All of the processes we discuss in Custom Gift Retailer have the potential to produce stunning gifts, but sandcarved gifts may be the most beautiful. Intricate work done with glass, crystal and marble has been coveted by both the poor and privileged alike for centuries. That has not changed. How many people have you heard say they do not like the artistry and craftsmanship created with these mediums?

Still, these gifts are not for everyone, and if those people happen to be your customers, then they may not be for your store. On the other hand, if you think there is a market for this brand of custom work in your area, there are more than a few bits of helpful information we can provide.

WHY CARRY GLASS AND CRYSTAL GIFTS?

Whenever you are looking at something new, it’s a good idea to view through skeptica—yet positive—eyes. Remember, the original skeptic was Descartes, and he was simply on a quest to find out what he could know for absolute certainty.

Why carry glass and crystal gifts?

“The reason that gift retailers should carry glass and crystal gifts is that these are products that have held up to a long history of production and retail. People have been interested in glass, crystal and marble products for a very long time, and I think they’re going to continue to enjoy them. Glass has been around for thousands of years, and it still fascinates people,” says Peter Elliffe of Crystal World in South Hackensack, New Jersey.

According to Mark Zhu of SCT Crystal in South El Monte, California, gift retailers should carry glass, crystal and marble gifts because they have a high perceived value and are fairly easy to personalize.

Barry Slee of CrystalEdge in Chicago, notes that along with their high perceived value, the timelessness of crystal is another reason for gift retailers to carry the products.

“These are gifts that do not age with time, and they do not go out of fashion. Also, once you have sold a customer a piece of high-quality crystal, they almost always come back. We have seen it time and time again,” says Slee.

According to Norm and Ruth Dobbins of Etchmasters in Santa Fe, New Mexico, gift retailers found out a long time ago that glass, crystal and marble gifts all have an inherent elegance that is related to their beauty and permanence.

“The real question here is ‘Why should gift retailers learn to customize and personalize glass, crystal and marble gifts?’ The answer is: Because nobody else may be doing it in your market, and it will give you a huge competitive advantage. The ability to etch or engrave custom designs and personalized messages on these items is the ability to provide additional value to products that begin with a high perceived value,” says Dobbins.

Les Dorfman of AITG in Chatsworth, California, says, “The reason gifts retailers should carry crystal is that it immediately lets their customers know that they have products of a high perceived value. Glass and crystal gifts, whether expensive or inexpensive pieces, foster an image of success.” He adds that crystal and glass also offer great profit margins.

Diana Shih of Topmost Designs in Montclair, California, adds that carrying glass and crystal provides retailers with more variety for personalized gifts in different media. She also notes that it never hurts to diversify your business with high-quality gifts that improve the overall perception of your store.

For marble gifts, Abdul Amlani of N&R International in Marietta, Georgia, notes that, “Marble has a very high perceived value. It is also a unique material in the sense that no two pieces are exactly alike. The patterns, colors and veins of each piece are unique to that piece. Also, marble is very elegant in appearance, and because of its weight, it provides a higher perceived value to whatever product it is used in, such as a pen set or a desk clock. For many consumers, weight is directly related to value.”

WHO BUYS GLASS, CRYSTAL AND MARBLE GIFTS?

A great many men and women—both young and old—are attracted to the beauty of sandcarved gifts. In fact, their broad appeal is one of the best reasons to offer them. But let’s try and narrow it down a little bit.

Elliffe says that middle-aged women are the primary buyers of glass and crystal gifts.

Slee adds that, “Buyers of glass and crystal are typically individuals of high net worth. Those are the people that buy glass, and I would add that female buyers probably outnumber male buyers two to one.”

According to Dobbins, the answer, quite simply, is, “People with money and taste. These are not low-end gift items, though some can be relatively low in price, such as glassware, ornaments, etc. People with money to spend want to give gifts that will be appreciated, so they are drawn to gifts of elegance.”

So, as an addition to our first question, if you want these types of customers in your store, then personalized glass, crystal and marble are for you. Conversely, if you have these customers and you are not selling them these gifts, you may do well to reconsider.

DOWNSIDES

Major or miniscule, there is always a downside. What is it with sandcarved gifts?

“The biggest downside to selling crystal is that it is a damageable commodity. Breakage has more to do with packaging, but it is easy to chip or scratch crystal. What I would suggest to limit this is to look for suppliers who ship their gifts in nice presentation boxes. If they do that, it’s easy to simply take the gift out of its box, personalize it and put it back in,” says Slee.

