Upcycled bag ?

[Divyang]

Hello,
How do you think an upycled product will sell in the UK ? I am thinking to make bags out of waste materials primarily leather. Would you as a buyer want to buy a leather bag made out of an old jacket ? If yes, What is the price you will be willing to pay ?

 

[ethical PR]

Recycled and reused goods is already a large market in the UK. Why don't you do some research to see what's already out there, costs and who buys these sort of products.

 

[billmccallum1957]

https://www.google.co.uk/?gws_rd=ssl#q=upcycled+leather+bags&tbm=shop

 

[Divyang]

Recycled and reused goods is already a large market in the UK. Why don't you do some research to see what's already out there, costs and who buys these sort of products.

Thanks for the suggestion. What do you think is the best way to find buyers or research about this product? Since it is not an usual product. People are brand conscious and someone will prefer a branded bag bought from central London over an upcycled bag made from old clothes. How do you think I should find the buyers? Any suggestion will be helpful.

 

[myfairworld]

People are brand conscious and someone will prefer a branded bag bought from central London over an upcycled bag made from old clothes. How do you think I should find the buyers?

You are comparing two entirely different markets! There are people - like me - who can afford to buy a good bag but who would never ever go and buy a branded bag either in central London or anywhere else. Your potential market is in those customers who have ethical and environmental concerns and may positively prefer an upcycled (not recycled! When you are marketing a product like this you are 'upcycling'). Your potential market is in those customers who like to buy something which is to their own taste rather than wanting to look like a dreary copy of some second rate celebrity. Your potential market is in people who like something different.

But there is a catch. A lot of recycled (old marketing) and upcycled (new marketing) bags can already be obtained in the UK even if normally in more specialist and individual independent stores, though occasionally you'll see some in big well known stores so you'll have competition already, this isn't a new idea. The second and much bigger catch is that many makers of recycled/upcycled bags are making a poor quality product and this is not because the materials have been used before but because of lack of attention to design and customer requirements. Some bag makers think it is enough to say something is recycled/upcycled and that justifies a messy design, a badly made bag, or a bag which doesn't have the things customers require such as attention to design of inner pockets.

 

[Divyang]

.
Hello, thanks for the explanation. Yes! I agree on the quality point. I'll take care when I make it. It's a wonderful suggestion. But I'm still confused about tha potential customer. Is it only the people who have ethical or environmental concerns? Like can't I sell it to normal people(in the sense regular people buying bags). I asked about brands because I wanted to know if people other than those interested in environmental friendly products will be interested in this or not? How is the overall market? Also should I target boutiques or small stores or is it better to open an online shop? Does this business have the potential to be a big one? Like this particular sector I.e making bags out of old jackets. What is the perception amongst people? Btw just out of curiosity, will you buy such an upcycled bag? (If it's well made)

 

[ethical PR]

1. Use Google
2. British Library Business section
3. Local library
4. Competitor research
5. Market reports

Best way to find buyers

1. Identify who is likely to buy your produce
2. Identify consumer habits and communications channels
3. Identify benefits you can offer (that your competitors don't)
4. Develop a marketing strategy + budget taking above into account

 

[Divyang]

Guys thank you so much for all your suggestion. I want to ask is how effective will it be to put these type of bags on b2b portals? Or should I try to find ethical buyers from google and try to contact them? Will trade fair be expensive? Are those worth it? Which medium should I target specifically for an upcycled bag?

 

[Gecko001]

I do some amateur upcycling in that I will make pieces of furniture and other household items out of old bits and pieces I have no-longer a use for. I try to make them look as if they were originally bought in a shop and you would never know that they were put together from cannibalised parts from other household items. I sometimes show off by telling people that a lampstand which looks like any lampstand you would see in lighting shop was actually made out of x, y, z, but really it is done more just for the challenge and because there was once a time when I actually needed to do it to save money.

To me the quality is absolutely critical. So if you are competing with top designers and craftsmen and women who have a whole range of new materials of consistent quality available to them, you will have to put more effort into the design and workmanship than these competitors.

The "ethitical" aspect will perhaps help you sell to some people in the short term, but in the long term it will be the quality that will sell the product in my view.