Hi all,
I made close to one thousand cards back in 93 using one design for Valentine's. (Heavy stock, dark. Square of ragged hessian loosely glued. Palest pinky-salmonn stencil dabbed background on the hessian. Summer-berry-red heart stencil dabbed on top).
I sold at Camden market (out of a violin case) for one afternoon, but didn't want to get arrested so stopped quite early.
I walked around LOADS of shops in posher areas of London (Ealing, Chiswick, Hampstead, Knightsbridge etc.) - Newsagents, florists, gift shops etc. And sold either cash or sale-or-return at a push.
I also sold 50 to a clothes company called Heart Breakers - did a custom design as above but with split heart. (Just looke in phone book for any company with 'heart' in the name).
I sold to Harvey Nicks too !
All simply walking up to the shop owner / most senior assistant.
I also sold a large pile to Whistles in Richmond. (made an appointment to see their senior designer).
And lastly, I sent a sample to Her Majesty the Queen and got a 'no thanks' reply from her private secretary !!!!
It was a busy time indeed.
IME, having the guts to simply walk in, and offering favourable terms to the shop owner, was enough to secure good sales. It was helpful, obviously, that my cards were designed for a one-off event, and maybe if you make more general cards you would need a different, more professional / less ad-hoc approach.