Dobbins says that it is very important to learn to handle these products carefully during the etching process, since it necessarily involves abrasives. If abrasives etch the products when used properly, they can also scratch the products with careless handling. However, he notes that once you get used to the extra care required in handling during the etching process, it’s not much of a bother.

“The only downside I see to marble is the potential for scratches,” says Amlani. “Marble, especially black marble, is a soft stone. Breakage, if packaged correctly, is not much of an issue. We get our shipments from overseas with zero breakage. Shipping costs are no more than they are for crystal and glass.”

Amlani adds that N&R pays a lot of attention to their packaging. “Most of our items are individually packaged. Most of our customers put the marble back into our packages when they give them to the end user. This helps save our customers the time and trouble of getting their own boxes.”

According to Elliffe, the main problem with glass, crystal and marble gifts is that they require some education on the part of the people who are selling them. Retailers need to be able to communicate effectively to their customers the different qualities of products—why you pay more for some than others.

Elliffe adds that one aspect needing an explanation is the amount of labor involved in the production of the product. “For example, the roots of Crystal World are in figurines; we’ve been doing that for more than twenty years now. Part of the challenge for us is that it’s difficult to bring the price points down because there is a lot of labor involved in our products. We do a lot of hand cutting and assembly. So, when people are selling our product, they need to be able to tell their customers the reasons for the price points—that products of this quality must be hand assembled and hand cut.” He adds that since Crystal World’s gifts are small figurines, they supply bases for etching.

To get better educated about the quality and craft that goes into the glass and crystal products that you sell, the best place to start is with your supplier. They can tell you how much work is put into each product, and the more you can tell your customer about your glass and crystal, the higher perceived value it will have for them.

WHAT TO LOOK FOR

How can you tell the good glass, crystal and marble from the bad? As a personalized gift retailer, what qualities should you look for when purchasing?

According to Dobbins, this is an important question and one often misunderstood. “In the seminars and classes we teach (Norm and Ruth Dobbins own and operate the Aliento Glass School in Santa Fe, N.M.), we always recommend against buying the cheapest product. Look at the reflection of a light in a polished surface like an edge. Not only should there be a complete lack of distortion (which would indicate that it is not truly flat), it should also be a uniformly high polish, with neither grind marks nor haze showing. All beveled or mitered surfaces should be at the same angle, and ground corners on all facets, and surfaces should meet at the same angle.”

Dorfman adds that, “You’re looking for clarity, and you’re looking for extremely good packaging. The packaging is just as important as the piece in some cases, particularly if the retailer mails personalized crystal. With higher-end pieces, you want optical crystal, which is total clarity.”

For quality pieces of glass and crystal, Slee recommends first looking for a reputable supplier who will stand behind their product and replace it if necessary. He also suggests asking for recommendations from distributors and other suppliers.

THE GIFTS

We have talked about why it is a good idea to offer glass, crystal and marble gifts, and we have discussed the downsides. We have also talked about a few things you should look for when purchasing gifts of this kind, so now let us talk about the gifts themselves—new and old best sellers.

Shih says that, “Larger desktop clocks in optical crystal with larger engraving areas and globe-themed corporate gifts in optical crystal are just a couple of new items from Topmost Designs for 2005.” Shih adds that all of their globe- or star-themed gifts are good sellers. Topmost’s picture frames and desktop stationeries also sell in large quantities.

Naming some of the new gift products from Crystal World, Elliffe mentions that, “We have a very cute piece called Captain Seagull, which is a seagull perched on top of an old-fashioned ship’s wheel. It’s a very imaginative piece. In addition, we have a series of colored crystal fish that are coming out. Also, Crystal World has a Peanut’s license, and we have three new pieces coming out in 2005. One is called Courting Snoopy, another is named Tennis Anyone?, and the third is of Woodstock.”

As for perennial best sellers Elliffe says Crystal World’s selection of teddy bears, butterflies, buildings and flowers have been doing very well for quite some time. They also create custom pieces.

From AITG in 2005, Dorfman says that, “We have a whole new line of AITG Crystal. We have about 50 new items in crystal and glass, including golf gifts, globes, eagles and paperweights.”

