getting through the gauntlet of merchandising is a whole other book (literally) unto itself. They have stringent packaging and labeling requirements, specific to QVC. Then there’s fulfillment; your product goes to their warehouse and they fill the order -for which they also charge you- so it’s not as tho you’ll get a lot of customer names to seed other non-QVC promotional sales efforts in the future. And if it doesn’t sell, they ship all unsold product back to you so if you want to resell it via other means, you have to repackage it.
Probably the biggest issue is pricing. Considering all the overhead, your markup will need to be 6X over cost to turn a profit. At least in apparel, the usual mark up (from cost of goods to retail) is only 4X (2X wholesale X2 at retail). You need to know that before pricing to QVC because there’s lots of additional overhead costs assigned to you (packaging, fulfillment etc). If your product isn’t such that you can mark it up so high, QVC may not be for you.
Again, remember you need to have the goods on hand in large quantities meaning a lot of outlay for production and shipping well in advance of orders. QVC can be a bonanza no doubt but the adage “it takes money to make money” was never truer.
December 22nd, 2009 at 2:38 pm
I enjoyed this article.
Happy Holidays
Sandy
December 22nd, 2009 at 10:09 pm
I enjoyed this article. I would like to know if QVC does product reviews for food items (bakery products)? Thanks, Art
February 27th, 2010 at 4:41 pm
Kathleen Fasanella — thank you for adding balance and much-needed information to the article.
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