Greeting Card Distribution Franchise

[Dorsetman]

I am looking into the pros and cons of a greeting card distribution franchise by a company called CARDRAX.
I would operate in an exclusive territory, supplying outlets such as Newsagents, Convenience Stores, Post Offices, Garage forecourts, Florists and Gift shops. Stock is placed in the outlet on a sale or return basis meaning that the shop pays only for the stock that has been sold.

Typically, the stock is displayed on a spinner which is supplied to the outlet on free of charge loan although on some occasions, the shops own racks may be used.
Can anyone who currently operates with CARDRAX now or in the past tell me anything about the company and the pros and cons of operating this type of business.
Thanks​

 

[Milesy]

I was just wondering if you decided to take up the Greeting Card Distribution franchise?

I am also considering this and would love to hear about your thoughts and experiences? Has it been successful? Would you recommend it? etc.

If you decided not to, was there any particular about the franchise that stopped you from going ahead?

Your thoughts would be very much appreciated.

Milesy

 

[Barnie]

I would be careful about the greeting card market, its currently declining altogether and online sales are growing, those stores who turn over enough cards to make it worth while get cards on sales or return and reps go in and refresh stock

Not saying don't do it but just go in with eyes wide open

 

[Ashley_Price]

Erm, you might notice, this question is over a year old!

 

[Podge]

I was just wondering if you decided to take up the Greeting Card Distribution franchise?

I am also considering this and would love to hear about your thoughts and experiences? Has it been successful? Would you recommend it? etc.

If you decided not to, was there any particular about the franchise that stopped you from going ahead?

Your thoughts would be very much appreciated.

Milesy

After a very quick calculation: They say that the established businesses have about 300 outlets, thats 180,000 sales per year @ 28p = £50,000 pa

Seems an awful lot of sales to me.

 

[colin_mckellar]

I looked into an existing franchise with the Original Poster company but decided it was not for me. The area was vast to try and cover. The turnover was just over £20K and they wanted just over £40K for it. I did have a long chat with the MD and we came to the decision that to get a decent income from it was going to cost another £40k!! So I would need to find £80K and move 250,000 cards a year to get a net profit of around £40k per annum.

Putting a spinner in a shop was the easy bit, getting the cards sold was another. Also the ranges change, etc.

 

[Minuteman Press]

Why not design and print your own greetings cards? We have a number of clients who work in this way - calling off orders when required.

 

[wevet]

I would be careful about the greeting card market, its currently declining altogether and online sales are growing, those stores who turn over enough cards to make it worth while get cards on sales or return and reps go in and refresh stock

Not saying don't do it but just go in with eyes wide open

I wholeheartedly agree with this.

I vaguely recollect some stats from last Christmas which indicated a large drop in xmas card sending with emails being the major alternative. Thiswill increasingly be compounded by the rise of facebook etc.

If:
you have no initial franchise fee
The stock is very good qualty at an excellent price
You are not obliged to hold a large stock

Then it might be worth a punt if any one of the above do not apply to the deal i would head for the door.

 

[Ashley_Price]

It does show that people don't check the date when something was posted or necessarily read the replies from other people.

As I pointed out above, this question was asked in January 2010 and the OP hasn't been on UKBF since December!

 

[ThePublisher]

It does show that people don't check the date when something was posted or necessarily read the replies from other people.

As I pointed out above, this question was asked in January 2010 and the OP hasn't been on UKBF since December!

To be fair, the second poster was asking if the first one had gone ahead with the franchise and how successful it had been. Not a totally unreasonable reason for resurrecting an old thread.

 

[Ashley_Price]

To be fair, the second poster was asking if the first one had gone ahead with the franchise and how successful it had been. Not a totally unreasonable reason for resurrecting an old thread.

True - except they were asking this question 3 months after the OP had stopped coming to UKBF.

 

[ThePublisher]

Good heavens, do you really check to see when the person last visited before posting? Seeing that they'll probably get an email from UKBF does it matter when they last logged in anyway?

 

[papverpoppies]

True - except they were asking this question 3 months after the OP had stopped coming to UKBF.

Are we not always advising people to check the forums for many of the questions they ask, as most have been covered before.

Cannot slap someone across the wrist for doing just that.

Lots of members do not post on a daily basis - three months is not a long time surely. They could have been busy getting their card franchising business up and running

POPPY XX