Naming some of CrystalEdge’s best-selling gift items, Slee mentions paperweights, picture frames and desk accessories. He notes that people often prefer functional gifts they can use rather than something that is just nice to look at.

Dobbins says that, “We carry almost 3,000 different glass products, so it is difficult to point out one or two that sell the best. Our best-selling gifts are either the ones that are the most unique or the ones that can be made the most unique by custom etching and personalization. For example, our simple flat rectangular pieces of polished crystal clear glass are not too unique. But when you show people an etched version with the image of a decorated Christmas tree and the words ‘The Smith family Christmas, 2004’ and it’s displayed on a lighted base, they really sell. Personalized ornaments are always hot during the holidays. Etched crystal clocks are also very popular.”

Zhu says that the best-selling items from SCT Crystal are in the $10 to $35 range.

Naming a few popular marble gifts, Amlani says there are bookends, business card holders, pen and desk sets and clocks. For the home, he mentions marble pedestals and grapes. Amlani adds that they also do well with candle holders, several boxes, flower vases, pedestals, urns and Kleenex box holders.

DISPLAY

Once you bring glass, crystal and marble gifts into your store, how should they be displayed?

When displaying crystal products, Zhu recommends keeping them very clear and using halogen lighting.

Dobbins concurs, noting that, “The two things of greatest importance are cleanliness and proper lighting. Dust and fingerprints can ruin the impression of fine quality glass in a heartbeat. Spotlighting with low-voltage halogen lights is an excellent technique, because it makes all the facets sparkle. Displaying on a beveled mirror gives a striking effect, and one of the best new ways to display a piece of etched glass is edge lighting with a lighted base, where the lights are hidden in the base so you can’t see them. They give the illusion the etching is floating in mid-air. Now lighted bases are available at a reasonable price and can be sold with the piece to increase its value.”

Shih also agrees and advises against using acrylic shelves to display crystal products. Acrylic is too soft, and it is scratched easily by harder materials. Shih says that glass shelves are also a better choice because of their superior reflection.

For display, Elliffe notes that, “Crystal World sells high-quality halogen showcases to our customers. They come with the Crystal World logo on them, and we encourage gift retailers to purchase them by offering them special package discounts. Lighting is critical to be able to show off the special faceted crystal pieces. If it doesn’t have light, crystal cannot do much on the shelf.”

Slee says that, “Cleanliness of the product is most important. No matter how you display them, the crystal gifts and the cabinets or glass shelves they are placed on must be spotless. I recommend investing in a nice sealed display cabinet. That is what we do at shows, and that is what most crystal stores do as well. After that, lighting is of the utmost importance because you are trying to reflect light off of facets and show the brilliance of cuts in the crystal. Lighting is usually best when it comes from above and in the corners. We use ACI out of California, and the Waddell line of display cases from Ghent Manufacturing are also very good.”

CLEANING TIPS

Everyone agrees that lighting and cleanliness are both of utmost importance. To take care of lighting, you can purchase a nice display cabinet, but how do you keep your glass and crystal clean?

“We advise people to use gloves we sell made out of micro-fiber cloth. The material is called Luminex. It’s a great way to clean crystal without getting oil from your hand on the product while taking the dust off at the same time,” says Elliffe.

“Never wipe glass with a dry paper towel. Either use a soft cloth or soft, lint free paper towel with an alcohol-based spray cleaner (the type that foams on the glass),” advises Dobbins. “In the etching classes we teach, we recommend against using common window cleaners that contain ammonia (can damage the back of mirror) or silicone (sometimes presents problems adhering resists when etching).”

Zhu simply recommends using Windex or isopropyl alcohol.

Providing her insights, Shih says that it’s best to have sealed glass doors on the display cabinets to reduce the dust. She then suggests using industrial alcohol—which she says is better than Windex—to clean the glass. Also, she says retailers should always wear gloves when holding glass and crystal gifts to eliminate fingerprints.

For cleaning, Slee reiterates the importance of a sealed display cabinet. Added to that, he recommends a very soft, lint-free cloth and a good glass cleaner. He notes that CrystalEdge uses Gerber diapers for cleaning because they are exceptionally soft.

CONCLUSION

If not there already, will glass, crystal and marble gifts make their way into your store? Hopefully, this article has helped you make an informed decision, regardless of which way you go. However, if you still have questions, don’t hesitate to call a supplier. They will be more than happy to provide answers to anything you may ask.