Trade show / retail buyers

[Buddy2go]

I sell on line at the moment but want to expand into retail shops. I already sell slightly different merchandise into national trust shops but they have a very complex soul destroying buying system that I dont think is representative of most shops.
Has anybody done a trade show here? Do many product lines did you have? Any tips? I'm wondering in particular about post and packing - £15 should cover most orders - when would shops expect it to be free or is it always free and I have a minimum order? What would that be? I sell stationery by the way. TIA

Hi Buddy2go - We are an online retailer - we have sold stationery products - typical order values were minimum order of £150 with postage of £12 and free postage on orders over £200 or so. Hope this helps.

Thank you davidjrmum! I was thinking along the right lines which is a relief!

Can I ask what your margin was ? I've been told 235% of wholesale price ie if I sell paper for £1 they would sell for £235 ( including vat ) . Does that sound right?

The traditional trade mark up from wholesale price is double it plus vat so x2.4 but the reality of bricks and morton retailing is more like x3 or x4.

If you're working in percentages, 100% of the wholesale price would be 1x so £1 paper sold at 235% would be sold for £2.35.